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Ex   LIBRIS 

REV.  W.  P.  CONSIDIHE, 

383  SIXTH  STREET, 
DETROIT, 
MICH. 


f. 

lft 


TO!  ^©©^YO©K]  ©IF  TO!   ©Kl 

(From  the  original  design  of  the  Roman  Painter,  Gagliardi.) 


THE  MESSENGER 


SACRED  HEART  OF  JESUS 


VOL.  VI  (xxvi).          JANUARY,  1891. 


No.  1 


BOTH  OLD  AND  NEW. 

By  Eleanor  C.  Donnelly. 

EAR  her  sing  through  the  hush  of  the  night, 
Sing  through  the  dawn  of  the  fair,  young  day, 

— The  Bride  to  her  Spouse,  to  her  heart's  delight, — 
Love-song  thrilling  the  years  for  aye ! 

Sweet  and  strong  and  tender  and  true — 
Hark  to  the  heavenly  harmony ! 

"All  my  fruits,  both  old  and  new, 

I've  kept,  Beloved,  for  Thee,  for  Thee  !" 

All  the  fruits  of  the  year  gone  by, 

All  the  fruits  of  the  year  begun; 
Thoughts  and  words  that  never  can  die, 

Good  deeds  ripened  in  shade  and  sun : 
Clear  and  low,  'neath  the  vault  of  blue, 

Bride  of  the  Canticles,  sing  with  me ! 

"All  my  fruits,  both  old  and  new, 

I've  kept,  Beloved,  for  Thee,  for  Thee !" 


Copyright,  1891,  by  Rev.  R.  S.  Dewey,  S.  J.    All  rights  reserved.] 


TIMOLEAGUE. 

All  the  fruits  of  the  dead  old  year, 

All  the  fruits  of  the  year  new-born, 
— Prayers,  and  labors,  and  sufferings  dear, 

Pledges  plighted,  and  vows  re-sworn — 
Gilded  with  sunlight,  gemm'd  with  dew, 

Heart  of  Jesus,  our  harvest  see ! 
"All  my  fruits,  both  old  and  new, 

I've  kept,  Beloved,  for  1  hee,  for  Thee !" 


KINSALE  HARBOR. 

TIMOLEAGUE. 

r  1  ^HE  passenger  on  board  one  of  the  great  trans- Atlantic  steam- 
ships for  America,  as  he  comes  slowly  forth  from  the  Cove 
of  Cork  (now  called  Queenstown),  sees  to  the  right  for  many 
hours  a  frowning,  ruggedly  broken  sea-wall,  iron-gray  and  mottled 
with  russet  weather  stains,  with  here  and  there  a  glimpse  of  the 
daintiest  green  fields  where  some  creek  or  bay  opens  suddenly 
inland.     Most  forbidding  and  longest  seen  of  all  is  the  low,  out- 
reaching  promontory  called  the  Old  Head  of  Kinsale,  just  beyond 
the  harbor  of  the  same  name.     Underneath  its  rocky  chine,  he  is 


TIMOLEAGUE.  3 

told,  the  ceaseless  beating  of  the  waves  age  after  age  has  worn 
caverns  from  side  to  side,  through  which  the  sea  keeps  up  its  ever- 
lasting booming.  When  at  last  he  turns  the  Head,  a  deep  inden- 
tation of  the  shore  line  marks  the  entrance  to 

— Courtmasherry's  placid  bay, 

at  the  end  of  whose  westernmost  inlet  lie  the  picturesque  ruins  of 
Timoleague  Abbey,  dear  to  the  lover  of  the  beauty  of  Irish 
scenery  and  the  glory  of  Ireland's  antique  saintliness. 

Timoleague  is  just  an  easy,  half-Englished  way  of  pronounc- 
ing the  Irish  words  meaning  the  "House  of  Molaga";  and  Molaga 
was  one  of  the  early  Saints  when  Ireland  was  young  in  the  Christ- 
ian faith  for  which  it  has  suffered  so  much.  Like  many  another 
Saint  of  that  time,  he  had  much  to  do  with  his  brother  missionaries 
of  the  Celtic  race  in  Scotland  and  Wales ;  and  his  own  life  was 
spent  in  much  travelling  to  and  fro,  studying  and  founding  mon- 
asteries and  doing  any  good  work  that  came  to  hand,  even  to 
spreading  the  culture  of  bees  in  his  own  Ireland. 

It  is  common  enough  among  these  early  Irish  Saints — and  yet 
it  is  strange,  when  one  comes  to  think  of  it — that  they  have  left 
their  names  bound  up  with  all  the  different  periods  of  their 
country's  history.  This  is  because  of  the  work  done  so  well  by 
them  during  their  busy  lives,  and  of  the  work  done  after  they 
were  dead  and  gone  by  the  devotion  of  the  common  people  to 
them  through  the  succeeding  centuries.  Thus,  in  the  case  of 
Molaga,  we  have  a  few  antique  bits  of  building  in  the  rude,  prim- 
itive style  of  the  early  Celtic  Christians,  dating  from  himself  or 
his  disciples  and  telling  a  story  of  zeal  for  the  glory  of  God's 
house  and  the  salvation  of  souls.  Then  we  have  the  fine  "Abbey" 
built  much  later  in  his  honor  by  friars  who  came  over  from  Italy 
hundreds  of  years  after  his  death.  And,  in  their  turn,  these 
splendid  arches  now  stand  broken  and  open  to  the  day  with  only 
the  ivy  to  clothe  them  round  about,  and  the  birds  and  winds  to 
make  music  where  the  priests  once  sang  to  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  Saint  God  gave  them — Molaga. 

All  this  is  in  the  old  sub-kingdom  of  Desmond,  which  was 
South  Munster;  and  just  as  the  faith  of  Molaga  has  outlived  Celtic 


1 3 

o  .§> 

rr\     •*J 


TIMOLEAGUE.  5 

wars  and  Danish  and  Norman  invasions  and  persecutions  of  Eliza- 
beth and  Cromwell,  so  the  old  names  of  his  time  are  well  known 
among  his  still  faithful  Irish  people  of  to-day.  The  "Bed  of 
Molaga" — his  own  chief  abiding-place  in  life  and  in  death — is 
near  to  Mitchelstown,  of  unsaintly  doings  in  recent  days;  and  the 
"House  of  Molaga"-  — Timoleague  Abbey — is  down  in  Corkalee, 
the  territory  of  the  O'Driscolls.  The  M'Carthy,  or  perhaps 
Barry,  founded  it  for  the  Franciscans ;  and  it  was  defended  by  the 
O'Sullivan  Bear  when  the  persecutor  would  have  destroyed  it  root 
and  branch.  And  since  then,  how  many  dead  of  names  familiar 
to  the  Saint  as  to  us  sleep  peacefully  amid  the  ruins  in  this  blessed 
ground  of  his! 

It  was  in  the  territory  of  Fermoy,  on  the  bound  of  the 
present  barony  of  Condons  and  Clangibbon,  far  toward  the  north- 
eastern corner  of  County  Cork,  that  our  Saint  was  born,  in  the  old 
principality  of  the  O'Keefes  which  was  long  known  as  the  Roches' 
country.  He  was  of  the  family  of  the  O'Dugans,  possessors  of 
this  territory  of  the  "woodland,"  as  it  was  called.  His  parents 
were  humble  tillers  of  the  ground,  as  were  many  who  were  kin  to 
the  petty  Kings  then  governing  the  land.  They  had  long  been 
childless,  and  had  all  their  hopes  in  the  heavenly  kingdom.  One 
day,  as  they  were  sowing  a  ridge  of  flax  on  the  south  side  of  the 
road  that  runs  along  the  little  river  Funshion,  a  troop  of  priests 
passed  by  travelling  somewhither  with  St.  Cummin  the  Long 
at  their  head.  The  Saint  foretold  to  them  that  they  should  bring 
forth  a  son  to  their  old  age,  as  did  Abraham  and  Sara;  "that  he 
would  be  a  friend  of  learning,  and  that  he  should  sit  in  the  smooth 
hill  of  the  plain  as  Abbot  of  the  school." 

When  the  child  of  prophecy  was  born,  his  parents 
brought  him  to  the  Cross  of  the  Dun  or  neighboring  Fort;  and, 
behold,  St.  Cummin  was  at  the  ford  awaiting  to  baptize  one  with 
whom,  indeed,  he  was  to  be  connected  all  his  life.  Here,  later  on, 
arose  the  church  of  Aghacross.  Its  ruins  remain  by  the  bend  in 
the  river ;  and  beside  it  is  still  an  ancient  well,  consecrated  to  the 
Saint  and  flowing  with  its  clear  waters 

— by  lone  Molaga's  holy  cells. 


6 


TIMOLEAGUE. 


The  cells  of  the  Saint,  which  he  built  for  himself  and  his 
disciples  in  the  rude  fashion  of  the  time,  have  still  their  ruins  on 
his  "smooth  hill  of  the  plain."  They  are  in  the  Saint's  own 
parish  of  Tempul  Molaga ;  for  his  name,  as  we  have  said,  remains 
everywhere  here,  however  far  away  and  dim  may  be  the  memories 
of  the  period  in  which  he  lived.  On  the  southern  slope  of  the 
hill,  with  the  mountain  stream  winding  below,  the  cashel  or 
termon  wall  encloses  an  open  space  in  which  are  the  early  oratory, 


DOORWAY  OF  ORATORY,  LEABA  MOLAGA. 

(After  photographic  view  of  Lord  Dunraven.) 

a  church  of  later  date,  another  square  building,  and  two  of  those 
crosses  which  speak  so  pathetically  of  the  faith  of  Erin.  The  ora- 
tory is  some  twenty  feet  from  the  church.  A  great  ash  tree  over- 
shadows its  eastern  window,  inside  which  according  to  ancient 
custom  stood  the  altar  whereon  Christ — the  mystic  Day  spring  and 
Orient  from  on  high — was  offered  in  the  Holy  Sacrifice,  even  as 
now  in  the  nearest  and  scarcely  less  humble  parish  church.  Forty 
years  ago  there  were  six  of  these  trees,  and  the  walls  stood  much 


TIMOLEAGUE.  7 

higher;  but  everything  is  slowly  disappearing  before  the  hand  of 
man.  So  much  the  more  necessary  is  it  that  the  holy  associations 
of  the  place  should  be  preserved  while  there  is  yet  time.  Eighty 
feet  away  and  still  along  the  southern  side  of  the  hill,  are  four 
pillar  stones  as  if  to  mark  a  boundary.  To  the  west  stretch  afar 
the  Galty  Mountains  in  swelling  waves,  blue  in  the  distance  and 
mingling  nearer  the  deep  shadows  of  retreating  valleys  with  the 
great  russet  spots  on  greenclad  slopes  which  form  so  character- 
istic a  picture  in  the  memory  of  the  tourist  through  Southern 
Ireland. 

Molaga — a  young  Culdee  or  Irish  monk — did  not  long 
remain  in  the  monastery  after  the  years  of  his  studies  were  over. 
He  had  gathered  together  a  few  disciples  in  this  spot.  But  there 
were  still  Druids  and  idolatrous  practices  in  the  country ;  and  he 
felt  himself  driven  forth,  sore  at  heart,  from  the  midst  of  so  many 
evils.  So  he  set  out  for  Connor  in  Ulster,  where  there  had  been 
a  bishop  since  the  time  of  the  Apostle  St.  Patrick.  It  still  forms 
a  bishop's  see,  though  long  since  united  under  one  head  with 
Down.  Like  the  other  holy  men  of  his  day,  he  carried  a  bell 
with  him  to  give  sign  of  the  exercises  of  devotion.  It  was  lost 
by  him  on  the  way,  and  its  recovery  was  the  occasion  of  founding 
a  church  (now  Kill-foda  in  O'Neil-land  East),  whose  lands  were 
afterward  called  the  Termon  of  the  bell,  while  the  "  priest's  mis- 
take of  his  bell "  passed  into  a  proverb.  From  this  he  wandered 
on  into  Scotland  and  down  to  Wales,  to  the  disciples  of  the  great 
St.  David  of  Menevia,  a  title  which  in  our  own  day — after  cen- 
turies of  forced  apostasy  on  the  part  of  the  Welsh  people — has 
again  been  given  to  a  Catholic  bishop's  see. 

After  some  time  spent  in  Wales,  the  Saint  returned  to  his 
own  country.  He  had  received  during  his  stay  in  other  lands, 
first,  the  name  by  which  we  know  him — for  Mo-laga  is  the  kind- 
hearted  Irish  way  of  saying  "  My  Lachen,"  the  name  bestowed  on 
him  by  the  religious  children  of  St.  David ; — and  second,  a  bell 
presented  to  him  in  memory  of  the  religious  ties  he  had  formed 
with  them.  This  present  was  enough  to  leave  his  name  to  a  place 
in  Wales,  long  called  Boban-Molaga. 


8  TIMOLEAGUE. 

St.  David  had  always  been  in  communication  with  his  Celtic 
brethren  of  Ireland,  and  another  of  his  disciples — Modomhnog,  or 
Dominic  of  Ossory — had  brought  home  with  him  from  the  Welsh 
monastery  a  swarm  of  bees,  the  culture  of  which  he  introduced 
among  the  Irish  monks.  But  by  this  time  "  My  Dominic's  "  bees 
were  in  need  of  another  trained  hand  for  their  due  care ;  and  the 
services  of  our  own  Saint  were  eagerly  demanded  by  the  chieftain 
of  what  is  now  Dublin,  as  soon  as  he  arrived  there  on  his  way 
homeward.  He  took  this  as  an  indication  of  the  will  of  Provi- 
dence ;  for  he  was  ever  distrustful  of  the  voice  of  flesh  and  blood 
in  seeking  again  his  native  region  among  the  hills  of  Munster — 
Liath-Muine.  So  a  church  and  land  were  given  him  a  little  to 
the  north  of  what  is  now  Balbriggan  town ;  and  the  King  of  Dun 
Dubhline  ordered  that  every  person  in  his  domains  should  pay 
the  Saint  a  pighin  or  penny  every  three  years  for  his  support, 
while  he  was  to  take  charge  of  the  patriarchal  swarm  of  the  Irish 
bees.  In  the  midst  of  the  blessed  ground  where  the  dead  of  his 
race  are  still  laid  away  in  the  hope  of  the  same  resurrection  which 
he  preached,  are  the  ruins  of  his  old  chapel  of  Lambeecher  in 
Bremore,  which  is  nothing  else  than  the  good  Welsh  name — 
Llan-beachaire — or  "Church  of  the  Beeman."  As  late  as  the 
year  1200,  when  these  parts  were  known  as  Fingall,  or  the  region 
of  the  "  tribe  of  the  Danes,"  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin  gave  the 
chapel  to  the  Canons  serving  God  in  the  religious  house  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  at  Kilbixy. 

These  may  seem  insignificant  details;  but  they  point  the 
moral — how,  through  all  the  ages  and  in  all  things,  bees  and 
Danes,  home  learning  and  foreign  emigration,  Ireland  has  drawn 
her  best  life  from  the  Catholic  faith.  Because  of  her  faith,  it  is 
true,  she  has  had  suffering  which  is  the  reward  of  faith ;  and 
happiness  is  the  recompense  of  suffering. 

We  next  find  St.  Molaga  amid  St.  Kieran's  Seven  Churches 
of  Clonmacnoise  on  the  River  Shannon,  the  greatest  of  the  ancient 
Irish  establishments  of  religion  and  learning.  About  this  time 
his  old  neighbors  of  Fermoy  came  to  beg  him  to  return  to  his 
own  monastery  of  lulaeh-mhin — the  smooth  hill  on  the  plain. 


TIMOLEAGUE. 


9 


They  promised  him  many  things,  even  fifty  white  milch  cows 
every  successive  year ;  and  when  he  sent  them  away,  they  simply 
came  back  to  him  accompanied  by  their  beseeching  wives  and 
children.  He  could  no  longer  withstand  so  earnest  entreaties ; 
and  henceforth,  to  his  death,  his  name  is  associated  with  his 
native  home.  It  afterward  became  known  by  his  name  as 
Labba  or  Leaba  Malaga — "  the  Bed  of  Molaga ;" — for  there,  as 
all  tradition  has  it,  his  mortal  remains  still  lie  awaiting  the 
resurrection. 

It  is  there  the  ruins  here  described  may  be  found.     You 
enter  the  western  door  of  the  oratory,  which  like  all  these  very 


PILASTER  OF  ORATORY.  PILLAR  STOUP. 

> 
ANCIENT    STONE-WORK    AT    LEABA    MOLAGA. 

early  houses  of  prayer  is  little  more  than  a  dozen  feet  in  length. 
Notice  by  the  way  the  rude  yet  true  art  with  which  the 
lintel  is  disposed ;  it  is  the  early  entablature,  used  before  the  arch 
had  yet  been  introduced  into  that  curious  and  original  system  o± 
architecture  which  belongs  to  early  Christian  Ireland.  In  its 
later  developments  this  presents  a  true  progress  in  art,  worthy  of 
the  study  and  admiration  which  the  ancient  art  of  Ireland  has 
only  of  late — too  late,  alas — received. 

A  remarkable  pillar  stoup,  or  columnar  stone  font,  is  still 
preserved  here.  It  once  stood  just  within  the  door.  On  the 
south  side,  near  the  foot  of  the  altar,  there  is  a  large  flag  stone, 
lifted  above  the  ground  by  two  low  side  stones ;  and  here  is  the 


<=>    S 
^    1 

«< 


TIMOLEAGUE.  11 

tomb  of  St.  Molaga.  Until  these  later  days  devout  pilgrims 
came  and,  creeping  into  the  space  beneath  the  flag,  prayed  to  the 
Saint  to  whose  sanctified  relics  they  were  thus  brought  so  near. 
It  is  only  within  the  last  few  years  that  the  stone  altar  under  the 
east  window  has  been  destroyed ;  but  the  Holy  Mass  and,  let  us 
hope  it,  the  memory  of  St.  Molaga  will  not  perish  from  among  his 
faithful  people. 

One  of  the  latest  acts  of  the  Saint  had  been  to  imperil  his 
life  for  his  brethren  by  ministering  to  them  in  the  time  of  the 
terrible  "yellow  plague" — the  Buidhe  Chonnuil.  And — a  final 
remembrance  to  bring  us  up  short  with  a  reference  to  our  own  so 
different  age — one  who  worked  along  with  the  Saint  in  his  later 
time  was  the  Abbot  of  Spike  Island,  which  the  passenger  for 
America  has  also  seen,  with  all  its  prison  recollections,  in  Queens- 
town  Harbor. 

It  is  not  in  connection  with  his  last  resting-place,  but 
with  the  great  Abbey  called  by  way  of  excellence  the  "  House 
of  Molaga" — Teach-Molaga — that  our  Saint's  name  is  chiefly 
known.  Colgan,  the  historian  of  the  Irish  Saints,  gives  on  the 
20th  of  January  "  the  feast  of  St.  Molaga,  Confessor,  Patron  of 
the  Church  of  Timoleague."  This  was  probably  the  site  of  one 
of  the  Saint's  primitive  monasteries ;  but  its  present  memories 
date  only  from  the  coming  of  the  Franciscans,  in  1240.  Even  its 
noble,  but  irregular  architecture — lofty  arches  resting  on  pillars 
without  capitals,  some  cylindrical  and  some  square,  windows  with 
mullions  and  without,  lancet-shaped  and  square-headed  and  obtuse 
— all  tells  of  the  later  art  that  came  in  with  the  Normans  and  the 
Cistercian  monks  of  St.  Bernard. 

Into  Courtmacsherry  Bay,  stretching  away  from  the  Abbey's 
southern  side,  the  Spanish  galleons  laden  with  their  rich  wines  were 
wont  to  come  to  trade  with  the  Irish.  Hides  and  fish  and  wool, 
linen  cloth  and  squirrel  skins,  were  the  unromantic  articles  the 
latter  offered  in  exchange.  A  considerable  village  grew  up  ;  and, 
in  consequence  of  the  tradition  affirming  that  St.  Molaga  had  once 
sojourned  here,  the  whole  district  was  put  under  his  invocation 
and  called  Timoleague.  When  the  Normans,  destined  to  become 


12  TIMOLEAGUE. 

more  Irish  than  the  Irish  themselves,  penetrated  thus  far — Barrys 
and  De  Courceys  and  the  rest — they  found  no  difficulty  in  accom- 
modating themselves  to  the  devotions  of  the  native  Celt ;  and 
when  the  friars  arrived  and  the  great  Abbey  was  to  be  built,  no 
patron  could  be  thought  of  but  St.  Molaga. 

The  honor  of  founding  Timoleague  Abbey  is  given  by  some 
to  the  Norman  Barry,  by  others  to  McCarthy,  Prince  of  Carbery. 
Beside  the  convent  rose  the  church,  with  its  nave  of  ninety  feet 
running  into  a  spacious  choir  half  its  own  length,  and  a  lateral 
wing  or  transept  extending  nearly  forty  feet  to  the  south.  The 
bell  tower,  at  every  period  a  special  feature  in  Irish  churches,  rose 
sixty-eight  feet  at  the  junction  of  choir  and  nave.  Outside,  along 
the  sheltered  angle  with  its  southern  exposure  where  the  tran- 
sept joined  the  main  body  of  the  church,  were  the  arcades  of  the 
pleasant,  sunny  cloister.  There  the  friars  might  walk  to  and  fro 
in  sight  of  the  peaceful  bay,  and 

The  swelling  fields  of  Barryroe, 

And  all  the  westward  Carbery  heights. 

In  the  choir,  the  tomb  of  Daniel  M'Carthy,  the  supposed 
founder,  and  the  monuments  of  the  O'Donovans  and  O'Heas 
were  still  there  in  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
The  De  Courceys,  Lords  of  Kinsale,  also  had  their  burial  place 
here.  One  of  these,  Edmund,  Bishop  of  Ross  and  himself  a  Fran- 
ciscan, was  a  great  benefactor  of  the  Abbey.  He  induced  his 
nephew,  James  De  Courcey,  the  Lord  of  Kinsale,  to  rebuild 
a  great  part  of  the  convent;  and,  at  his  death  in  1517,  he 
bequeathed  to  his  brethren  there  many  valuable  legacies  of 
altar-plate  and  books. 

During  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign,  Timoleague  suffered  much 
from  the  Catholic-hating  soldiery  let  loose  on  Ireland — that 
"most  distressed  country."  An  attack  on  this  home  of  prayer 
and  charity  has  inspired  one  of  Mr.  T.  D.  Sullivan's  most  stir- 
ring ballads : 

In  Tinioleague's  old  Abbey  pile 
By  Courtmasherry's  placid  bay, 


T1MOLEAGUE. 


13 


EAST     WINDOW. 
^ THROUGH    ARCH    (BELOW    TOWER)    DIVIDING    NAVE    FROM    CHOIR. 

A  monk  sat  in  the  bell-tower,  while 

Down  sunk  the  snn  of  a  summer  day  ; 


He  heard  his  brethren's  hymn  of  prayer 
Float  upward  on  the  balmy  air  ; 

Then  clasping  in  his  bony  hand 
His  large  black  bead,  he  bent  and  swayed 
With  deep  emotion,  while  he  prayed 
That  Ireland's  troubles  soon  might  cease. 


14 


TIMOLEAGUE. 


But  almost  ere  the  prayer  was  sped 
From  his  pure  lips,  a  sense  of  dread 

Thrilled  through  him  in  that  quiet  hour ; 
And  casting  'round  a  furtive  glance, 
O  Christ !  he  saw  the  quick  advance 

Of  Saxon  troops.     He  scarce  had  pow'r 
To  call,  to  shriek,  to  strike  the  bell, 
To  rush  below  from  cell  to  cell, 

To  summon  all  his  startled  freres, 
When  crash  !  in  splinters  went  the  door — 
The  soldiers  tramped  across  the  floor, 
Burst  to  the  chapel,  laughed  and  swore 

A  goodly  prize  was  theirs. 


WEST  WINDOW  AND  CLOISTER,  TIMOLEAGUE  ABBEY. 

The  beautiful  windows  were  smashed  in,  the  carving  and 
statues  hacked  by  sword  and  axe,  and  the  tombs  of  the  dead 
trampled  under  the  hoofs  of  the  horses  which  had  been  spurred 
into  the  house  of  God.  The  sacred  vessels  were  torn  from  the 
Tabernacle,  and  the  consecrated  hosts  profaned.  Then,  to  com- 
plete their  sacrilegious  work, 

Before  they  went  they'd  show  their  grace 

By  pausing  just  to  say — 
That  was  a  generous  Saint  indeed, 
Who  in  their  day  of  real  need 


TIMOLEAGUE.  15 

When  wine  was  scarce  and  cash  was  slack, 
Had  set  them  on  that  blessed  track, 
And  after  hours  of  sore  fatigue 
Had  led  them  safe  to  Timoleague 
By  Courtmasherry  bay. 

The  good  friars  bent  to  the  storm  and  prayed  for  their 
despoilers.  Not  so  another  stout-hearted  inmate  of  Timoleague, 
not  a  friar,  but  only  the  carpenter  who  had 

— labored  gladly  here 
While  many  a  tranquil  year  went  round, 

To  carve  and  shape  and  polish  fair 
What  now  lies  wrecked  upon  the  ground. 

This   one,  in   his  righteous  anger,  unto  the  founder  of  all 

Franciscans 

Spoke  from  his  hot  brain  hastily  : 

If  this  base  crew  before  me  now 

Shall  pass  from  hence  unhurt  away. 
O  great  Saint  Francis !   hear  my  vow — 

I'll  not  work  here  another  day. 
I'll  cast  my  well-loved  tools  aside, 
I'll  tramp  and  travel  far  and  wide, 

And  let  your  monks  as  bast  they  may 
Refit  their  convent  by  the  side 

Of  Courtmasherry  bay. 

As  if  his  stern  words  had  moved  the  Saint  to  action,  his 
prayer  was  scarcely  ended  when  the  wild  cry  of  the  Irish  kerns 
came  borne  on  the  breeze. 

The  valiant  Donal  of  Dunbuidhe — 

the  O'Sullivan  Bear — was  coming,  not  speedily  enough  to  hinder 
the  sack  of  Timoleague,  but  not  too  late  to  avenge  it. 

Short  was  the  combat.     Fiercely  well 

The  troopers  fought,  and  loud  they  swore  ; 
By  twos  and  threes  and  tens  they  fell 

Beside  the  walls,  before  the  door. 
The  leader  of  the  ribald  jest 

And  mocking  prayer  profanely  bold 
Felt  cloven  downward  to  the  breast, 

Nor  longer  clutched  the  beaten  gold. 


16 


TIMOLEAGUE. 


One  horseman  only,  faint  and  pale, 

Sped  from  the  field  of  death  away — 
Spared  to  make  known  the  dreadful  tale, 
And  shout  the  warning  on  the  gale — 
"  Beware  the  Abbey  in  the  vale 

By  Courtmasherry  bay. " 

But  the  sacrilegious  spoliation  of  St.  Molaga's  House  was 
not  at  an  end.  In  the  profanation  leading  to  its  final  ruin,  the 
names  of  two  Anglican  Churchmen  appear — William  Lyons,  the 
intruded  Protestant  Bishop  of  Cork  and  a  certain  Doctor  Ham- 


GREAT    EAST    WINDOW    OF    CHOIR, 
FROM  POINT  BEFORE  EAST  WINDOW  OF  SIDE-CHAPEL,  SOUTH. 

mer,  a  minister.  Of  course,  in  speaking  of  Elizabethan  prelates 
it  must  be  always  borne  in  mind  that  they  were  apostates.  In  the 
Protestant  prelates  of  a  subsequent  period,  education  and  long- 
rooted  prejudice  were  responsible  for  what  in  the  case  of  Lyons 
and  Hammer  was  due  to  something  very  akin  to  demoniacal 
possession. 

Lyons  naturally  had  little  love  for  the  friars.  As  for  their 
beautiful  Abbey  with  its  treasures  of  art,  it  was  of  value  in  his 
eyes  only  as  available  for  building  materials.  In  1590,  wishing 
in  his  zeal  for  the  Gospel  to  put  up  a  mill  of  his  own,  he  made  a 


TIMOLE/tGUE.  17 

descent  on  a  mill  the  friars  had  built  on  their  little  River  Arighi- 
deen.  He  carried  off  everything  belonging  to  it,  even  to  the  very 
stones  of  which  it  was  built.  An  inundation,  however,  swept  all 
his  work  away  when  it  was  completed  and  the  people  did  not  fail 
to  see  in  this  a  proof  of  Heaven's  displeasure. 

In  1596,  the  minister  Doctor  Hammer  came  in  a  small  vessel 
to  Timoleague,  to  get  timber  for  a  fine  dwelling-house  which  he 
was  building  near  Cork.  He  pulled  apart  the  richly  carved  oaken 
wainscoting  of  the  friars'  cells,  and  loading  his  vessel  with  it 
sailed  away.  Hardly  had  the  ship  however  cleared  the  bay,  when 
a  gale  sprang  up  and  sent  the  vessel  with  all  its  freight  to  the 
bottom. 

On  Christmas  Eve  in  1612,  Lyons  the  Bishop  of  Cork,  who 
had  then  reached  an  extreme  old  age,  was  told  that  the  people  all 
around  Timoleague  were  to  assemble  in  the  Abbey  to  assist  at 
the  Midnight  Mass.  Straightway  rising  up  with  the  band  of 
ruffians  who  were  his  ordinary  suite,  he  started  out  to  hunt  the 
friars  and  their  congregation. 

He  had  passed  the  gates  of  Cork  into  the  open  country,  when 
he  was  seized  with  sudden  illness.  His  companions  begged  him 
to  return.  But  hatred  of  the  Catholics  was  stronger  in  him  than 
the  pains  of  the  body.  He  dismounted  and,  wrapping  himself  in 
warmer  garments,  bestrode  his  horse  again,  determined  to  accom- 
plish his  bloody  purpose.  But  God  was  watching  over  the  wor- 
shippers in  Timoleague  that  night.  The  pains  grew  more  and 
more  intense  till  finally  they  forced  him  to  retrace  his  steps  to 
Cork. 

In  1602,  Owen  McEgan,  the  Catholic  Bishop-elect  of  Ross, 
while  acting  as  chaplain  to  the  troops  of  the  O'Sullivan  Bear,  fell 
mortally  wounded  by  the  English  and  died  on  the  field.  His 
remains  were  brought  to  Timoleague  by  the  O'Sullivans  and  the 
M'Carthys.  There  they  still  lie  awaiting  the  coming  of  the 
Lord  Who  shall  judge  persecuted  and  persecutor  alike.  Round 
about  have  been  laid  the  ashes  of  generation  after  generation  of 
Irish  Catholics.  Many  nameless  'heaving  mounds  of  clay'  are 
here,  on  which  the  sun  pours  its  warm  ray  through  the  ruined 


18  TIMOLEAGUE. 

southern  window.     The  uncovered  peasant,  with  that  respect  for 
the  dead  which  is  so  marked  among  the  Irish,  still  kneels 

— before  the  portals 
Where  of  old  were  wont  to  be, 
For  the  blind,  the  halt,  and  leper, 
Alma  and  hospitality. 

One  of  the  last  of  the  Irish  harpers,  John  Collins  who  died 
in  1816,  fittingly  sang  in  the  old  tongue  a  last  "  Lament  over 
Timoleague."  Sir  Samuel  Ferguson  has  translated  it  from  the 
Irish  and  preserved  it  to  us  in  his  Lays  of  the  Western  Gael. 

There,  I  said  in  woeful  sorrow, 

Weeping  bitterly  the  while, 
Was  a  time  when  joy  and  gladness 

Reigned  within  this  ruined  pile. 

Empty  aisle,  deserted  chancel, 

Tower  tottering  to  your  fall, 
Many  a  storm  since  then  has  beaten 

On  the  grey  head  of  your  wall. 

Gone  your  Abbot,  rule  and  order, 

Broken  down  your  altar  stones ; 
Nought  see  I  beneath  your  shelter, 

Save  a  heap  of  clayey  bones. 

Oh  !  the  hardship,  oh  !  the  hatred, 

Tyranny  and  cruel  war, 
Persecution  and  oppression 

That  have  left  you  as  you  are ! 


RUINS  OF  LAMBEECHER  CHAPEL,  BBEMORE. 


JOSEPH'S   DREAM. 
By  Agnes  Hampton. 

1  HIS  is  the  true  story  of  an  Arab  child  of  Christian 
parents ;  his  happy,  dreams  in  Bethlehem  of  the 
East  become  real  only  after  weary  days  in  this 
New  World  of  the  West. 


The  fair  blue  sky  of  Palestine  looked  down  on  the  house 
where  little  Joseph  was  born.  There  he  spent  twelve  happy, 
innocent  years.  The  same  hills  that  echoed  the  Angels'  chorus, 
on  the  first  holy  Christmas  night,  threw  their  shadows  across  the 
spot  where  he  dwelt.  Bethlehem,  the  city  of  David  and  the  birth- 
place of  the  world's  Redeemer,  was  his  home. 

His  parents  were  pious  in  their  humble  condition.  They 
were  the  descendants  of  Christian  Arabs  who  for  generations  had 
lived  in  the  ancient  city.  They  earned  a  meagre  livelihood  by  the 
manufacture  and  sale  of  rosaries,  crucifixes,  and  holy  images. 
They  had  their  modest  home  in  a  house  that  had  once  been  almost 
stately  in  its  architecture  and  surroundings,  but  was  fast  crumbling 
away  for  want  of  the  care  their  poverty  would  not  permit  them  to 
bestow  upon  it. 

Near  the  dwelling,  along  the  hillside,  was  the  garden  with  a 
few  venerable  olive  trees.  An  ancient  vine  shaded  a  rustic  bench 
and  table ;  and  there  was  a  shed  to  shelter  the  donkey  which  was 
the  willing  servant  and  the  children's  playmate.  It  too  shared  the 
family  fortunes,  feasting  when  times  were  good  and  starving  when 
shekels  were  few. 

Death  visited  their  humble  home  and  called  away  good 
old  Simon,  the  father.  So  the  widow  was  left  with  her  four 
orphan  children,  of  whom  Joseph  was  the  youngest.  He  was 
a  sprightly,  affectionate  boy,  always  active  and  willing  to  help, 
always  happy  and  smiling.  Yet  his  was  a  thoughtful  heart,  and 

19 


2O  JOSEPH'S  DREAM. 

he  looked  out  into  the  future  and  planned  a  high  and  holy  calling 
for  himself. 

He  was  sitting  in  the  doorway  at  his  mother's  feet.  The 
evening  meal  was  finished,  and  the  industrious  widow  was  seated 
with  a  piece  of  the  curious  Eastern  needle-work  before  her.  The 
twilight  was  fast  departing,  and  she  laid  down  the  work  and 
placed  a  tremulous  hand  upon  the  soft,  dark  tresses  of  her  boy. 

"  Joseph,  my  son,  they  are  taking  you  from  me  far  across  the 
great  sea.  But  I  can  trust  you,  my  child,  my  youngest  one.  Be 
true  to  the  teachings  of  your  father ;  be  faithful  to  the  holy 
Virgin  and  to  your  patron  St.  Joseph ;  and  the  infant  Saviour 
will  love  you  and  never  forsake  you." 

"  Mother,"  said  the  boy  in  a  low  voice,  "  why  must  I  leave 
you  ?  Simon  does  not  need  me.  He  is  a  big  man  and  I  am  but 
a  little  boy.  I  would  better  love  to  stay  here  with  you  and  my 
sisters." 

"  My  poor  child,  since  your  father's  death  your  brother  Simon 
is  the  head  of  the  family  ;  and  he  thinks  it  best  for  you  to  go  with 
him  to  that  great  free  land  they  tell  us  of,  where  boys  and  men 
can  make  much  money.  Here  we  are  very  poor  and  in  debt.  If 
you  and  your  brother  can  do  well  for  yourselves  and  help  me  to 
pay  our  debts,  will  it  not  be  better  for  us  all  ?  O  my  little  one, 
my  Joseph,  my  Benjamin,  it  breaks  my  heart  to  part  from  you — 
and  yet,  it  is  best,  it  is  best.  God  will  surely  befriend  you  in  that 
strange  land." 

She  stooped  over  and  kissed  him  lovingly,  tenderly,  while 
large  tears  ran  down  her  cheeks  and  sobs  choked  her  voice. 

A  harsh  voice  called  :  "  Joseph  !" 

The  boy  started  up  and  ran  quickly  to  where  Simon  stood 
unloading  an  unwieldy  cart  laden  with  packages  of  various  sizes 
and  shapes. 

"  Here !"  said  the  latter  roughly ;  "  why  are  you  always 
worrying  the  Mother  with  your  foolish  whining?  Jump  about 
quickly  and  help  me,  for  we  must  be  ready  to  leave  to-morrow 
before  noon." 

The  child  grew  very  pale ;  he  bit  his  lip  and  made  no  reply, 


JOSEPH'S  DREAM.  21 

busying   himself   with  carrying  in  the  bundles  his   brother  was 
unpacking. 

Before  his  father  died,  no  one  had  ever  thought  of  scolding 
him ;  but  now  all  was  changed.  The  older  son  had  stepped 
quietly  into  his  father's  authority,  and  the  gentle,  timid  mother 
was  afraid  to  check  him.  So  he  had  forced  from  her  a  consent 
that  Joseph  should  go  with  his  cousin  and  himself ;  for  they  had 
promised  to  join  a  party  of  friends  and  neighbors  who  were  going 
out  to  America  to  sell  the  wares  of  the  Holy  Land.  There  was 
no  chance  of  making  a  living  in  Bethlehem,  he  said,  and  they 
were  already  burdened  with  debt.  In  the  great  world  beyond  the 
seas  they  would  soon  get  rich,  and  they  would  come  back  and  live 
like  the  English  lords  when  they  travel. 

The  boys  were  very  much  alike  in  a  way,  yet  strangely 
dissimilar. 

Simon  was  about  twenty-one,  tall,  erect  and  graceful.  His 
complexion  was  swarthy,  his  eyes  and  hair  very  dark,  his  nose 
aquiline,  the  lower  part  of  his  face  heavy-set  and  muscular. 

Joseph  too  had  the  complexion  and  hair  of  his  race.  But 
his  eyes,  fringed  by  long  black  lashes,  were  of  a  dark  hazel  tint ; 
and  his  skin,  though  dark,  was  transparent  and  easily  varied  with 
his  emotion  from  a  creamy  paleness  to  a  crimson  flush.  His 
mouth  was  small,  and  his  nose  and  chin  delicately  chiselled. 

Late  that  night  as  he  lay  asleep  in  his  little  cot,  with  the 
starlight  through  the  open  window  throwing  a  gentle  radiance 
upon  him,  his  mother  crept  stealthily  into  the  room.  She  leaned 
over  him  and  saw  that  his  placid  face  bore  the  traces  of  tears. 
His  hands  were  joined  and,  tightly  clasped  between  his  fingers, 
was  the  well-worn  rosary  she  had  taken  from  her  husband's  hands 
after  his  death  and  given  to  her  youngest  child. 

She  kissed  his  eyelids,  his  rosy  mouth,  his  little  brown  hands, 
murmuring :  "  Holy  Joseph,  protect  my  fatherless  boy ;  Holy 
Virgin,  keep  him  pure ;  Sweet  Jesus,  have  mercy  on  him  !" 

The  child  smiled  in  his  sleep.  He  dreamed  he  was  in  the 
Holy  Cave  with  Jesus,  Mary,  and  Joseph.  The  Virgin  Mother 
had  put  her  Babe  into  his  arms  and  allowed  him  to  kiss  the  lips 


22  JOSEPH'S  DREAM. 

of  the  Divine  Lord.  Then  he  thought  St.  Joseph  said  kindly : 
"Little  Joseph  is  my  namesake;  he  shall  be  a  brother  to  the 
Holy  Child  Jesus.  He  shall  live  to  preach  His  Gospel,  and  to 
break  the  Bread  of  Life,  unto  those  who  hunger  for  It." 

H. 

High  Mass  was  over ;  and  the  crowd  was  slowly  filing  out 
through  the  narrow  portals  of  St.  Joseph's  Church  in  one  of  our 
populous  cities  of  the  South.  It  was  a  poor  little  weather-beaten 
edifice,  half-brick  and  half-frame,  in  which  the  Catholics  of  that 
portion  of  the  city  had  worshipped  for  nearly  twenty  years. 
They  often  laughingly  called  it  Bethlehem.  But  although  stable- 
like  in  its  exterior,  within  all  was  light  and  fragrant  of  burning 
incense.  The  altar  was  radiant,  and  the  aisles  echoed  to  the  same 
stately  hymns  that  have  charmed  royal  ears  in  the  cathedrals  of 
other  lands. 

The  little  old  church  is  now  torn  away,  and  a  handsome 
Gothic  pile  occupies  its  place.  But  it  is  not  too  late  to  chronicle 
one  sweet  act  of  mercy  which  was  commenced  within  those  humble 
walls,  hallowed  by  so  many  sacred  memories. 

Two  ladies  in  deep  mourning,  Miss  Fitzhugh  and  her  sister, 
were  slowly  proceeding  down  the  aisle.  Suddenly  Martha,  the 
younger  of  the  two,  called  her  sister's  attention  to  a  child  kneeling 
in  a  sheltered  corner  near  the  confessional.  He  was  clad  in  a 
coarse  woollen  suit,  and  his  feet  were  encased  in  heavy  boots 
several  sizes  too  large  for  him.  His  little  hands  were  bronzed  by 
the  sun  and  roughened  by  exposure  to  the  cold  weather.  But 
these  signs  of  toil  and  poverty  were  not  what  had  attracted  her 
notice ;  it  was  the  expression  of  his  face. 

He  clasped  in  his  hands  an  old  rosary ;  and  his  eyes  were  fixed 
with  rapturous  devotion  upon  the  little  crucifix,  held  between  his 
thumb  and  forefinger.  His  face  was  pale,  but  placid.  Great 
tears  streamed  down  his  cheeks  and  splashed  unheeded  upon  the 
sacred  image. 

As  Miss  Fitzhugh  glanced  toward  him,  he  reverently  blessed 
himself  and  rose  to  leave,  when  he  met  her  kind  eyes  fixed  upon 


JOSEPH'S  DREAM.  23 

him.  She  had  scarcely  time  to  catch  in  return  a  pleading,  sorrow- 
ful look  from  the  large  brown  eyes,  before  she  saw  a  young  man 
roughly  nudge  the  boy  and  push  him  forward.  The  little  fellow 
hesitated,  glanced  at  the  ladies  and  said  a  few  words  to  his  com- 
panion, who  replied  with  an  angry  scowl  and  hurried  him  away. 

This  is  what  the  boy  said  :  "  That  sweet  lady  has  eyes  like 
the  Mother,  like  the  Holy  Virgin.  I  want  to  speak  to  her. 
Please,  Simon,  let  me  speak  to  her." 

"  No,  Joseph,  you  act  like  a  simpleton.  What  has  the 
strange  lady  to  do  with  you  ?" 

By  this  time  they  were  outside  the  church.  Another  young 
man,  whom  they  called  Cousin  John,  was  with  them  ;  and  thus 
the  three  Arabs  hurried  away,  little  Joseph  running  and  limping 
painfully  to  keep  up  with  the  swinging  stride  of  his  companions. 

"  What  a  beautiful  child  !"  said  Miss  Fitzhugh,  as  the  sisters 
walked  thoughtfully  homeward.  "His  great,  dark  eyes  haunt 
me,  and  I  believe  he  wanted  to  speak  to  me.  Did  you  see  how 
roughly  that  man  hurried  him  away?  I  know  the  little  fellow 
was  speaking  of  us." 

Several  times  during  the  day  she  alluded  to  the  little  scene, 
and  said  :  "  That  child  is  surely  in  trouble  ;  I  know  it.  His  sad 
eyes  follow  me,  and  I  cannot  keep  them  out  of  my  mind.  I  will 
speak  to  him,  if  we  see  him  again." 

Martha,  finding  that  the  subject  really  distressed  her  sister's 
tender  heart,  tried  to  laugh  away  the  thought  of  the  poor  Italians, 
as  she  supposed  them  to  be.  But  her  gentle  ridicule  had  not  the 
desired  effect. 

That  afternoon,  at  Vespers,  Miss  Fitzhugh  prayed  for  the 
stranger  and  asked  St.  Joseph  to  help  her  to  befriend  the  poor 
child.  "  For  I  know,"  she  said,  "  his  little  heart  is  in  sore  dis- 
tress, and  he  must  be  a  good  child  to  say  his  beads  with  such 
tender  devotion."  Finally  she  concluded  that  the  good  Saint 
probably  knew  more  about  the  poor  little  fellow  than  she  did,  and 
that  he  would  certainly  help  her  to  find  him  and  comfort  him  in 
some  way  or  another.  Hers  was  a  simple  childlike  faith  into 
which  no  shadow  of  doubt  ever  entered. 


24  JOSEPH'S  DREAM. 

Several  weeks  passed  before  another  glimpse  was  caught  of 
the  foreigners.  Then  again  they  were  seen  in  the  vestibule  of  the 
church,  one  morning  after  Mass.  Miss  Fitzhugh'  had  no  excuse 
to  speak  to  them  ;  but  she  caught  the  boy's  glance  and  gave  him 
a  radiant  little  smile  that  warmed  every  corner  of  his  lonely  heart 
and  brought  the  bright,  glad  light  into  his  sorrowful  eyes. 

A  few  days  after,  she  met  him  on  the  street  with  a  heavy 
basket  of  small  articles,  which  he  was  peddling  about  the  city. 
She  examined  his  wares,  bought  a  few  trifles,  and  then  questioned 
him  about  himself. 

A  child's  instinct  is  rarely  mistaken,  and  Joseph  knew  he  had 
found  a  true  friend.  In  broken  language,  for  his  English  was  not 
yet  very  intelligible,  he  told  her  how  he  and  his  brother  and 
cousin  had  come  from  Bethlehem.  He  told  of  his  mother  and 

• 

sisters  at  home,  and  of  their  wants  and  hopes. 

She  conjectured  that  he  was  badly  treated  by  his  brother  and 
cousin,  and  that  he  was  overworked.  He  was  plainly  so  foot-sore 
that  he  could  scarcely  walk  ;  and,  worse  than  all,  she  found  that  he 
was  heart-sick  and  home-sick  for  his  mother  and  his  quiet,  peaceful 
home  so  far  away.  That  he  had  refined  instincts  and  aspirations 
above  his  station,  perhaps  unintelligible  to  his  companions,  was 
easily  seen  ;  and  the  tender,  womanly  heart  of  his  new  friend  was 
at  once  enlisted  in  his  behalf.  She  determined  that  he  should  be 
cared  for  and  protected.  Giving  him  her  address,  she  told  him  to 
come  to  see  her  and  tell  her  all  about  the  Holy  Land ;  and  she 
would  show  him  pictures  of  the  holy  places  near  his  home  and  of 
the  Saints  he  loved. 

He  thanked  her,  and  his  expressive  eyes  sparkled  with  pleas- 
ure and  gratitude. 

Miss  Fitzhugh  was  not  wealthy.  Indeed  she  was  poor,  if  we 
may  call  one  poor  whose  heart  is  overflowing  with  holy  thoughts 
and  generous  impulses.  But  she  determined  to  enlist  her  friends 
and  interest  them  in  this  poor,  home-sick,  desolate  child. 

He  came  to  see  her,  as  he  had  promised.  She  drew  from  him 
his  whole  simple  story — his  father's  death,  the  parting  with  mother 
and  sisters,  the  ocean  voyage  in  the  reeking  steerage  of  an  emigrant 


JOSEPH'S  DREAM.  25 

ship,  the  cities  they  had  visited,  the  rebuffs  they  had  met  with, 
the  wearisome  tramps,  the  cheerless  lodgings  where  he  had  to  be 
cook  and  porter  and  drudge  at  night,  after  a  long,  weary  day  of 
toil  and  travel.  And  finally,  with  sighs  and  blushes,  came  the 
heaviest,  hardest  trial  of  all,  his  longing  to  study  and  learn  so  that 
he  might  grow  up  to  be  a  priest. 

"  I  know  so  little,"  he  said  sadly,  "  and  I  grow  so  fast.  It 
will  take  many,  many  years  to  make  me  wise  enough,  and  I  shall 
soon  be  a  man." 

Miss  Fitzhugh  showed  him  some  pictures  of  the  Holy  Land, 
^nd  of  the  Blessed  Mother  and  the  Saints.  From  these  he 
picked  out  one  of  St.  Joseph  and  fervently  kissed  it.  After  the 
Blessed  Mother,  St.  Joseph  was  his  favorite  Saint. 

This  was  a  very  happy  day  for  the  little  Arab.  After  a  gen- 
erous repast,  he  took  his  leave  and,  running  lightly  down  the 
steps,  hurried  back  to  his  brother's  poor  lodgings. 

Miss  Fitzhugh  went  at  once  to  work  devising  plans  to  help 
this  little  waif,  who  had  crept  so  suddenly  but  surely  into  her 
compassionate  heart.  She  learned  that  he  could  enter  a  Catholic 
night-school  in  the  city.  She  raised  means  to  clothe  him  nicely, 
so  that  he  might  present  a  neat  appearance  among  the  other  boys. 
All  things  were  looking  bright  for  the  little  Arab  when,  suddenly, 
he  disappeared. 

m. 

For  several  weeks  Miss  Fitzhugh  waited  in  hopes  that 
Joseph  would  visit  her  again.  Her  heart  was  heavy  with  fore- 
bodings of  trouble  for  the  child. 

At  last  she  met  him  in  a  part  of  the  city  remote  from  her 
dwelling.  He  was  carrying  a  heavy  basket,  his  face  was  paler  and 
thinner,  his  eyes  looked  unnaturally  large,  and  his  steps  were  weary 
and  lagging.  A  pathetic  look  of  quiet  endurance  was  on  his  face. 

When  he  saw  his  kind  friend,  the  warm  blood  rushed  to  his 
cheeks  and  his  eyes  grew  bright  with  joy. 

"  Well,  my  little  Joseph,"  she  said,  "  why  did  you  never 
come  again  to  see  me  ?  I  have  good  news  for  you.  I  can  help 
you  to  go  to  school  and  learn ;  will  not  that  make  you  happy  ?" 


RSSBMPTIOH 1IOSITY  LIBRRRY 


26  JOSEPH'S  DREAM. 

He  blushed  and  hung  his  head,  a  furtive  look  crept  into  the 
frank  eyes,  and  he  painfully  stammered  some  trifling  excuse. 
Finally  he  told  her  that  his  brother  had  forbidden  him  to  see  her 
again,  and  had  even  beaten  him  for  asking  to  go  to  her  house. 
He  would  never  consent  for  him  to  ro  to  school.  It  was  no  use 
to  ask. 

"  I  will  see  your  brother,"  said  the  lady  resolutely.  "  Per- 
haps he  fears  I  am  not  a  true  friend  to  you  and  will  do  you 
harm." 

Procuring  Simon's  address,  she  sent  for  him  on  the  plea 
of  important  business.  He  came,  and  was  at  first  surly  and  dis- 
agreeable. But  finally,  thawing  out  under  her  genial  manner,  he 
consented  to  let  his  little  brother  enter  the  night-school. 

They  could  not  spare  him,  he  said,  .for  his  work  was  worth 
much  money  to  them  and  they  were  very  poor.  People  bought 
much  from  him  because  he  was  little,  and  they  pitied  him.  He 
was  too  useful  on  the  street  to  waste  his  time  going  to  school ;  but 
he  might  study  at  night. 

The  crafty,  selfish  expression  of  the  older  Arab  impressed 
Miss  Fitzhugh  far  more  unfavorably  than  anything  she  had 
learned  from  Joseph.  She  secretly  resolved  to  free  the  child,  as 
soon  as  possible,  from  the  tyranny  of  his  unnatural  brother. 

Little  Joseph  entered  the  night-school,  where  his  polite, 
gentle  manners,  his  earnestness  and  attention,  won  all  hearts. 
The  boys  loved  to  gather  round  him  during  recess ;  they  never 
tired  of  hearing  him  recite  verses  and  prayers  in  his  native  tongue. 
He  was  remarkably  bright.  Every  one  that  conversed  with  him 
remarked  what  a  fine  mind  he  must  have  to  learn  so  readily,  to 
understand  so  quickly,  a  language  which  a  few  months  ago  had 
been  entirely  new  and  strange  to  him. 

About  this  time  John,  who  was  a  most  plausible  fellow,  came 
frequently  to  see  Miss  Fitzhugh  concerning  his  little  cousin.  He 
finally  procured  admission  for  himself  to  the  night-school,  where 
his  graceful  and  insinuating  manners  and  his  ready  wit  won  him 
many  admirers.  Bat  Joseph  always  seemed  ill  at  ease  with  him  ; 
and  one  could  detect  a  nervous,  frightened  look  about  him  as  if 


JOSEPH'S  DREAM.  27 

he  were  continually  on  the  lookout  for  a  pinch  or  a  blow.  His 
lessons  were  never  so  good  nor  his  manners  so  free  when  John 
was  watching  him.  Still,  he  learned  fast  and  won  friends  every  day. 
Whether  it  was  his  bright,  intelligent  face  or  his  large, 
sorrowful  eyes,  or  his  quick,  attentive  manner,  I  know  not ;  but 
there  was  a  charm  about  the  little  Arab  that  proved  an  "  open 
sesame"  to  all  hearts.  He  had  been  fitted  up  in  comfortable 
clothes,  such  as  are  worn  by  American  boys  in  ordinary  life. 
With  his  neat  suit,  hi&  clean,  shining  face,  and  his  soft,  dark  curls 
crowned  by  a  red  Turkish  cap,  he  made  an  attractive  picture. 
But  the  life  of  hard,  grinding  toil  never  ceased.  Day  by  day  he 
grew  paler,  thinner,  more  ethereal-looking. 

IV. 

One  Sunday  evening,  Joseph  came  to  see  Miss  Fitzhugh,  and 
she  noticed  that  he  limped  painfully.  She  asked  him  if  he  were 
tired. 

"Some,"  he  said  quietly,  sinking  into  the  chair  to  which 
she  motioned  him. 

Presently  she  glanced  up  and  saw  that,  although  his  face 
was  calm  and  placid,  great  tears  were  streaming  from  his  eyes 
and  his  hands  were  tightly  clasped  as  if  in  pain. 

"  My  poor  child,  what  is  grieving  you  ?" 

"My  feet  are  very  bad,"  he  said.  "I  can  hardly  walk. 
Yesterday  I  walked,  walked,  \valked  all  day ;  and  when  I  came 
home  at  night,  I  had  only  sold  five  cents."  Here  he  held  up  his 
five  fingers  with  a  little  grimace  of  disgust,  which  would  have 
been  amusing  had  it  not  been  so  pitiful. 

Meanwhile  Martha,  who  had  quietly  left  the  room,  returned 
with  a  basin  of  warm  water  and  Castile  soap,  a  little  box  of  salve, 
and  soft  towels. 

"  Joseph,"  she  said,  "  I  am  going  to  bathe  your  feet.  No, 
no,  you  must  not  move  " — for  the  boy  blushed  and  stammered, 
putting  out  his  hands  to  prevent  her.  "  Don't  you  remember  how 
our  dear  Lord  washed  His  disciples'  feet  ?  and  don't  you  think  it 
will  please  Him  for  me  to  wash  and  anoint  your  feet?" 


28  JOSEPH'S  DREAM. 

While  she 'was  speaking,  she  had  unfastened  and  taken  off 
his  shoes  and  stockings.  Swollen,  discolored  with  bruises  and 
sores,  the  poor  feet  were  indeed  as  he  had  said,  "  very  bad."  It 
was  a  mystery  to  her  how  he  could  bear  his  weight  upon  them. 
Her  face  grew  dark  with  indignation  as  she  thought  of  the  cruel 
men  who  could  allow  a  child  so  to  suffer.  But  she  tried,  with  her 
wonted  gentleness,  to  banish  the  uncharitable  feeling,  remembering 

that 

Evil  is  wrought  by  want  of  thought 
As  well  as  want  of  heart. 

Very  tenderly  she  bathed  and  dried  the  poor  swollen  feet, 
spreading  a  soothing  ointment  with  a  soft  linen  cloth  on  the 
wounded  places.  Then  she  replaced  his  shoes  and  stockings. 
They  were  very  much  too  large,  else  he  could  not  have  borne  their 
pressure. 

"  Sister,"  she  said,  "  this  is  frightful ;  something  must  be 
done.  His  brother  must  be  forced  to  let  us  get  the  child  a 
home." 

"  Do  not  tell  my  brother,"  pleaded  the  child  ;  "  he  will  beat 
me  for  letting  you  know." 

"  But,  my  boy,  you  cannot  continue  walking  with  your  feet 
in  this  condition.  Only  yesterday  a  good  lady  told  me  she  would 
give  you  a  home  with  her  for  a  month,  until  something  better  can 
be  done.  You  might  stay  with  us,  but  we  have  only  these  two 
rooms  and  could  not  make  you  comfortable.  Miss  Halleck  is  a 
good  kind  lady.  She  is  not  rich,  but  she  can  give  you  a  little 
room  and  you  can  pay  your  board  by  helping  a  bit  in  the 
kitchen.  And  then  you  can  have  more  time  to  study.  You  can 
still  go  to  the  night-school,  and  she  will  take  you  to  church  and  to 
Sunday-school  with  her." 

The  lad's  eyes  brightened  a  moment.  Then  the  old  helpless 
look  came  back  as  he  said  :  "  My  brother  will  never  let  me  go  to 
her.  It  is  no  use,  no  use." 

"  I  will  see  him  this  very  day,"  replied  Miss  Fitzhugh ;  and, 
suiting  the  action  to  the  words,  she  donned  her  bonnet  and  wraps 
and  started  out  with  Joseph  to  find  his  brother. 


JOSEPH'S   DREAM.  29 

Simon  scowled  at  the  boy,  and  spoke  a  few  words  in  Arabic. 
Joseph  with  a  mute,  frightened  look  shrank  away  from  his  kind 
protector  and  retired  into  a  corner  of  the  room.  The  lady 
explained  her  errand,  and  at  first  met  with  a  decided  refusal. 

"  No,  he  cannot  go.  We  are  very  poor,  we  need  him.  It  is 
for  his  good  as  well  as  ours  to  work.  He  is  strong  and  well.  He 
walks  lame  to  make  people  sorry  for  him ;  you  should  see  how  fast 
he  can  walk  when  he  is  with  me."  Here  Simon  laughed  sneer- 
ingly.  "  O  madam,  you  do  not  know  that  boy.  You  think  him 
a  little  saint  because  he  says  his  beads  and  weeps,  and  because  he 
talks  soft.  Oh,  but  he  is  an  idle,  deceitful  young" — here  he 
stopped  for  a  word,  and  finally  brought  out  what  he  evidently 
considered  the  climax  of  a  terrible  accusation  in  America — "  dude 
— an  idle,  whining  young  dude." 

The  winding  up  of  this  oration  was  so  irresistibly  funny  to 
Miss  Fitzhugh  that,  indignant  as  she  was,  she  laughed  heartily. 
It  was  the  best  thing  she  could  have  done.  Simon  accepted  her 
laughter  for  approbation.  He  became  mollified,  and  gradually 
yielded  to  her  persuasions  to  let  the  child  have  at  least  a  month's 
rest  with  the  kind  lady  who  offered  him  a  home.  It  was  settled 
that  he  could  go  at  once. 

I  know  not  who  slept  the  most  soundly  that  night,  Joseph 
in  his  soft  downy  bed  in  his  new  home,  or  Miss  Fitzhugh  and 
her  sister  on  pillows  which  surely  ought  to  have  been  blessed  by 
happy  dreams. 

The  next  day  Simon  and  his  cousin  came  together  and 
explained  that  they  could  not  let  Joseph  stay  away  from  them, 
unless  they  could  be  promised  five  dollars  a  month  to  recompense 
them  for  the  loss  of  his  services.  Deceived  by  their  plausible 
words,  Miss  Fitzhugh  agreed  to  this  demand.  It  was  impossible 
for  her  to  do  so  unaided ;  but  such  was  her  faith  that  she  felt 
certain  the  means  would  be  forthcoming  to  pay  for  the  child's 
liberty.  She  had  already  embarrassed  herself  in  assisting  him, 
but  heretofore  she  had  found  her  friends  glad  to  advance  her 
charitable  designs.  She  felt  confident  of  their  continued  gener- 
osity. 


3O  JOSEPH'S  DREAM. 

When  she  told  them  of  this  new  imposition  they  were  very 
indignant.  What,  were  the  selfish,  crafty  fellows  not  grateful  to 
have  the  poor  child  cared  for,  clothed,  and  educated?  How 
dared  they  attempt  to  extort  money  from  her  on  such  a  silly 
pretext  ? 

Poor  little  Miss  Fitzhugh  was  fairly  overwhelmed  by  the 
tempest  she  had  evoked.  But  Providence  came  to  her  assistance, 
and  before  the  end  of  the  month  she  had  means  to  keep  her 
•promise  to  Simon. 

She  told  him  decidedly,  however,  that  her  friends  had  deter- 
mined to  have  the  boy  taken  care  of,  and  that  under  the  laws  of 
this  country  he  could  be  punished  for  cruelty  to  children.  At 
this  he  flew  into  a  terrible  rage  and  went  away  scowling  and 
muttering :  "  She  will  get  the  worst  of  it  yet,  for  meddling  with 
that  good-for-nothing  boy." 

V. 

Joseph  will  never  forget  that  happy  month  with  Miss 
Halleck.  How  quickly  sped  the  days  sweetened  by  prayer  and 
study  and  light,  cheering  toil.  He  was  kept  busy  assisting  the 
elder  ladies  of  the  family  just  as  he  had  been  taught  to  help  his 
mother.  With  his  deft,  tidy  ways  he  accomplished  a  thousand 
trifling  things  that  are  never  noticed  until  the  omission  of  them 
recalls  their  great  necessity. 

Often  he  would  tell  them  of  his  distant  home,  of  the  great 
Convent  and  Church  of  the  Nativity,  of  the  holy  places  in  Jeru- 
salem, and  of  the  pilgrims  from  all  over  the  world  who  flock 
incessantly  to  the  scenes  of  our  Saviour's  birth  and  death  and 
resurrection. 

"And  just  to  think,"  Miss  Halleck  would  often  say,  "our 
little  friend  here  has  played  hundreds  of  times  in  the  hills  and 
valleys  of  that  holy  land,  his  feet  have  walked  over  the  very  spots 
hallowed  by  the  footprints  of  our  Lord  Himself.  O  Joseph,  how- 
much  you  must  love  your  home  !" 

"  Yes,  I  love  my  home — my  poor,  humble,  holy  Bethlehem. 
How  happy  we  should  be  if  our  land  were  free  as  your  America  is." 


JOSEPH'S  DREAM.  31 

He  never  tired  of  geography,  but  studied  it  greedily.  He 
would  hunt  for  the  map  of  the  world  and  trace  with  his  finger 
the  long  route  he  had  journeyed  over.  He  would  linger  along 
the  shores  of  Italy  and  Southern  France,  then  out  the  Mediter- 
ranean and  across  the  Atlantic  into  the  harbor  of  New  York. 
When  he  reached  that  city,  a  sad,  frightened  look  would  come 
into  his  eyes,  as  though  painful  memories  were  aroused. 

"  I  like  it  not — it  is  a  great  place  ;  but  oh,  the  noise  !"  and 
then  he  would  clap  his  hands  to  his  ears  as  if  to  shut  out  a  deafen- 
ing roar. 

He  was  quick  and  agile  in  every  movement  and  full  of 
gesticulations ;  indeed  there  was  scarcely  an  emotion  that  he  could 
not  portray  with  the  joint  movements  of  hands  and  eyes. 

The  beginning  of  another  month  brought  a  new  change  into 
the  boy's  life.  Mrs.  Lee  was  an  amiable  widow  lady  with  two 
daughters,  living  in  a  charming  country  home  a  few  miles  from 
the  city.  She  had  seen  Joseph  and  heard  his  story.  She  became 
very  much  interested  in  him,  and  offered  to  give  him  a  home  as 
long  as  he  should  need  it. 

Here  he  was  in  another  quiet,  refined  Catholic  family.  Under 
the  gentle  influence  of  these  kind  ladies,  the  child's  mind 
expanded  like  a  beautiful  flower  opening  to  the  sunshine.  At 
the  same  time,  the  pure,  invigorating  country  air  brought  back  the 
roses  to  his  wan  cheeks  and  the  buoyancy  of  childhood  to  his 
limbs.  The  poor  home-sick  boy  became  deeply  attached  to  his 
new  friends,  and  they  in  turn  grew  very  fond  and  proud  of  their 
young  ward. 

Meanwhile,  Miss  Fitzhugh  was  enjoying  an  animated  corre- 
spondence with  a  New  York  priest — the  Father  of  blessed  memory 
for  homeless  boys.  It  resulted  in  securing  a  permanent  home  for 
the  poor  child. 

Mr.  Barry  was  a  gentleman  of  charitable  disposition  and  some 
little  means.  He  interested  himself  in  the  case,  and  promised  to 
help  Miss  Fitzhugh  who  was  always  fearing  the  trouble  they 
might  have  with  the  older  boys.  They  had  lately  grown  very 
abusive  and  threatening. 


32  JOSEPH'S  DREAM. 

Mr.  Barry  went  to  the  Orphans'  Court  of  the  Southern  State, 
told  the  whole  story,  and  asked  to  be  appointed  the  boy's  guardian. 
The  authorities  replied  that  such  a  step  was  unnecessary,  there 
being  no  property  involved.  They  directed  him  to  act  as  he 
thought  best  for  the  child's  welfare.  Accordingly,  he  fitted  Joseph 
out  nicely  and  took  him  with  himself  to  New  York.  He  parted 
with  him  only  after  he  had  placed  him  safely  in  the  Father's 
mission  school,  under  the  patronage  of  the  Immaculate  Virgin. 

Joseph's  leave-taking  of  his  friends  was  very  touching.  Miss 
Fitzhugh  and  her  sister  were  at  the  depot  to  bid  him  "  God 
speed  !"  Martha  stood  a  little  behind  her  sister,  carefully  hold- 
ing a  small  basket  packed  with  cakes  and  fruit.  Joseph  greeted 
them  with  the  innocent  affection  of  a  little  child.  But  the  New 
York  train  was  ready,  and  so  he  followed  his  guardian  into  the 
coach.  He  sat  gazing  back  as  long  as  the  ladies  were  in  sight. 
At  last,  as  he  turned  his  head  from  the  window,  his  eyes  were 
full  of  tears. 

VI. 

Joseph's  journey  to  New  York  had  taken  place  while  his 
brother  and  cousin  .were  out  of  the  city  on  one  of  their  periodical 
tramps,  peddling  through  the  adjacent  counties.  On  their  return 
they  learned  what  had  happened,  and  were  furious. 

John  was  particularly  disagreeable.  He  appeared  several 
times  at  the  door  of  Miss  Fitzhugh  with  surly,  downcast  counte- 
nance and  threatening  language.  He  commenced  dogging  her 
footsteps.  He  appeared  suddenly  at  the  most  unexpected  times 
and  places.  At  last,  fairly  worn  out  with  his  persistence,  she 
threatened  to  appeal  to  the  police  for  protection.  He  in  return 
declared  he  would  take  his  grievances  to  the  Turkish  minister. 

A  few  days  after  this  last  threat,  the  ladies  were  startled  by 
a  summons  to  the  parlor.  It  was  from  a  gentleman  whose  name 
was  not  familiar  to  either  of  them.  He  introduced  himself  as  the 
Secretary  of  the  Turkish  legation.  He  explained  his  visit  by 
saying  that  he  came  to  inquire  into  the  case  of  a  little  Arab 
whom  they  had  befriended. 

The  Secretary  was  accompanied  by  his  wife,  a  gentle  little 


JOSEPH'S  DREAM. 


33 


foreigner.  He  was  himself  of  French  training  and  marriage,  and 
his  manners  were  extremely  suave  and  polished.  He  apologized 
profoundly,  in  his  broken  English,  for  disturbing  them. 

"  I  wish  not  to  trouble  you,"  he  said,  "  or  to  cause  you  any 
uneasiness.  But  these  boys,  these  Arabs  have  complained  to  the 
minister,  and  he  directed  me  to  investigate."  He  then  listened 
attentively,  while  Miss  Fitzhugh  related  the  whole  story. 

When  she  finished  there  was  a  suspicious  moisture  in  the 
bright  eyes  of  the  French  lady.  She  murmured,  "Poor  child, 
poor  child !" 

It  was  the  critical  moment.  The  Secretary  arose,  looked 
doubtingly  at  his  wife,  and  then  grasped  Miss  Fitzhugh's  hand 
impulsively : 

"Allow  me,  madam,  to  say  you  have  done  a  noble  work. 
God  will  bless  you  for  it.  I  promise  you  shall  not  be  again 
annoyed  by  these  men." 

The  trial  was  over ;  he  kept  his  promise. 

Long  afterward,  poor,  frightened,  yet  firmly  charitable  Miss 
Fitzhugh  learned  that  the  two  cousins  were  living  honest,  indus- 
trious lives.  What  was  more — it  is  a  side-light  on  the  Oriental 
character — they  had  at  once  begun  corresponding  regularly  with 
little  Joseph  in  his  New  York  home  ! 

And  now  for  Joseph's  dream  which  came  to  him  as  he  left, 
perhaps  forever,  his  own  and  the  Christ-Child's  birthplace  ? 

In  far  Bethlehem,  his  mother's  heart  is  comforted ;  for  he  is 
safe.  The  child  who  has  inherited  from  her  the  blood  of  the 
desert  wanderers  cannot  but  chafe  at  times  against  the  confinement 
of  school.  But  when  the  longing  for  home  and  mother  swells  his 
heart  almost  to  bursting,  he  knows  to  whom  to  go  for  comfort. 
His  Christian  mother  and  his  dream  in  Bethlehem  have  taught 
him.  For  in  the  Holy  Family  of  Bethlehem — with  the  Divine 
Child  Jesus  and  His  Virgin  Mother  Mary  and  His  foster-father 
St.  Joseph — the  whole  world  can  find  their  true  home. 


MOSAIC    OP    ST.    APOLLINARIS    PROM    RAVENNA  *(6TH    CENTURY). 

THE   CHASUBLE. 

By  the  Secretary  of  a  Tabernacle  Society. 

"And  thou  shalt  make  a  holy  vesture  for  Aaron, 
thy  brother,  for  glory  and  for  beauty  ...  in 
which  he,  being  consecrated,  may  minister  unto  Me  in 
the  priest's  office."  Exodus,  xxviii.  2,  3. 

r  I  THE  more  we  look  into  the  ritual  of  the  Church,  the  more 
we  are  impressed  by  the  deep  significance  of  her  ceremonies 
and  accessories.  The  Church  of  Form,  she  is  called  !  How 
little  do  those  who  so  name  her  understand  the  beautiful  lessons 
of  holiness  and  of  truth  she  thereby  teaches  her  intelligent  child- 
ren. The  pomp  of  a  court  is  looked  upon  with  awe,  even  in 
democratic  America ;  when  we  go  abroad,  we  willingly  join  in  and 
enjoy  the  least  part  of  ceremonial  to  which  we  are  admitted  ;  we 
watch,  with  intense  interest,  the  customs  handed  down  through 
generations,  and  we  long  to  be  acquainted  with  their  significance. 
Can  any  court  be  more  worthy  of  our  attentive  study  than  that 
of  the  Great  King  of  Kings  ?  As  we  kneel  before  His  throne,  the 
lighted  candles  take  us  back  in  imagination  to  the  Catacombs  and 
show  us  there  the  courageous  piety  of  the  early  Christians,  which 
we  are  so  slow  to  imitate.  The  floating  incense  calls  to  mind  our 
own  vocation  to  Christianity  in  the  offering  of  the  Magi  to  the 
Babe  of  Bethlehem,  while  it  fills  us  with  the  spirit  of  prayer 
which  we  beg  of  God  may  be  directed  like  incense  in  His  sight. 


34 


THE  CHASUBLE. 


35 


So  with  all  other  things  relating  to  the  service  of  the  Altar, 
and  more  than  all,  with  the  Church  Vestments,  those  robes  '  for 
beauty  and  for  glory '  in  which  the  eternal  priesthood  minister 
unto  God  ! 

Most  striking  of  these  is  the  Chasuble,  the  last  garment  put 
on  by  the  priest  in  celebrating  the  sacrifice  of  the  Mass.  He  is 
vested  in  Amice  and  Alb,  in  Girdle,  Maniple,  and  Stole ;  then  he 
places  over  all  the  Chasuble,  embroidered  with  a  cross  to  repre- 
sent that  which  was  borne  by  Christ  upon  His  sacred  shoulders. 
It  is  a  question  much  discussed  among  litur- 
gical writers,  as  to  whether  the  Apostles  and  their 
immediate  successors  had  distinct  vestments  for 
Divine  Office,  or  whether  they  celebrated  in  ordi- 
nary dress.  The  latter  was  probably  the  case, 
though  Cardinal  Bona  tells  us  that  St.  Peter's 
Chasuble  was  brought  from  Antioch  to  the  Church 
of  St.  Genevieve  at  Paris,  and  there  carefully  pre- 
served.1 This,  however,  may  have  been  his  ordi- 
nary mantle  which  most  certainly  would  have  been 
held  in  great  reverence  by  the  early  Christians. 

I.       HlSTOEY    AND    DEVELOPMENTS. 

The  word  Chasuble — Casula — is  thought  by 
some,    among     others    by     St.    Isidore,    to     be 
derived    from   "  Casa "   meaning  a  little    house. 
In    the    thirteenth    century   it    seems    to   have 
been  identical  with  the  Planeta  and  the  Penula 
of  earlier  times,  being  the  cloak  worn  by  the 
Romans  for  protection  against  the  weather  and  also  in  military 
service.     There  were  two  kinds,  varying  in  adornment  according 
to  the  wealth  and  position  of  the  wearer ;  that  of  the  people,  short 
and  of  coarse  cloth,  was  called  penula,  while  that  worn  by  senators 
and  dignitaries,  of  rich  material  and  ample  folds,  was  called  Planeta. 
The  Church  retained  the  Planeta  for  her  priests  after  it  fell 
into  disuse  among  the  laity,  as  she  has  kept  the  Latin  for  her 
service  though  it  is  no  longer  a  living  language. 
1  Rer.  Liturg.,  p.  206. 


(llTH  CENTURY.) 


36 


THE   CHASUBLE. 


It  is  certain  that  it  was  early  associated  with  the  ministry. 
We  read  that  at  the  dedication  of  the  church  at  Tyre  Eusebius 
thus  addressed  the  Bishops :  "  Priests,  beloved  of  God,  who  are 
clothed  with  the  holy  tunic,  adorned  with  a  crown  of  glory  and 
covered  with  the  sacerdotal  robe." 

St.  Jerome,  speaking  of  the  dress  worn  by  the  priests  and 
levites  in  the  Old  Law  on  entering  the  Temple,  says  :  "  Let  us 
learn  from  this  that  we  should  not  enter  the  sanctuary  with  the 
clothes  of  every-day  life,  but  that  the  mysteries  of  the  Lord  should 
be  treated  with  a  pure  conscience  and  proper  dress." 

When  St.  Germain  was  made  Bishop  of  Auxerre  in  419, 
after  the  ceremony  of  the  tonsure  came  that  of  taking  off  the 

vain  ornaments  of  the  time, 
to  be  clothed  with  the  robe 
of  religion — habitus  reli- 
gionis.  From  this  time 
authors  began  to  speak  of 
the  sacred  vestments  as 
distinguished  from  those  of 
the  laity,  but  the  exclusive 
adoption  by  the  Church  of 
the  Roman  robes  of  rank 
and  position  in  the  early 
days  of  Christianity  may 
be  dated  from  the  end  of 
the  sixth  century. 

The  Chasuble  was  not  put  in  the  number  of  sacred  vestments 
till  after  the  Stole  and  even  the  Alb  and  the  Dalmatic  had  been 
counted  among  them.  It  is  mentioned  as  such  for  the  first  time 
in  one  of  the  Canons  of  the  Fourth  Council  of  Toledo. 

In  the  Latin  Church,  all  wear  the  same  Chasuble  ;  but  among 
the  Greeks  the  Chasuble  of  a  Bishop  has  a  number  of  crosses, 
while  an  Archbishop  wears  a  different  vestment  altogether  which 
is  supposed  to  resemble  the  garment  of  our  Lord  during  His 
Passion.  In  Russia,  since  the  time  of  Peter  the  Great,  even 
Bishops  wear  this  garment,  to  the  sides  and  sleeves  of  which  are 
attached  a  number  of  little  bells. 


CHASOBLE  OF  ST.  THOMAS  OF  CANTERBURY, 
FRONT  VIEW. 


THE   CHASUBLE. 


37 


A  circular  or  oval  garment  of  ample  dimensions,  the  Chasuble 
of  the  early  Christians  (old  English  form,  Chesible  or  Chysible) 
completely  enveloped  the  priest.  It  had  no  opening  at  the  side,  but 
only  one  for  the  head  to  pass  through.  This  form  without  change 
is  retained  by  the  Orientals,  Catholic  or  schismatic,  but  in  the  Latin 
Church  it  has  been  gradually  modified.  Most  of  the  early  monu- 
ments show  us  the  loose  round  form  ;  but  mosaics  of  the  sixth  cen- 
tury, which  are  known  to  be  correct  for  the  vestments,  represent  the 
Chasuble  pointed  back  and  front,  though  reaching  to  the  feet. 

In  the  collection  of  Buonnarnoti,  St.  Peter,  St.  Paul,  and  St. 
Lawrence  Deacon,  are  clothed  with  planetae  or  Chasubles,  sloping 

into  points. 

The  Chasuble  of  John  XII. 

in  the  curious  mosaic  formerly 
at  the  Lateran  Basilica,  and 
of  which  a  copy  exists  at  the 
Barberini  Museum,  is  of  the 
same  shape.  This  dates  from 
the  year  960  and  represents 
the  Pope  clothed  with  a  tunic, 
bowing  his  head  to  receive 
from  the  hands  of  the  deacons 
the  Chasuble,  which  is  sloped 
on  the  two  sides  and  ends  in  a 
point  back  and  front ;  it  reaches  only  to  the  knees. 

In  the  twelfth  century  it  was  much  cut  and  shortened 
in  front  and  at  the  sides ;  and,  later,  in  the  Rococo  period  all 
resemblance  to  the  first  type  had  disappeared.  This  excited  much 
indignation  among  the  writers  of  the  day  and  attempts  were  made 
to  revive  the  ancient  shape;  St.  Charles  Borromeo,"  in  a  pro- 
vincial council,  ordered  that  the  Chasubles  should  be  about  four 
and  a  half  feet  wide,  and  should  reach  nearly  to  the  heels. 

St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury's  Chasuble  is  described  as  three  feet 
ten  inches  deep,  and  its  shape  formed  the  half  of  a  perfect  circle 
joined  together;  the  seam  was  in  front  and  there  was  no  opening 
but  the  one  through  which  to  pass  the  head. 

2  See  November  MESSENGER,  1890,  frontispiece,  for  an  excellent  specimen. 


CHASCBLE  OF  ST.  THOMAS  OF  CANTERBURY, 
BACK  VIEW. 


38 


THE  CHASUBLE. 


These  changes  of  form  seem  to  have  come  about  naturally. 
The  priest,  robed  in  the  ample  Chasuble  of  the   early  centuries, 
needed  deacons  to  assist  him.     In  celebrating,  he  kept  his  hands 
beneath  it  during  the  Conftteor,  after  which  the  attendant  gathered 
up  the  pliant  folds  and  placed  the  Maniple  on 
his  arm.     During  the  solemn  parts  of  the  Mass, 
when  he  needed  the  free  use  of  his  arms,  the 
deacons  had  again  to  gather  up  the  vestment. 
The  Church,  ever  jealous  of  the  least  ceremony 
showing  her  antiquity,  keeps  in  her  service  this 
act  of  the  deacon  though  it  is  no  longer  neces- 
sary.    For    how   many   interesting    facts  and 
customs  are  we  not  indebted  to  her? 

Another  reason  for  the  change  of  form 
may  have  been  the  introduction  of  the  Latin 
cross.  Its  straight  lines  could  not  well  be 
preserved  on  the  flowing  robe  of  the  early 
Church.  In  the  Middle  Ages,  too,  there  was 
great  difficulty  in  procuring  pliant  material, 
and  as  the  vestments  became  rich  with  embroid- 
ery of  gems  and  gold  it  was  very  necessary  for 
them  to  be  of  portable  shape. 

It  is  a  rather  remarkable  fact  that  these 
changes  seem  to  have  been  the  work  of  private 
individuals;  there  is  no  known  decree  of  Popes  or  Councils  which 
have  sanctioned  them. 

The  present  form  of  Chasuble,  though  it  has  gained  in  con- 
venience, has  lost  much  of  the  grace  and  dignity  of  that  of  the 
earlier  times. 


ABBOT  OF  ST.  ALBAN8, 
(14TH  CENTURY.) 


ORPHREY, 14TH  CENTVRY. 


THE   END   OF  "THE  TRIALS   OF  A   MIND." 

THE  LAST  HOURS  OF  DR.  LEVI  SILLIMAN  IVES. 

> 
HE  morning  mail  of  November  7,  1890,  brought  me 

a  note  with  a  letter  from  William  Jefferson  Guern- 
sey, M.  D.,  of  Frankford,  Pa.,  a  recent  convert, 
which  has  occasioned  the  writing  of  this  article 
and  the  postponement  of  the  one  promised  on  the 
spiritual  side  of  Cardinal  Newman's  life. 

The  note,  written  in  a  feminine  hand,  read  as  follows  : 

"  Bishop  Levi  S.  Ives  died  in  the  communion  of  the  Epis- 
copal Church.  He  publicly  read  his  recantation  of  the  Church  of 
Rome.  He  died  about  1867.  This  book  [which  contains  the 
statement]  dates  1884." 

It  was  while  Protestant  Episcopal  Bishop  of  North  Carolina, 
during  a  visit  to  Rome,  that  Dr.  Levi  Silliman  Ives  resolved  to 
become  a  Catholic.  After  his  conversion  he  wrote  The  Trials  of  a 
Mind  in  its  Progress  to  Catholicism  as  "  a  letter  to  his  old  friends 
and  his  late  brethren  of  the  Protestant  episcopate  and  clergy."  In 
his  Introduction  he  gives  us  an  insight  of  himself : 

It  is  due  both  to  you  and  myself,  as  it  is  more  especially  to  the  cause  of 
God,  that  I  yield  to  the  promptings  of  my  heart  and  conscience,  and  lay  before 
you,  as  best  I  can,  the  reasons  which  have  constrained  me  to  take  so  serious,  and 
to  many  dear  ones,  as  well  as  to  myself,  so  trying  a  step  as  that  of  abandoning  the 
position  in  which  I  had  acted  as  a  minister  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  for 
more  than  thirty  years,  and  as  a  Bishop  of  the  same  for  more  than  twenty  years, 
and  of  seeking,  at  my  time  of  life,  admission,  as  a  mere  layman,  into  "the  Holy 
Catholic  Church, "  and  with  no  prospect  before  me  but  simply  peace  of  conscience, 
and  the  salvation  of  my  soul. 

Further  on  he  tells  vividly  and  candidly  how  the  denial  of 
Sacramental  Confession  by  his  Church  made  him  doubt  whether  it 
was  "  an  institution  of  God." 

But  the  circumstance  which  at  this  period  shook  my  confidence  most  of  all, 
was  the  absence,  in  my  view,  of  any  instituted  method  among  Protestants  for  the 
remission  of  post-baptismal  sin.  Sins  before  baptism  were  expressly  forgiven  in 
that  sacrament.  But  for  the  remission  of  those  committed  after,  however  deadly, 


4O  THE  END   OF  "THE    TRIALS   OF  A   MIND." 

I  could  see  in  Protestantism  no  provision.  That  Christ  left  power  in  His  Church 
to  remit  these  1  had  no  doubt.  And  for  a  time,  after  my  mind  had  become  alive 
to  the  importance  of  the  exercise  of  this  power,  I  believed  that  it  existed  and 
might  be  lawfully  exercised  in  the  communion  of  which  I  was  a  bishop.  But 
upon  stricter  examination  and  more  mature  thought,  I  became  convinced  that  if 
the  existence  of  such  power  was  not  actually  denied,  its  exercise,  except  in  a  very 
modified  sense  and  within  very  restricted  limits,  was  virtually  prohibited.  The 
discovery  filled  me  with  dread,  which  daily  observation  increased,  till  finally  it 
passed  into  absolute  consternation.  No  one.  who  has  not  been  in  my  state,  can 
fully  appreciate  my  sensations,  when  I  opened  my  eyes  to  the  fact  that  multitudes 
around  me,  intrusted  to  my  care,  were  goaded  by  a  conviction  of  mortal  sin  and 
demanding  relief,  and  I  was  not  allowed  by  my  Church  to  administer  that  relief 
in  the  only  way  which  seemed  to  me  to  be  directed  by  God's  word  as  understood 
by  His  early  Church.  The  question  now  forced  itself  upon  me,  Can  that  be  an 
institution  of  God  which  thus  locks  up  the  gifts  (supposing  it  to  have  received 
them)  which  He  commands  His  priesthood  to  dispense  to  the  needy  and  perish- 
ing souls  for  whom  Christ  died? 

This  state  of  doubt  and  fear  awakened  in  my  mind  the  inquiry,  why  I 
should  not  more  thoroughly  examine  the  ground  on  which  I  stood,  and  on  which 
were  based  my  hopes  of  eternal  salvation  ? 

Doctor  Guernsey's  letter,  enclosing  the  note  printed  above, 
asked  these  questions: 
"My  DEAR  FATHER: 

"Is  this  story  true?  If  not,  can  you  inform  me  where  I  can 
obtain  facts  to  contradict  it? 

"Very  respectfully  yours, 

JEFFERSON   GUERNSEY." 


I  was  positively  sure  that  the  "story"  was  not  true,  but  when 
appealed  to  for  "facts,"  I  was  not  so  positive.  I  knew,  however, 
where  the  facts  could  be  obtained,  and  I  wrote  a  few  days  after  to 
Miss  Isabel  Shea,  the  daughter  of  the  distinguished  historian, 
Dr.  John  Gilmary  Shea,  enclosing  Dr.  Guernsey's  note  and  letter 
to  her.  Miss  Shea  kindly  sent  me  the  following  interesting 
answer  : 

"ELIZABETH,  K  J.,  November  26,  1890. 
"REVEREND  AND  DEAR  FATHER: 

"  I  was  in  the  West  with  my  father  when  your  note  reached 
Elizabeth,  and  I  only  received  it  on  my  return  home.  I  gave  the 
note  and  letter  from  your  friend,  Doctor  Guernsey,  to  my  father. 
He  will,  I  am  sure,  give  you  the  information  you  wish  regarding 
Doctor  Ives. 

"  The  Ives  family  have  been  friends  of  ours  for  many  years. 
I  remember  seeing  the  Doctor's  grave  in  the  Catholic  Cemetery  at 


THE  END   OF  "THE    TRIALS   OF  A  MIND."  41 

Westchester,  New  York,  some  time  ago.     With  very  many  kind 
regards,  believe  me, 

"Most  cordially, 

"ISABEL  SHEA." 

The  same  mail,  in  which  his  daughter's  letter  came,  brought 
one  from  Dr.  Shea. 

"ELIZABETH,  N.  J.,  November  22,  1890. 
"REVEREND  AND  DEAR  FATHER: 

"  Dr.  Levi  Silliman  Ives  died  in  the  house  of  Richard  H. 
Clarke,  Esq.,  brother  of  the  late  Father  Clarke,  S.  J.,  at  Manhat- 
tanville,  N.  Y.  He  was  attended  during  his  last  illness  by  Mrs. 
Clarke  and  her  sister  Mrs.  Fitzgerald,  who  held  him  up  in  his 
dying  moments.  So  far  as  I  can  learn,  he  was  attended  by  Rev. 
Mr.  Breen,  his  weekly  confessor  for  a  long  time. 

"  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clarke  are  still  alive,  as  is  Mrs.  Fitzgerald, 
and  a  line  from  you  to  Dr.  Clarke  will  obtain  a  distinct  account 
of  his  last  moments. 

"  Their  statement  can  be  verified  by  Mr.  Edward  Ives,  of 
this  city,  who  saw  Dr.  Ives  constantly  in  his  last  days,  and  who 
knows  that  Dr.  Ives  sent  for  his  two  brothers,  Protestants,  and 
urged  them  to  become  Catholics. 

"  I  had  never  heard  the  story  manufactured  by  the  evil- 
minded,  but  on  inquiry,  I  find  that  it  is  not  recent.  If  you  can 
obtain  an  authoritative  statement  from  Dr.  R.  H.  Clarke  and  print 
it,  you  will  render  good  service  to  the  truth. 

"  Mr.  Edward  Ives  will  add  what  he  knows  from  personal 
knowledge. 

"  With  sincere  regards,  and  a  petition  for  your  prayers,  I 
remain,  Reverend  Father, 

"  Yours  truly  in  Christ, 

"  JOHN  GILMARY  SHEA." 

So  far  I  had  only  sought  personal  satisfaction  for  the  purpose 
of  answering  Dr.  Guernsey;  but  Dr.  Shea's  suggestion  "to  print" 
the  truth  concerning  the  circumstances  of  Dr.  Ives'  death  deter- 
mined me  to  write  to  Dr.  Clarke  and  Mr.  Edward  Ives  to  learn 
the  whole  truth  of  Dr.  Ives'  death.  It  is  due  to  Dr.  Shea's 
hint  that  the  MESSENGER  readers  are  put  in  possession  of  testi- 
mony that  vindicates  the  faith  of  the  worthy  Dr.  Ives. 

Meantime  a  kind  note  was  received  from  Miss  Shea,  together 
with  the  subjoined  letter  written  by  Rt.  Rev.  Mgr.  Preston, 


42  THE  END   OF  "THE   TRIALS   OF  A   MIND." 

now  Vicar  General  of  New  York  and  a  dear  friend  of  Dr.  Ives 
long  before  the  latter's  conversion. 

"Saint  Ann's  Church, 
"NEW  YORK,  November  23,  1890. 

"  The  story  about  Dr.  Ives  is  a  calumny.  He  died  an  ardent 
Catholic.  I  saw  him  a  few  days  before  his  death,  and  he  could 
not  find  words  sufficient  to  express  the  joy  of  his  faith,  nor  the 
consolation  of  dying  in  the  one  Church  of  Christ. 

"  Yours  very  truly, 

"  T.  S.  PRESTON." 

In  reply  to  my  letter  Mr.  Edward  Ives  wrote  : 

"ELIZABETH,  N.  J.,  November  27;  1890. 
"  REVEREND  AND  DEAR  FATHER  : 

"  Your  esteemed  favor  of  the  21st  inst.  has  just  this  moment 
come  to  hand,  and  it  will  give  me  great  pleasure  to  see  at  once 
that  evidence  be  sent  to  you  from  members  of  the  family  of  Dr. 
Ives,  even  more  closely  related  to  him  than  I,  proving  the  utter 
groundlessness  of  the  report  to  which  you  allude. 

"  I  lived  near  and  was  a  daily  visitor  to  the  home  of  Dr. 
Ives,  during  the  last  days  of  his  life.  It  was  my  privilege  to 
receive  his  solemn  blessing  a  few  hours  only  before  his  death,  in 
words  such  as  only  a  most  devout  Roman  Catholic  could  utter. 

"The  members  of  his  own  household  will  testify  that  he 
daily  received  the  Blessed  Sacrament  during  his  last  illness. 
They  also  remember  the  earnest  appeal  which  he  made  to  two  of 
his  Protestant  relatives,  who  from  a  distance  had  come  to  visit  him 
on  his  dying  bed.  Nothing  could  exceed  the  earnestness  with  which 
he  charged  them  to  examine  and  study  the  evidences  of  the^  truth 
of  our  holy  faith.  q™  qTH  ^T*  1TH  ^T*  Vr* 

"  I  have  now  lying  before  me  a  most  beautiful  book  entitled 
Devotion  to  the  Blessed  Wrgin  Mary,  which  at  the  time  he  directed 
to  be  sent  to  me.  The  presentation  on  the  fly-leaf  in  his  own 
feeble  handwriting  bears  the  date  of  August  21,  1867.  ^T/H 

"Of  all  the  inventions  of  the  enemy,  surely  not  one  can 
be  more  unfounded  or  more  easily  disproved  than  that  Dr.  L. 
Silliman  Ives  ever  made  a  recantation  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Faith. 

"  I  remain,  Reverend  and  dear  Father, 

"  Faithfully  your  obedient  servant, 

"EDWARD    IVES. 

"  To  Reverend  F.  X.  BRADY,  S.  J." 


THE  END   OF  "THE   TRIALS  OF  A  MIND."  43 

Some  days  later  the  desired  information  was  received  from 
the  learned  author  of  The  Lives  of  Deceased  American  Bishops, 
Richard  H.  Clarke,  LL.D.  Dr.  Clarke's  testimony,  from  the 
intimate  relations  which  he  had  with  Dr.  Ives  as  will  be  seen 
in  his  letter,  dispels  forever  any  doubt,  ignorantly  or  maliciously 
entertained,  regarding  the  manner  of  Dr.  Ives'  death.  The 
account  tells  more  than  that  Dr.  Ives  died  a  Catholic.  It 
gives  us  the  beautiful  scene  of  a  Christian  death-chamber  where 
the  soul  of  a  great  hero  was  passing  out  through  earthly  shadows 
up  to  the  Eternal  Light  Whose  guiding  rays  of  inspiration  and 
calling  he  had  ,in  prosperity  and  adversity,  in  storm  and  quiet, 
always  conscientiously  striven  to  follow.  The  calm  and  peaceful 
death,  the  ardent  devotion,  tender  piety  and  simple  faith,  as 
described  by  Dr.  Clarke,  are  in  striking  contrast  to  The  Trials 
of  a  Mind,  as  Dr.  Ives  has  himself  so  vividly  depicted  them 
in  his  own  case  in  his  work  of  this  title  ;  but  it  is  the  usual  reward 
with  which  God  crowns  the  honest  efforts  of  those  who  have  ever 
kept  their  face  toward  Him.  The  following  is  what  Dr.  Clarke 
wrote  : 

"NEW  YORK  CITY,  November  30,  1890. 
"  DEAR  FATHER  BRADY  : 

"  Your  favor  of  November  26  informed  me  that  it  had  been 
stated  in  a  book,  published  in  1884,  that  the  late  Dr.  Levi  Silliman 
Ives  who,  after  having  been  the  Episcopal  Bishop  of  North  Caro- 
lina from  1831  to  1852,  became  a  Catholic  and  was  received 
into  the  Catholic  Church  at  Rome  in  1852,  afterward,  shortly 
before  his  death,  had  apostatized  from  the  Catholic  faith  and  had 
returned  to  the  Episcopal  Church.  You  ask  me  if  I  can  .furnish 
any  evidence  as  to  the  truth  or  falsity  of  this  statement. 

"As  Dr.  Ives  resided  in  our  family  and  was  our  daily  asso- 
ciate as  a  member  of  my  family  from  February,  1864,  to  the  day 
of  his  death,  October  13,  1867,  my  testimony  as  to  whether  he 
lived  and  died  a  Catholic  or  apostatized  from  that  faith,  ought  to 
be  of  some  weight ;  and  I  can  say  from  my  own  personal  know- 
ledge and  daily  intercourse  with  him  that,  in  his  professed  faith  as 
a  Catholic,  his  practice  of  every  Catholic  devotion  and  his  fre- 
quentation  of  the  Sacraments  of  the  Catholic  Church,  he  never 
faltered,  deviated,  or  wavered  at  any  time  before  and  up  to  the  day 
and  moment  of  his  death. 


44  THE  END   OF  "THE    TRIALS   OF  A   MIND." 

"So  far  from  apostatizing  from  the  Catholic  faith,  he  availed 
himself  of  every  opportunity  of  making  public  and  private  pro- 
fession of  it  during  his  entire  life.  He  had  several  severe  attacks 
of  illness,  including  his  last  illness,  and  during  all  these  he  fre- 
quently received  Holy  Communion,  and  he  was  a  weekly 
communicant  all  the  time.  The  Holy  Communion  was  brought 
and  administered  to  him  while  confined  to  his  bed  in  my  house,  at 
least  every  week,  by  Catholic  clergymen  during  the  whole  period 
of  his  last  illness  to  his  death,  and  on  each  of  these  occasions  he 
went  to  confession. 

"  He  received  Extreme  Unction  and  the  last  Sacraments  just 
before  his  death. 

"  He  was  President  of  the  Manhattan ville  Conference  of  the 
Society  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  and  Vice-President  of  the 
Superior  Council  of  that  Society,  during  all  this  period  and  to  the 
moment  of  his  death.  He  was  also  during  this  same  period  Presi- 
dent of  the  New  York  Catholic  Protectory  and  was  its  President 
at  his  death ;  and  after  his  death  the  Protectory  managers  adopted 
and  had  engrossed  and  printed  resolutions  of  respect  to  his  mem- 
ory. These  resolutions  hang  on  the  walls  of  the  Protectory  as  well 
as  his  portrait  to  this  day,  and  a  marble  bust  of  him  was  made  and 
now  stands  among  the  memorials  of  illustrious  Catholics  and  Presi- 
dents of  that  Institution,  in  the  main  hall  of  the  Male  Depart- 
ment. 

"  Being  now  one  of  his  successors  as  President  of  the  Protect- 
ory, I  see  his  memorials  preserved  there  with  veneration,  weekly 
or  oftener,  in  my  official  visits  to  that  Institution.  His  remains 
and  those  of  Mrs.  Ives  were  buried  in  consecrated  ground  in  the 
lands  of  the  Protectory,  and  over  them  stands  the  monument 
erected  in  his  honor  by  the  Protectory  after  his  death  :  and  on  this 
sacred  spot  memorial  ceremonies  in  his  honor  have  frequently  been 
held  since  his  death. 

"  During  his  last  illness  he  was  visited  by  many  Catholic 
clergymen  and,  among  others,  by  Archbishop  McCloskey,  after- 
ward elevated  to  the  Cardinalate,  who  celebrated  Mass  in  his  bed- 
room for  him,  and  then  and  there  administered  Holy  Communion 
to  him,  shortly  before  his  death.  This  scene  was  very  impressive 
on  account  of  the  high  dignity  of  the  officiating  minister,  the 
eminence  of  the  dying  man  and  his  profound  devotion  and  child- 
like piety,  which  remained  conspicuous  in  him  to  his  last  breath  ; 
and  because  there  hung  on  the  wall  of  his  bedroom  and  over  the 
little  altar,  which  was  erected  for  the  occasion,  a  copy  by  McClel- 
land of  the  famous  picture  at  Rome  of  the  Communion  of  St. 
Jerome.  All  present  were  struck  with  the  resemblance  between 
the  last  Communion  of  Doctor  Ives  and  that  of  St.  Jerome,  both 


THE  END  OF  "THE   TRIALS   OF  A  MIND."  45 

of  them  being  aged  and  infirm,  and  requiring  from  weakness  to 
be  held  up  by  their  sympathetic  and  venerating  friends,  in  order 
to  receive  the  Blessed  Sacrament. 

"  During  his  last  sickness  Doctor  Ives  was  visited  by  his  two 
brothers  from  Wallingford,  Connecticut,  one  of  whom  was  a  Pro- 
testant minister,  and  perhaps  both.  On  this  occasion,  he  requested 
Mrs.  Clarke  and  the  other  members  of  my  family  to  be  with  him 
during  their  presence  in  his  room,  and  when  all  were  standing 
around  his  bed,  he  solemnly  made  a  profession  of  the  Catholic 
faith,  with  a  loud  voice ;  and,  in  the  presence  of  his  two  brothers, 
he  pronounced  his  adherence  to  the  Catholic  Church,  his  commu- 
nion with  the  See  of  Peter,  and  his  determination  to  die  a  Catholic. 
This  was  a  few  days  before  his  death.  He  continued  to  repeat 
these  sentiments  during  his  few  remaining  days  and  up  to  the  hour 
of  his  death. 

"  He  received  Catholic  burial  from  St.  Stephen's  Church  in 
New  York  City,  at  which  Cardinal  McCloskey  pronounced  his 
eulogy.  His  remains  were  afterward  interred  and  still  lie  at  the 
Catholic  Protectory  in  consecrated  ground.  To  all  who  have  the 
least  acquaintance  with  the  laws  of  the  Catholic  Church,  it  is  well 
known  that  none  but  persons  dying  in  the  Catholic  faith  can 
receive  the  Sacraments  on  their  death-bed,  or  have  Catholic  burial, 
or  be  interred  in  consecrated  ground. 

"  Doctor  Ives  never  for  a  moment  wavered  in  his  Catholic 
faith,  but  professed  it  every  day  of  his  life,  and  during  his  last 
illness  to  the  moment  of  his  death.  He  was  very  devout ;  he 
said  the  Rosary  and  other  prayers  every  day ;  and  his  faith 
throughout  his  entire  life  was  like  that  of  a  child,  implicit  and 
undoubting. 

"  I  had  heard,  before  receiving  your  letter,  that  it  had  been 
asserted  in  some  published  work  that  Doctor  Ives  had  apostatized 
from  the  Catholic  faith  before  his  death,  but  I  have  never  seen 
the  work  or  the  statement  in  print. 

"I  hereby,  of  my  own  personal  knowledge,  pronounce  the 
statement  to  be  utterly  false. 

"  I  remain  sincerely  and  respectfully  yours, 

"  RICHARD  H.  CLARKE." 

In  the  presence  of  this  array  of  eminent  witnesses,  men  of 
more  than  national  reputation  and  distinguished  alike  for  their 
learning,  for  their  loyalty  to  religion,  for  their  love  of  truth  and 
for  their  personal  honor,  who  will  have  the  hardihood,  in  future, 
to  deny  that  the  venerable  Doctor  Ives  died  the  truly  edifying 
death  of  a  fervent  and  loyal  Catholic  ? 


' 


EUCHARISTIC  THOUGHTS. 

By  the  Rev.  Matthew  Russell,  S.J. 
I. 

A  SAINTLY  and  exquisitely  gifted  Frenchwoman,  whose 
^~j^  letters  and  journals,  meant  for  no  eyes  but  her  own  and 
her  brother's,  have  nevertheless  made  her  already  a  classic 
in  the  literature  of  her  country — this  Eugenia  de  Gu6rin  writes 
somewhere  in  her  Journal :  Oh,  quel  don!  Que  dire  de  VEucha- 
ristie  ?  Je  n'en  sals  rien.  On  adore,  on  possede,  on  vit,  on  dime  ; 
I'dme  sans  parole  se  perd  dans  un  abime  de  bonheur.  "  Oh,  what 
a  gift !  What  can  be  said  of  the  Eucharist  ?  We  adore,  we 
possess,  we  live,  we  love ;  the  soul,  speechless,  loses  itself  in  an 
abyss  of  happiness." 

That  beautiful  soul  passed  out  of  this  world  many  years  ago  ; 
but  the  same  devout  joy  that  she  felt  in  her  country  chapel  in 
southern  France  is,  thank  God,  felt  at  this  moment  by  many  a 
beautiful  and  holy  soul  in  convent  chapel  or  in  public  church  in 
thousands  and  thousands  of  places  over  all  the  world.  With  these 
pure  and  fervent  souls  I  now  unite  my  poor  tribute  of  praise  and 
prayer.  O  Lord,  infuse  Thy  love  into  my  heart,  that  I  may  adore 
Thee  under  this  sacramental  disguise  as  I  hope  to  adore  Thee  in 
Thy  heavenly  beauty  and  majesty  for  ever. 

n. 

I  wish  I  could  feel  now,  here  at  Thy  feet,  O  Lord,  the  most 
burning  love,  the  most  vivid  faith,  the  firmest  hope,  and  the  truest 
contrition  that  ever  any  heart  felt  before  Thy  tabernacle.  But  this 
would  be  the  purest  happiness,  this  would  be  heaven  on  earth,  no 
matter  what  sweet  sadness  might  accompany  such  holy  feelings ; 


46 


EUCHARIST  1C   THOUGHTS.  47 

and  I,  being  what  I  am  and  having  been  what  I  have  been — how 
could  I  dare  to  expect  such  grace  and  happiness  ?  But  at  least  I 
can  be  happy  in  the  thought  that  there  are  many  innocent  and 
penitent  hearts  feeling  this  happiness  at  this  moment  in  many  a 
nook  of  this  sinful  earth ;  and  I  can  bless  God  with  all  my  heart 
for  the  countless  acts  of  faith  and  love  that  are  now  being  made 
before  so  many  tabernacles  over  all  His  Church. 

III. 

What  is  told  of  many  of  God's  saints  is  not  true  of  canonized 
saints  alone ;  there  are  even  mortal  creatures  like  ourselves  whose 
presence  is  a  sort  of  vicarious  presence  of  God — whose  voice, 
whose  look,  whose  smile,  whose  very  neighborhood,  nay  the  mere 
thought  of  them,  the  remembrance  that  such  beings  exist,  tends  to 
purify,  refine,  and  elevate  the  soul  and  to  make  what  is  vile  and 
ignoble  impossible,  even  in  secret  thought.  And  if  this  is  true  of 
some  of  God's  poor  creatures  still  on  their  probation,  how  much 
more  is  it  true  of  the  glorious  company  of  heavenly  citizens — of 
St.  Agnes,  St.  Aloysius,  and  so  many  others  of  the  special  patrons 
of  purity !  And  what  are  all  these  to  their  Mother  and  their 
Queen,  the  Virgin  of  virgins,  Mary  Immaculate  ?  But  if  the  Sun 
of  Justice  thus  communicates  His  divine  influence  to  His  creatures 
and  most  of  all  to  her  who  is  "fair  as  the  moon" — if  her 
borrowed  light,  the  moonlight  of  her  smile,  puts  to  flight  unholy 
thoughts  and  all  the  demons  of  darkness :  how  transcendently 
must  all  this  hold  good  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ 
Himself,  the  incarnate  God  of  Purity  !  Nay,  all  this  would  have 
been  true  if  God  had  never  become  incarnate,  if  Jehovah  had 
never  made  Himself  our  Emmanuel,  if  God  had  remained  (or  had 
seemed  to  remain)  far  away.  But  He  has  not  remained  far  away ; 
He  has  drawn  near  to  us,  very  near,  nearer  than  He  was  to  the 
favored  disciples  in  the  Garden  when  He  withdrew  from  them  a 
stone's  throw.  And  even  this  was  not  enough  for  the  incom- 
prehensible yearning  of  our  Saviour's  love :  He  comes  nearer  still, 
and,  not  content  with  abiding  in  the  tabernacle  of  our  altars,  He 
makes  our  very  hearts  His  tabernacle. 


48 


EUCHARIST  1C   THOUGHTS. 


IV. 

From  how  many  sins  and  miseries  has  Jesus  preserved  us 
through  the  means  of  this  sacrament  from  our  First  Communion — 
how  many  years  back  in  the  past  ?  From  how  many  dangers  will 
this  sacrament  continue  to  preserve  us,  on  till  our  last  viaticum — 
how  many  years  (or  days)  forward  in  the  future  ?  And  the  sacra- 
ment of  purification  which  prepares  for  the  sacrament  of  union — 
how  many  sins  that  we  committed  have  been  pardoned,  and  how 
many  sins  that  we  might  have  committed  have  been  prevented, 
through  the  thrice  blessed  influence  of  the  tribunal  of  penance, 
from  the  first  trembling  but  happy  confessions  of  our  childhood 
long  ago,  and  by  the  watchfulness  and  self-restraint  which,  please 
God,  have  linked  confession  with  confession  ever  since,  on  to  the 
last  absolution  to  be  received,  as  we  pray  and  hope,  with  the  most 
perfect  dispositions  on  our  deathbed  which  we  think  to  be  far 
away,  as  many  a  one  has  thought  to  whom  death  in  reality  was 
very  near. 

May  the  Food  which  makes  the  young  heart  chaste  strengthen 
us  in  our  dying  hour,  and  in  the  strength  of  that  Food  may  we 
reach  safely  the  judgment-seat  of  our  Eucharistic  Lord  Himself, 
Whose  merciful  Heart  will  then  yearn  (may  Its  yearning  be 
satisfied  !)  to  give  His  blessed  Mother  to  us  for  ever  as  our  nurs- 
ing Mother. 


THE    ALBAN    HILLS. 
DISTANT  VIEW  FROM   THE   JANICULAN,    ROME. 

A  VISIT  TO   THE   FALLEN  JUPITER. 

sunny  day  in  late  October  I  was  standing  on 
the  crest  of  the  Janiculau  where  it  rises  up 
steeply  from  the  western  bank  of  the  Tiber. 
Below  me  the  yellow  waters  of  the  river  wound 
lazily  beneath  the  arched  bridges  and  beside  the 
palaces  and  churches,  which  also  shone  out 
yellow  under  the  golden  Roman  sun.  Along  the  hilltop  to  my 
right  was  the  church  and  convent  of  St.  Peter  in  Montorio.  For 
this  is  the  "golden  mount" — Mons  Aureus — of  the  Latin  god 
Janus  who,  here  in  his  stronghold,  held  the  key  of  Rome  against 
all  the  outer  world.  And  this,  as  tradition  has  it,  is  the  hill 
climbed  by  Peter,  Christ's  key-bearer  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
and  the  scene  of  his  martyrdom.  His  power  of  the  Keys,  left  to 
his  successors  in  Rome,  has  opened  the  way  hither  to  a  universe 
the  ancient  Latins  little  dreamed  of.  Its  sign  for  all  time  may  be 
seen  over  there  to  the  left  where  the  giant  dome  of  St.  Peter's — 
the  world's  greatest  church — lords  it  over  the  Eternal  City. 

Away  to  the  east,  a  dozen  miles    across  the  Roman   Field, 


49 


5O  THE  FALLEN  JUPITER. 

mountains  sweep  round  southward  in  clear-cut  prisms  of  blue  and 
purple  till  they  reach  a  last  central  summit  and  then  sink  down  in 
gradual  hills  toward  the  sea.  This  distant  peak  has  an  outline  as 
much  its  own  as  is  a  profile  to  a  person's  face.  It  stands  half 
apart  from  the  other  mountains  and  hills  that  make  up  the  semi- 
circle to  north  and  east  and  south  of  the  rolling  Campagna,  in  the 
middle  of  which  Rome  has  her  seat.  All  the  lines  of  the  land- 
scape centre  in  it ;  and  the  fishermen  along  a  hundred  miles  of  the 
western  sea  hail  the  white  walls  glistening  from  its  height  in  the 
rays  of  the  setting  sun.  Wherever  we  may  go  between  the  moun- 
tains and  the  sea,  and  wherever  within  the  city  a  vista  opens  out 
across  the  plain,  that  one  peak  will  draw  the  eye  to  itself. 

It  might  also  well  draw  the  mind's  eye  to  its  story  of  three 
thousand  years.  If  the  traveller  of  a  day  who  looks  and  passes,  or 
who  climbs  to  the  broad  platform  upon  its  summit  only  that  he 
may  enjoy  its  view  beyond  compare,  would  take  its  lesson  to 


heart,    i  « 

there     ^^^^^^Hfc.     9 
would  be  for  him 
no  need  of  other 
miracle  to   con- 
firm   his    faith     in    the 
Church      whose      Head 
bears  the  Keys  of  Peter. 
This  is  the  moun- 
tain  at  whose   foot   lay  THE  LAKE  OF  ALBA- 
the  long  white  walls  of  that  Alba  which  was  the  mother  of  great 
Rome ;  and  on  its  summit  for  a  thousand  years,  even  when  Rome 
had  become  mistress  of  all,  the  many  cities  of  Latium  met  before 
the  shrine  of  their  Latin  Jupiter.     But  all  this  has  fallen  from  its 


THE  FALLEN  IUPITER. 


51 


PALAZZUOT.O. 


high  estate,  the  religion  of  the  ancient  world  and  its  material 
embodiment  alike.  Of  Alba  Longa  not  one  stone  remains  above 
another ;  and  the  worship  of  Jupiter  and  his  idol  gods  has  faded 
from  the  earth  before  the  faith  of  Peter. 

At  last,  in  the  crisp  January  morning,  I  went  on  foot  to  the 
top  of  the  mysterious  mountain.  The  path  skirts  the  southern  end 
of  the  Alban  Lake  before  it  plunges  into  the  dense  thickets  of  oak 
and  hazel  and  chestnut  along  the  mountain  slope.  The  lake  is 
sunk  down  into  the  earth  like  a  huge  bowl,  and  the  banks  descend 
over  four  hundred  feet  before  reaching  the  motionless  green  sur- 
face of  the  water.  There  is  no  apparent  outlet,  but  at  the  water- 
level  toward  the  west  there  is  an  artificial  channel  tunnelled  for  a 
mile  and  a  half  through  the  tufa  rock  and  discharging  its  waters 
into  the  Campagna  on  the  other  side  of  the  hill.  This  is  the 
famous  Emissary,  from  seven  to  nine  feet  high  and  never  less  than 
four  feet  in  width,  which  was  made  by  the  Romans  at  a  time 
when  they  feared  the  waters  of  the  lake  might  burst  their  banks 
and  sweep  down  upon  the  plain.  This  was  four  hundred  years 
before  the  birth  of  Christ ;  and  the  work  remains  a  marvel  of 


52  THE  FALLEN  JUPITER. 

engineering  which  could  not  easily  be  accomplished  with  all  the 
resources  of  our  modern  civilization. 

Just  above  the  Emissary,  on  the  highest  point  of  the  ridge 
which  thus  holds  the  lake  in  check  from  leaping  across  the  plain 
to  the  Tiber  and  the  sea,  is  the  square  outline  of  the  Pope's  palace 
with  the  domed  church  and  clustering  houses  of  Castel  Gandolfo. 
Directly  opposite  us,  at  the  northernmost  end  of  the  bowl  more 
than  two  miles  away,  the  banks  are  somewhat  lower.  Over  the 
outer  corner  Rome — a  great  modern  city,  into  which  lines  of  rail- 
way converge  across  the  plain,  but  which  is  still  lorded  over  by 
the  overshadowing  dome  of  St.  Peter's — spreads  its  yellow  streets 
in  the  middle  of  the  brown  Campagna. 

But  we  must  hurry  on,  though  it  is  hard  to  know  when  we 
could  have  enough  of  such  a  place.  Whole  volumes  could  not  con- 
tain all  the  thoughts  which  arise  of  themselves ;  for  from  this  semi- 
circle of  land  before  us  all  the  present  history  of  the  world  has  taken 
its  rise.  The  very  air  seems  to  thrill  with  the  fulness  of  its  life. 

From  the  eastern  shore  of  the  lake  the  Alban  Mount  rises  up 
over  two  thousand  feet.  As  the  lake  is  nearly  a  thousand  feet 
higher  than  the  silvery  sea  glistening  yonder,  the  pagan  Jupiter 
must  have  been  cast  down  from  a  throne  over  three  thousand  feet 
up  in  the  sky.  Perhaps  he  still  lies  beneath  the  waters  of  the 
lake.  This  mountain  bowl  is  simply  the  crater  of  an  extinct 
volcano ;  and  even  within  the  memory  of  man,  it  is  said,  there 
have  been  tremors  here  as  of  some  one  below  the  waters  laboring 
to  upheave  the  solid  earth.  "When  the  world  is  wicked  enough," 
the  peasants  say,  "  the  volcano  shall  wake  again  to  life  and  swallow 
up  Rome  and  the  world."  And  that  the  world  will  come  to  an 
end  with  the  Rome  of  the  successors  of  St.  Peter,  I  think  no  one 
who  rightly  reads  the  history  of  this  spot  will  doubt. 

In  a  way,  the  mountain  itself  has  made  the  land  on  which 
Rome  is  built.  It  should  seem  to  have  the  right  to  reclaim  it 
when  the  world  refuses  to  leave  Rome  to  fulfil  the  designs  of 
Providence  in  making  her  the  mistress,  first  of  this  Latin  land 
and  then  of  the  entire  known  world,  and  finally  the  sure  home 
and  centre  of  God's  faith  on  earth. 


54  THE  FALLEN  JUPITER. 

This  peak,  whose  hollowecl-out  profile  is  so  peculiarly  its 
own — and  from  this,  perhaps,  it  has  its  name  of  Monte  Cavo — is 
indeed  only  the  great  outer  lip  of  a  giant  volcano  that  once  burst 
its  rim  to  westward  and  poured  over  all  the  rocks  below  the  lava 
which  has  formed  so  much  of  the  soil  of  the  fertile  Campagna. 

Between  the  mountain  and  the  lake,  is  a  narrow  tableland  on 
which  Alba  Longa  was  built.  Only  the  painful  excavations  of 
recent  explorers  could  determine  this,  so  complete  had  been  the 
ruin  of  the  city  of  which  Rome  was  the  colony  two  and  a  half 
thousand  years  ago. 

Toward  the  southern  corner  of  the  lake,  at  the  end  of  the 
tableland,  there  is  the  solitary  Franciscan  convent  of  Palazzuolo. 
In  the  winter,  with  two  stalwart  priestly  companions  from  Venice, 
I  had  held  my  way  straight  up  the  mountain  side.  But  I 
came  out  to  this  interesting  foundation  of  the  Middle  Ages  later 
on,  in  the  flush  of  early  summer.  There  is  just  room  for  the 
road  to  wind  between  the  brink  of  the  cliff,  which  in  several 
places  breaks  away  into  deep  chasms  yawning  startlingly  at 
your  feet,  and  the  wall,  in  some  places  thirty  feet  high,  which 
keeps  the  convent  garden  from  sliding  down  into  the  lake.  From 
every  crevice  in  these  gray  stones  grew  snapdragon  all  in  flower 
and  clothing  the  long  wall  with  a  crimson  flame. 

There  is  a  view  of  surpassing  beauty  from  the  platform  in 
front  of  the  church,  across  the  lake  to  Castel  Gandolfo,  over  the 
Campagna  with  great  Mother  Rome  in  its  midst,  and  beyond  all 
the  silver  line  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  But  these  views,  ever 
varied  and  yet  ever  the  same  in  their  changeless  splendor  to  eye 
and  soul,  form  the  charm  of  all  these  hills. 

This  is  one  of  the  few  convents  which  the  present  Italian 
Government  has  not  seized,  owing  to  the  fact  that  it  was  the 
foundation  of  a  Portuguese  Bishop  and  so  is  under  the  protection 
of  that  Crown.  Otherwise  Humbert  the  First  of  United  Italy 
would  have  shown  here  as  elsewhere  how,  according  to  his  latest 
boast,  "  he  ever  respects  the  religion  of  his  ancestors."  As  it  is, 
only  a  few  friars  remain  on  in  utter  poverty  and  loneliness.  One 
— a  pathetic  figure,  of  more  than  fifty  years  in  the  rough  gown 


THE  FALLEN  JUPITER. 


55 


STREET  CORNER,   ROCCA  DI  PAPA. 


and  knotted  cord  and  bare  feet  of  St.  Francis — gladly  showed  us 
a  short-cut  through  the  fields  of  Prince  Colonna  to  the  next  station 
of  our  pilgrimage,  on  the  carriage  way  which  has  been  terraced 
round  the  face  of  the  mountain. 

This  is  the  shrine,  of  great  local  fame,  of  the  Madonna  del 
Tufo,  "  of  the  Fallen  Rock."     Its  name  declares  the  miraculous 


56  THE  FALLEN  JUPITER. 

escape  to  which  its  foundation  was  due.  The  rich  marble  altars 
and  numberless  ex-voto  offerings  within  the  modest  chapel,  and 
the  platform  shaded  by  dark  ancient  ilex  trees  whence  there  is  a 
view  more  stupendous  than  ever,  declare  that  this  is  the  home  of 
faith  and  the  land  most  favored  of  Heaven. 

Up  the  road,  which  has  been  lately  much  improved  by  the 
comfort-loving  Englishmen  who  have  built  their  villas  and  spend  ' 
their  guineas  here,  is  the  quaintest  town  you  well  might  meet. 
Rocca  di  Papa,  named  from  some  anti-pope  of  long  ago,  huddles 
up  and  around  the  slopes  of  a  cone  that  stands  off  from  the 
hollowed-out  side  of  the  mountain  near  its  top.  The  houses  seem 
literally  to  climb  one  upon  another ;  and  it  is  no  easy  work  to 
mount  up  the  narrow  paved  streets  on  the  few  days  in  winter 
when  the  tramonta  or  north  wind  has  congealed  into  frost  and  ice 
the  mists  which  float  up  here  from  the  sea. 

Passing  beyond  the  broken  tower  of  the  old  citadel,  we  come 
out  on  a  broad  plain  setting  back  into  the  hills.  This  is  the 
Campo  d'Annibale,  from  some  traditional  connection  with  the 
invasion  of  the  Carthaginian  leader.  In  late  years  it  was  used  by 
the  troops  of  Pius  IX.  as  a  summer  escape  from  the  heats,  and 
here  now  encamp  their  usurping  successors.  The  Pope  meanwhile 
must  breathe  as  best  he  can  in  his  not  too  large  garden  of  the 
Vatican  far  below. 

But  when,  at  last,  after  much  puffing  along  the  steep  ascent, 
we  reach  the  height  and  see  the  whole  of  the  Latin  land  out- 
stretched below  us,  from  the  twin  hills  of  Civita  Vecchia  at  the 
northernmost  point  of  the  coast  to  the  Circean  Mount  where 
Homer's  Ulysses  came  at  the  south,  Rome  draws  all  our  hearts  to 
herself.  Yes,  this  deserted  spot  tells  us  Jupiter  is  fallen ;  and 
Christ  and  Peter,  His  Vicar,  reign  forevermore  from  Rome.  The 
building  behind  us,  it  is  true,  tells  also  that  the  enemies  of  the 
Christian  faith  are  powerful ;  for  within  the  past  two  years  the 
Passiouist  monks  have  been  expelled  from  it  in  the  name  of  "  Free 
and  United  "  Italy.  But  this  is  for  the  sake  of  having  no  religion 
at  all,  not  for  the  false  gods  of  old.  Their  overthrow,  and  the  fact 
that  the  contest  is  henceforth  openly  between  the  faitli  of  Christ 


THE  FALLEN  JUPITER. 


57 


and  no  faith,  is  the  miracle  wrought  by  Peter  and  his  successors 
below  there  in  the  Roman  Field. 

As  I  turned  to  depart,  the  sweet  tones  of  the  Angelus  floated 
up  from  Albano  beyond  the  lake.  The  Angel  of  the  Lord  declared 
unto  Mary  .  .  .  and  the  Word  was  made  Flesh,  and  dwelt 
amongst  us. 

I  remembered  words  written  by  an  American  traveller  far 
back  in  the  century  when  Rome  was  the  Rome  of  the  Popes,  not 
only  as  now  by  the  strong  and  unquenchable  spirit  of  faith  that 
will  not  down,  but  outwardly  and  publicly  in  the  name  of  its 
government — the  much  belied  Temporal  Power  of  the  Roman 
Pontiffs.  This  was  Horace  Binney  Wallace,  a  lawyer  of  Phila- 
delphia, I  believe,  and  an  amiable  writer  though  now  forgotten. 
In  this  land  of  Italy,  there  was  one  thing  above  all  others  that 
drew  his  attention.  It  is  the  result  of  the  century-old  miracle  of 
which  this  short  sketch  has  depicted  the  scene.  Jupiter  is  fallen. 
This  is  the  laud  of  Christ  and  Peter,  His  Vicar,  and  of  His 
Mother  Mary.  "Ihis  is  the  land  of  the  Madonna" 


THE   MORNING  OFFERING. 
A  FIRST  DIALOGUE. 

DISCIPLE.  How  easy  it  is  for  ideas  to  go  in  at  one  ear 
and  out  at  the  other.  I  have  heard  the  main  principles  of  the 
Apostleship  of  Prayer,  and  its  organization  in  a  universal  League 
of  the  Sacred  Heart,  explained  many  times  over ;  and  yet  there 
are  points  on  which  I  am  always  wishing  for  information. 

Teacher.  Can  you  get  your  ideas  together,  from  time  to 
time,  so  as  to  tell  me  briefly  just  where  your  difficulties  lie? 
I  might  then  be  able  to  give  you  a  talk  a  month,  as  I  remember 
having  done  some  three  years  ago. 

Disciple.  My  difficulties  are  somehow  all  in  a  bunch. 
I  will  do  my  best  to  separate  them. 

I  see  that  where  the  League  is  spread  the  habits  of  devotion 
— prayer,  saying  the  beads,  receiving  the  Sacraments — are  very 
much  increased  among  all  classes  of  people,  even  among  those 
who  are  not  attracted  by  the  more  formal  associations  of  the 
Church.  And  I  also  believe,  as  a  Christian,  that  this  accumula- 
tion of  prayers  on  the  part  of  so  many  souls  for  the  same  objects 
must  have  great  power  over  the  Heart  of  God.  Otherwise,  I 
could  not  believe  in  the  power  of  prayer  at  all. 

But  I  do  not  see  clearly  how  it  is  that  people  take  up  so 
readily  with  the  idea  of  praying  in  union  with  each  other.  It  is 
hard  enough  to  get  men  to  understand  practically  any  principles 
of  faith.  Now  these  principles  of  praying  for  certain  intentions, 
and  of  offering  one's  own  sufferings  and  works  as  so  many  prayers, 
do  not  seem  to  be  the  easiest  things  in  the  world  to  explain  to 
any  and  every  one.  Yet  I  constantly  see  the  people  you  would 
least  suspect  of  being  given  to  piety,  taking  up  with  the  League 
and  drawing  great  profit  from  it.  It  is  like  an  effect  without  a 
cause,  or  rather  with  a  cause  I  do  not  understand. 

Teacher.  We  priests  often  find  the  simple  faithful  putting 
in  practice  what  theologians  find  it  difficult  to  explain  in  theory. 

58 


THE  MORNING   OFFERING.  59 

This  is  sometimes  from  the  direct  Providence  of  God,  stirring  up 
a  devotion  in  His  Church  for  His  own  merciful  designs.  In  that 
case,  we  usually  come  to  understand  how  it  is  that  His  grace  is 
working.  The  first  spread  of  the  devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of 
Jesus  seemed  very  mysterious,  and  yet  it  was  evidently  designed 
to  bring  back  Christian  souls  from  cold  indifference  to  a  personal 
love  for  our  Divine  Lord.  It  is,  perhaps,  not  too  much  to  say 
that  something  of  this  kind  is  going  on  in  the  work  of  the  League. 
Circumstances  are  such  nowadays  that  many  Christians  are  in 
great  danger  of  forgetting  about  prayer  almost  altogether ;  and 
the  League  stirs  up  an  active  public  opinion  in  favor  of  praying. 
Then  everybody  is  organizing  together  ;  and  here  is  a  world-wide 
organization  for  getting  people  to  pray  together. 

Disciple.  Yes,  I  had  got  as  far  as  that.  It  has  always 
struck  me  that  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer  is  a  great  providential 
League  for  collecting  prayers  for  the  needs  of  the  Church  and  her 
children,  just  as  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith  and  the  Holy  Child- 
hood are  Leagues  for  collecting  alms  for  the  foreign  missions. 

Teacher.  This  is  so  much  the  case  that  even  the  outward 
form  of  the  Apostleship,  as  approved  by  the  Church,  is  not  that  of 
a  Sodality  or  Confraternity,  but  that  of  a  League.  It  is  governed 
by  the  same  laws  as  the  two  zealous  Associations  you  have  named. 
They  have  Head  Directors,  under  the  one  General  Director,  who 
issue  Annals  and  have  other  means  of  communication  with  the 
different  centres  depending  from  them ;  and  we  have  our  MES- 
SENGERS and  Intention  Tickets  in  all  the  different  languages.  They 
have  their  groups  of  contributing  members  with  collecting  heads, 
and  special  medals  and  insignia  are  used  to  distinguish  them ;  so 
we  have  our  bands,  with  Promoters  who  wear  the  indulgenced 
Cross  and  Associates  with  the  indulgenced  Badge.  Probably 
without  this  unity  of  organization  the  work  of  the  League  would 
never  be  done.  For  this  reason  the  Church  has  made  it  a  con- 
dition of  the  spiritual  favors  granted,  that  they  can  be  gained 
only  by  those  centres  which  remain  united  with  the  Head  Direc- 
tion. 

Disciple.     I  think  you  are  coming  to  the  point  which  puzzles 


6O  THE  MORNING   OFFERING. 

me,  though  I  must  acknowledge  the  people  seem  to  find  it  all  plain 
sailing. 

Teacher.  That  is  because  they  are  sensitive  to  the  power  of 
associated  prayer.  Their  instinct  of  faith  makes  them  desire  to 
share  in  the  prayers  of  so  many  Christians,  united  together  in  all 
the  different  parts  of  the  world. 

Disciple.  I  suppose  that  is  it.  I  certainly  have  known 
several  members  of  the  League  who,  I  suspect,  would  have  done 
little  praying  if  they  had  not  had  this  desire  of  sharing  in  the 
prayers  of  the  others. 

But  all  this  does  not  explain  fully  the  success  of  the  Apostle- 
ship  of  Prayer.  True,  its  organization  into  a  grand  League 
encourages  many  to  practise  it ;  but  prayer  is  always  a  difficult 
thing,  all  the  same.  I  wish  to  know  how  the  League  lightens  the 
burden,  rather  than  how  it  encourages  its  Associates  to  bear  it. 

Teacher.  So  you  think  it  is  a  burden  for  most  people  to 
pray,  even  under  the  light  conditions  required  by  the  League. 
Perhaps  it  is.  Where  precisely  do  you  think  the  burden  falls  ? 

Disciple.     On  the  will  of  a  man,  and  that  all  along  the  line. 

You  have  first  of  all  to  will  to  remember  to  pray.  The 
reason  why  lukewarm  Catholics  forget  their  morning  prayers  is 
regularly  because  they  haven't  a  mind  to  remember  them. 

leaclier.  Stop  there,  please.  You  go  on  the  principle  that 
no  one  likes  to  make  an  effort.  And,  to  remember  one's  prayers 
requires  an  effort ;  so  the  majority  of  men  will  not  remember  them. 
How  then  is  the  League  going  to  induce  them  to  make  the  effort  ? 
That  is  very  easily  answered,  even  from  a  natural  point  of  view. 
Your  principle  does  not  take  in  the  whole  truth.  It  should  be — 
No  one  likes  to  make  an  effort  without  some  reason ;  but  men 
regularly  do  make  efforts  when  they  see  it  is  worth  their  while. 

This  is  the  principle  the  League  goes  on.  It  manages,  by  its 
popular  organization,  to  make  even  unpraying  people  see  that  it  is 
very  much  worth  their  while  to  pray,  at  least  so  far  as  the  essen- 
tial condition  it  requires  of  them  is  concerned — the  short  Morning 
Offering  at  their  morning  prayers.  The  reason  it  gives  them  they 
easily  understand :  if  they  will  pray  this  much  for  others,  then 


THE  MORNING   OFFERING. 


61 


innumerable  others  will  pray  for  them.  Even  hard-headed  Dr. 
Brownson  says  that  one  of  the  things  which  most  affected  him 
before  his  conversion  to  the  faith  was  his  having  heard  that  Cath- 
olics were  praying  for  him.  And  Dr.  Pusey,  who  showed  so  many 
the  way  into  the  Church  without  ever  entering  it  himself,  is 
reported  to  have  said  sadly  in  his  later  days  :  "  When  I  heard  that 
the  Catholics  were  praying  for  Newman  (the  late  Cardinal)  I  lost 
all  hopes  of  his  staying  with  us ;  they  never  prayed  for  me." 
There  is  but  one  family  of  man  ;  no  man  is  indifferent  to  the 
prayers  of  others,  especially  when  he  has  the  faith  to  whisper  to 
him  his  sore  need  of  grace,  which  is  obtained  by  prayer. 

Disciple.  I  think  you  are  running  beyond  the  merely 
natural  point  of  view.  The  need  of  grace  is  something  beyond 
the  natural  man,  isn't  it? 

Teacher.  It  is  not  at  all  beyond  the  natural  reason  of  a  man 
to  know  that  he  is  in  great  need  of  something  in  face  of  death  and 
an  unknown  future.  Of  course,  it  is  only  God's  interior  grace  in 
the  soul  which  can  make  this  knowledge  fruitful.  But  the 
League  appeals  to  Catholics,  who  already  have  the  grace  of  faith. 
However  careless  they  may  be,  there  is  something  to  work  on  in 
them.  They  are  sensitive  to  just  such  thoughts  as  this  :  if  I  will 
but  pray  a  little — say  the  Morning  Offering  with  my  prayers — I 
shall  receive  help  and  blessing  from  God  because  of  the  prayers  of 
all  the  other  Associates,  offered  up  for  me  on  that  condition. 

But  you  must  let  me  say  that  these  easily  understood  motives 
of  the  League  are  not  only  for  the  careless  ;  they  apply  in  their 
measure  to  the  half  pious,  and  to  the  wholly  good.  We  must 
speak  of  this  again. 


THE    READER. 

* 

With  the  New  Year  the  MESSENGER  brightens  its  face.  The 
old  features  remain,  but  there  is  a  livelier  air  about  them  ;  and 
the  wrinkles  have  been  smoothed  away.  We  speak  of  our  new 
cover. 

A  mere  magazine  cover,  destined  to  disappear  in  the  binding, 
is  not  of  the  very  greatest  importance,  to  be  sure  ;  yet  it  should 
give  some  sign  of  what  may  be  expected  within.  And,  to  the  end, 
there  will  be  many  who  persist  in  "trusting  to  appearances"  or — 
as  the  Latin  proverbs  warn  them  not  to  do — they  "believe  in 
the  face  of  things,  and  trust  too  much  to  the  color."  Ne  fronti 
crede!  Nimium  ne  crede  colori!  Even  a  mere  magazine  cover, 
by  its  bright  face  as  with  a  smile,  may  draw  eyes  to  itself  and  to 

the  thoughts  contained  within. 

*  * 

The  exact  name  of  our  new  cover  paper  is,  we  believe,  rose 
antique  laid ;  which  would  be  neither  here  nor  there,  were  not  rose 
color — the  color  of  flame  and  of  love — devoted  to  the  burning 
love  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  for  men.  It  is  also  the  color  of 
hope ;  and  should  not  the  heart  of  the  MESSENGER  beat  high  with 
hope,  now  that  it  has  successfully  outlived  twenty-five  years  ?  It 
is  no  easy  thing  for  a  religious  magazine  to  live  at  all  nowadays; 
it  is  so  much  easier  for  the  magazines  of  this  world  to  put  on 
a  bright  face  that  quite  carries  away  the  hearts  of  easy-going 
men. 

The  features,  we  say,  remain.  Only  now,  through  a  window 
beside  the  Contents,  are  seen  steps  along  the  mountain  side.  Up 
these  the  various  works  put  forward  in  our  pages  may  lead  the 
reader  toward  the  Dayspring — the  Orient  from  on  high,  as  our 
Lord  is  called  in  the  Christmas  Scripture.  Curiously  enough,  our 
dayspring  is  a  real  sunburst;  and  the  pointed  arches,  through 
which  all  is  seen,  have  trefoils  to  the  capitals  of  their  columns, 
and  the  cross  above  is  quite  a  Celtic  one.  What  is  the  harm? 
The  race  which  owns  these  emblems  will  not  grudge  their  use  to 

62 


THE  READER..  63 

all  Christians.  It  is  because  it  is  a  Christian  race  that  it  has 
them;  and  perhaps,  because  it  is  Christian,  the  MESSENGER  can 
live  here  in  America.  The  trefoil  was  St.  Patrick's  symbol  of 
the  Trinity  Most  Holy ;  and  where  the  Irish  Cross  has  cast  its 
shadow  the  heavenly  sunburst — the  Orient  from  on  high — appeals 
to  us  all. 

The  article  in  the  November  MESSENGER  on  the  Maronite 
Christians  of  Lebanon  has  brought  us  a  letter  containing  correc- 
tions of  the  statements  made  and  additional  items  of  interest. 

ST.  JOHN'S  COLLEGE,  FOEDHAM,  K  Y. 

November  £,  1890. 
REVEREND  FATHEE : 

I  am  a  Marouite  from  Lebanon  ;  it  has  been  my  privilege  and  my  good 
fortune  to  have  been  educated  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers  of  the  Seminary  of  St. 
Francis  Xavier  at  Ghazir  and  Beyrout.  At  present  I  am  the  companion  of  a 
missionary  of  my  nation  sent  by  our  Patriarch,  Mgr.  John  Peter  el  Haj,  to  take 
charge  of  our  countrymen  who  have  emigrated  to  the  United  States.  As  Maronite 
and  student  of  the  Seminary  of  St.  Francis  Xavier  I  have  had  opportunities  to 
inform  myself  on  all  points  regarding  my  nation,  and  the  condition  of  the 
Reverend  Jesuit  Fathers  who  are  among  us.  I  have  already  published  in  the 
Catholic  Review  of  New  York,  for  September  20,  an  article  entitled  '  The  Jesuits' 
University  at  Beyrout,  Syria. ' 

Some  inexactitudes  having  crept  into  the  article  in  the  MESSENGER  on  the 
Maronites  on  Mount  Lebanon,  I  beg  you  to  permit  me  to  point  them  out  so  that 
they  may  be  corrected  in  your  next  number. 

In  the  first  place  the  origin  of  the  Maronites  is  quite  well  known.  They 
were  the  first  Christians  enlightened  by  the  preaching  of  the  Apostles  and  notably 
of  the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  established  his  first  See  in  Antioch  among  the 
Maronites  who  were  then  called  Syrians.  It  is  of  them  that  we  read  in  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles  :  "The  inhabitants  of  Antioch  and  of  Cilicia  and  of  Syria  have 
received  the  preaching  of  the  Apostles."  They  were  known  as  Syrians  until  the 
seventh  century. 

As  they  would  not  allow  themselves  to  be  corrupted  by  the  Monothelites, 
nor  by  the  Jacobites  and  Nestorians,  despite  the  efforts  of  the  princes  of  Constanti- 
nople and  the  persecutions  of  these  latter,  they  were  called  Mardaites,  Rebels, 
and  a  little  later,  Maronites,  which  name  they  still  retain. 

In  another  part  of  your  article  you  speak  of  the  Chair  of  Law  in  the  Semi- 
nary of  Ain  Ourakat.  It  never  had  a  course  of  law,  nor  did  any  one  ever  study 
law  there.  [The  Illustrated  Catholic  Missions  published  in  Manchester,  Eng- 
land, in  the  September  number  of  this  year,  has  this  statement :  "  John  Peter  el 
Haj,  the  present  Patriarch  of  the  Maronites,  was  ordained  priest  in  1849,  lect- 
ured for  a  few  years  at  the  same  college  (Ain  Ourakat)  on  Mahomedan  law, 
and  formed  many  excellent  lawyers." — EDITOE.] 

The  French  Protectorate  over  Lebanon  dates  from  the  Crusades,  from  the 
time  of  St.  Louis  IX.  especially.  During  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  however,  it 


64  THE  READER. 

was  exercised  more  effectively  than  before.  The  Maronite  chief  of  whom  the 
article  speaks  who  was  made  afterward  the  French  Consul  at  Beyrout,  was  the 
same  who  gave  the  Residence  of  Antoura  to  the  first  Jesuit  Fathers.  The 
Fathers  had  been  cast  by  a  storm  on  the  shores  of  Lebanon -and  the  inhabitants 
at  first  took  them  for  pirates. 

The  Convent  of  Loueizeh  is  not  the  Mother  House  of  all  the  Maronite  Monks. 
These  monks,  who  all  follow  the  rule  of  St.  Antony,  are  divided  into  three 
branches.  The  Convent  of  Cozhara  built  near  a  cavern  where  St.  Antony 
spent  a  number  of  years  as  an  Anchoret  is  the  Mother  House  of  the  1st  branch, 
which  counts  about  800  members.  The  2d  branch  numbering  about  350  monks 
has  for  its  Mother  House  the  Convent  of  St.  Elias.  Loueizeh  is  the  Mother 
House  of  the  3d  branch,  the  Alepin  Monks  who  number  about  80.  The  Feast 
day  which  reunites  all  the  monks,  the  Solitaries  as  well  as  the  Conventuals,  is 
St.  Antony's  day,  and  the  object  is  the  renewal  of  vows.  In  general  the  novitiate 
lasts  two  years. 

As  for  the  Maronite  rite,  the  article  in  the  MESSENGER  is  quite  wrong  on 
one  point.  The  Maronites  consecrate  with  unleavened  bread,  and  Communion  is 
given  under  one  kind  exactly  as  among  the  Latins. 

The  Mariamettes  and  the  Xaverian  Brothers  no  longer  exist.  The  Seminary 
at  Beyrout  is  not  called  St.  Joseph's  Seminary,  but  the  Oriental  Seminary  of 
St.  Francis  Xavier. 

Speaking  of  schools  and  the  efforts  of  the  Protestants  to  proselytize,  a  Pro- 
testant minister  came  to  open  a  school  in  a  village  near  Beyrout.  He  was 
asked  the  object  of  his  coming.  "To  open  two  schools,"  he  replied.  "Would 
not  one  school  be  enough  for  you?"  was  then  asked.  "Oh,"  said  he  to  me,  "I 
will  open  only  one  ;  but  the  Jesuits  will  soon  be  after  me  to  open  another  ;  so  I 
can  truly  say  I  am  going  to  start  two  schools."  He  knew  well  that  the  Jesuits'  • 
whole  heart  was  in  counteracting  his  efforts. 

Your  devoted  servant, 

JOSEPH  YASBEK, 

Maronite. 

Among  the  works  carried  on  at  the  MESSENGER  Office,  is 
one  called  the  "Holy  Childhood."  This  is  a  nineteenth-century 
way  of  conversion — to  buy  pagan  babies,  otherwise  cast  out  to  die, 
and  make  Christians  of  them.  We  heartily  recommend  it  to  all 
our  readers.  Practically,  a  cent  a  month  is  all  that  is  asked  to  be 
paid  in  to  the  head  of  a  group.  Instructions  and  the  little  blanks, 
with  all  else  needed,  may  be  had  on  application. 


GENERAL   INTENTION 

FOR  JANUARY,    1891. 

Designated  by  His  Holiness,  Leo  XIII.,  with  his  special  blessing,  and  given  to  His 
Eminence  the  Cardinal  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda — the  Protector  of  the 
League  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  called  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer — for  recom- 
mendation to  the  prayers  of  the  Associates. 

DEVOTION  TO  ST.  ALOYS1US. 

A"  the  opening  of  the  new  year  the  Holy  Father  invites  the 
Associates  of  the  League  to  pray  for  the  spread  of  devo- 
tion to  St.  Aloysius.     As  such  devotion,  if  it  be  real,  neces- 
sarily implies  an  imitation  of  the  Saint's  virtues,  there  could  not  bo 
an  aim  more  worthy  than  that  of  spurring  the  minds  of  the  young  to 
follow  in  their  lives  the  example  of  that  holy  patron  of  youth. 
The  young   of  to-day  will   be  the  men  and  women  of  the  next 
generation;  and   much   of  the   progress   of  Christianity   depends 
upon  the  preparation  which  they  must  make  betimes  for  the  acting 
of  their  part  in  the  serious  drama  of  human  life. 

I. 

Aloysius  Gonzaga  has,  for  three  hundred  years,  stood  out 
before  the  Christian  world  as  a  blameless  pattern  of  youthful 
holiness.  His  life  covered  but  the  short  space  of  three  and  twenty 
years.  And  yet,  within  that  narrow  span,  we  find  him  giving 
sublime  example  of  heroic  virtue  in  prudence,  fortitude,  puirity, 
obedience,  poverty,  and  mercy. 

Even  in  early  childhood  he  was  noted  for  a  wisdom  far 
beyond  the  ordinary  capacity  of  his  age.  At  the  very  dawn  of 
reason,  he  seemed  to  have  caught  the  import  of  that  message 
which  the  Spirit  of  God  had  sent  down  to  the  children  of  men. 
It  is  a  proverb :  A  young  man  according  to  his  way,  even  when  lie 
is  old,  he  will  not  depart  from  it  (Proverbs,  xxii.  6).  Forthwith 
he  set  himself  to  learn  and  to  practise  the  virtues  which  make  up 
the  honor  of  age  and  are  the  passport  to  everlasting  glory.  He 

65 


66  GENERAL  INTENTION. 

•saw  ever  shining  out  before  him,  in  clear  splendor,  the  noble  end 
ibr  which  he  had  been  created ;  and  the  one  aim  of  his  life  was  to 
make  earnest  use  of  the  means  by  which  he  could  most  securely 
attain  it. 

Belonging  to  a  noble  family  and  having  every  advantage  that 
could  help  toward  a  brilliant  career ;  having,  moreover,  a  father 
whose  fortunes  and  successes  made  the  way  to  a  lofty  station  easy 
for  his  son  to  walk  in,  Aloysius,  with  noble  intrepidity  of  soul, 
spurned  all  earthly  glory  and,  with  respectful  firmness,  stood 
out  against  the  wishes  of  a  parent  whom  he  loved  most 
.tenderly.  The  rank  of  a  marquis,  the  fame  of  a  diplomat,  the 
:riches  of  a  princedom — these  things  were  as  nothing  to  him  who 
had  set  his  heart  upon  securing  the  heavenly  inheritance  to  which, 
;at  Baptism,  he  had  received  the  title. 

Difficulties  stood  in  his  way,  manifold  and  great.  But,  with 
a  grand  firmness  of  purpose,  he  swept  all  opposition  aside  and 
strode  on  to  the  goal  set  before  him.  Even  the  sturdy  determina- 
tion of  his  father  to  thwart  what  seemed  to  him  an  ill-considered 
project  on  the  part  of  his  eldest-born,  had  to  give  way  in  the  end 
before  the  steady,  unwavering  valor  of  a  youth  still  in  his  teens. 
And  thus  it  came  to  pass  that  Aloysius,  with  his  father's  reluctant 
consent,  gave  up  his  titles,  his  riches,  his  worldly  prospects,  and 
was  enrolled  among  the  novices  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  in  Rome. 
The  novitiate,  the  house  of  studies,  and  the  hospital  were  to  be 
henceforth  and  until  the  end  the  sphere  of  his  achievements. 

H. 

Young  men,  according  to  the  world's  standard,  are  estimated 
by  the  progress  which  they  make  in  their  chosen  career.  Here 
was  one  who  always,  in  the  judgment  of  the  sagest,  stood  eminent 
among  his  fellows.  In  philosophy,  in  theology,  in  all  things 
wherein  depth  of  understanding  and  quickness  of  memory  were  of 
value,  among  the  first  stood  Aloysius  Gonzaga.  He  had  even 
among  his  fellows  the  honors  of  a  genius. 

And  yet  he  valued  all  this  as  naught  beside  the  privilege  of 
being  considered  one  among  the  many  who  were  working  out  the 


GENERAL  INTENTION.  67 

will  of  God  and  trusting  in  God  to  make  their  labors  fruitful.  Thus 
he  had  brought  himself  down  deliberately  and,  it  might  seem, 
unnecessarily,  to  the  common  plane  of  a  common  man,  in  order 
that  he  might  lead  others  to  follow  him  toward  the  higher  plane 
of  superhuman,  that  is  Christian,  prowess. 

Aloysius  Gouzaga  in  the  Jesuit  Novitiate  was  simply  a  unit. 
His  titles,  prospects,  immense  family  influence  counted  for  noth- 
ing :  and  he  knew  it.  But  he  knew,  as  well,  that  the  faithful 
walking  in  the  path  of  duty  was  the  one  highway  to  honorable 
eminence  before  God ;  and  so  he  kept  every  rule  that  bound  him. 
Thus  he  has  won  the  full  honor  of  perfect  performance,  in  being 
declared  blameless  of  all  disobedience,  a  pattern  of  exact  fidelity  in 
the  keeping  of  his  rule.  Thus,  too,  he  led  the  way  wherein  others 
may  follow.  We  must  look  up  to  Aloysius  Gonzaga  as  a  giant 
in  the  race  wherein  we  are  but  stragglers.  And  we  ask  him  to  aid 
us  by  his  prayers  that  we  may  keep  on  running — for  some  that 
began  have  dropt  away  ! 

III. 

The  Associates  of  the  Holy  League  ought  to  have  great  con- 
fidence in  praying  for  the  spread  of  devotion  to  St.  Aloysius. 
With  their  success  his  honor  is  inseparably  bound  up.  It  is  won- 
derful, as  well  as  edifying,  to  know  how  many  Associations  or 
Sodalities  have  chosen  St.  Aloysius  for  their  Patron. 

What  does  it  all  mean  ?  Just  this.  In  these  days  of  ours 
when  sights  of  evil  everywhere  meet  our  eyes  and  when  sounds  of 
evil  are  in  our  ears,  it  will  be  a  reminder  and  a  help  to  look  up  to 
St.  Aloysius  Gouzaga  as  a  perfect  model  of  the  guardianship  of 
both  ear  and  eye  from  all  evil  assault.  Imitating  him,  we  may 
hope  to  escape  the  evil  influence  of  the  numerous  enemies  that 
assail  us.  Under  his  patronage  our  youth  will  find  those  helps 
of  grace  without  which  they  can  never  withstand  the  torrent  of 
evil  around  them.  Thus  the  spread  of  devotion  to  St.  Aloysius, 
Patron  of  youth,  will  bring  with  it  Christian  modesty  and  morti- 
fication of  the  senses  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  that  grace 
of  holy  and  blessed  living  which  is  won  by  prayer  and  the  fre- 
quentation  of  the  Sacraments.  The  unfailing  result  of  our  prayers, 


68  GENERAL   INTENTION. 

which  should  be  continued  all  this  year — the  three-hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  Saint's  death — will  be  a  chaste  generation  like 
unto  himself. 

And  it  is  well  worth  while  to  remember  that  young  men 
fashioned  after  such  a  pattern  will  never  be  found  lacking  in 
what  are  specially  looked  upon  as  manly  qualities.  Aloysius  was 
no  mere  lay  figure  set  up  to  display  the  shapes  and  lineaments 
of  holiness :  he  was  a  genuine,  thorough-going,  brave  young  man 
whose  every  action  had  a  higher  worth  than  what  human  eyes 
could  look  upon  or  human  lips  extol.  Some  idea  of  his  character 
may  be  gathered  from  the  inscription  beneath  the  statue  raised  to 
his  honor  at  the  Hospital  of  Santa  Maria  della  Consolazione  in 
Rome.  It  reads  thus  : 

"Whilst  a  plague  was  wasting  the  city,  the  holy  Aloysius 
Gonzaga,  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  took  upon  his  shoulders  one  of 
the  stricken  and  carried  him  to  this  hospital.  Soon  thereafter, 
smitten  himself  by  the  scourge  of  pestilence,  he  died  a  victim  of 
Christian  charity,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1691." 

Whilst,  therefore,  we  pray  that  our  Catholic  youth  may 
follow  hini  in  his  blameless  life,  we  may  also  implore  that  they 
may  be  like  him  in  Christian  valor :  the  pure  who  are  brave,  and 
the  brave  who  are  pure,  are  the  worthy  followers  of  Aloysius 
Gonzaga. 

OFFERING  FOR  THE  INTENTIONS  OF  THE  MONTH. 

O  Jesus,  through  the  Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary,  I  offer 
Thee  all  the  prayers,  work,  and  sufferings  of  this  day  for  all  the 
intentions  of  Thy  Divine  Heart,  in  union  with  the  Holy  Sacrifice 
of  the  Mass,  in  reparation  for  all  sin,  and  for  all  requests  pre- 
sented through  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer :  and  in  particular, 
for  the  spread  of  a  true  devotion  to  St.  Aloysius,  whom  the 
Church  has  declared  the  Patron  of  youth.  Amen. 


TWO   APOSTOLIC   CIRCULARS.1 
FROM  THE  RIGHT  REVEREND  BISHOP  OF  COLUMBUS,  OHIO. 

I. 

COLUMBUS,  ().,  October  8,  1890. 
REV.  AND  DEAR  SIR: 

The  1 7th  of  this  month  will  be  the  two-hundredth  anniver- 
sary of  the  death  of  Blessed  Margaret  Mary  Alacoque,  the  favored 
and  holy  instrument  in  the  hands  of  our  Lord  to  promote  devotion 
to  His  Sacred  Heart.  It  is  my  desire  that  this  Second  Centenary 
shall  be  celebrated  in  this  diocese  in  a  fitting  manner.  I  wish 
that  all  the  children  that  have  reached  the  age  of  reason,  shall 
consecrate  themselves  publicly  and  solemnly  to  the  Sacred  Heart, 
either  on  the  17th  of  October  or  the  Sunday  following,  according 
to  a  form  of  dedication  that  will  be  sent  to  you  next  week,  and 
that  their  names  shall  be  inscribed  on  Lists,  to  be  furnished  you 
for  this  purpose,  and  sent  to  Rev.  R.  S.  Dewey,  S.  J.,  MESSENGER 
OF  THE  SACRED  HEART,  114  South  Third  Street,  Philadelphia, 
Pa.,  who  will  have  them  bound  into  Albums  and  sent  to  Paray-le- 
Monial,  to  be  placed  in  the  shrine  where  the  Blessed  Margaret 
Mary  breathed  her  pure  soul  into  the  hands  of  God. 

If  Sunday,  the  19th,  will  be  too  soon  for  you  to  prepare  your 
children  for  this  important  act,  let  everything  be  completed  and 
the  Lists  sent  to  Philadelphia  before  the  28th  of  this  month,  as 
none  will  be  received  there  later  than  the  1st  of  November. 

You  will  please  prepare  the  children  for  their  Act  of  Conse- 
cration by  special  instructions,  both  in  the  schools  and  in  the 
Church,  on  the  nature  of  the  devotion  and  the  love  of  the  Sacred 
Heart  for  all  mankind.  As  many  of  the  children  as  have  made 
their  First  Communion  should  receive  the  Holy  Eucharist  on  the 
day  of  Consecration,  and  if  possible  the  rest  should  go  at  least  to 
confession. 

1  These  Circulars,  we  regret  for  the  sake  of  our  readers  during  the  past 
year  of  consecration  to  the  Sacred  Heart,  came  to  our  notice  too  late  for  earlier 
insertion. 

69 


7O  TWO  APOSTOLIC  CIRCULARS. 

I  grant  you  the  permission  to  have  the  children  make  the 
Consecration  of  themselves  to  the  Sacred  Heart  during  the  Bene- 
diction of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  on  any  day  yoii  may  choose  for 
this  purpose.  You  should  expose  the  Blessed  Sacrament  and 
after  the  incensation  and  the  singing  of  the  O  Salutaris,  pronounce 
the  words  of  the  Form  of  Consecration,  and  let  the  children  repeat 
them  after  you. 

Ask  the  children  to  join  with  the  other  devout  clients  of  the 
Sacred  Heart  throughout  the  world,  in  beseeching  our  Blessed 
Lord  so  to  manifest  the  sanctity  of  His  beatified  servant,  Margaret 
Mary,  that,  if  it  be  His  holy  will,  she  may  be  entitled  to  the 
honor  of  canonization,  for  the  greater  glory  of  His  Divine  Heart. 

I  earnestly  exhort  you  to  cultivate  the  devotion  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  of  our  Lord  among  all  your  people,  and  to  establish  in  your 
parish  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer  called  the  League  of  the  Sacred 
Heart.  The  Consecration  of  the  grown  people  can  take  place 
later. 

Yours  in  Christ, 

©JOHN  A.  WATTERSON, 

Bishop  of  Columbus. 

II. 

COLUMBUS,  O.,  October  10,  1890. 
REV.  AND  DEAR  SIR: 

I  send  you  some  more  of  the  Forms  of  Consecration  to  the 
Sacred  Heart,  together  with  the  children's  Lists  and  an  envelope, 
in  which  to  return  them  to  Rev.  R.  S.  Dewey,  S.  J.,  114  South 
Third  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  In  filling  the  Lists,  besides  the 
family  names,  use  the  full  baptismal  names :  e.  g.,  Mary,  Cath- 
erine, John,  Charles,  and  not  diminutives,  such  as  Mollie,  Kittie, 
Johnnie,  Charlie.  I  now  and  then  find  such  diminutives  on  the 
announcement  books  of  some  of  our  churches.  They  ought  not 
to  be  used  in  the  church  or  on  the  church  records.  Please  place 
the  name  of  the  diocese,  parish  and  town,  or  district  at  the  head 
of  the  Lists,  and  keep  the  names  of  the  boys  and  girls  separate. 
If  you  have  schools,  the  Sisters  will  be  glad  to  write  the  names  for 


TWO  APOSTOLIC  CIRCULARS.  71 

you.  Do  not  confine  yourself  to  the  day-school  and  Sunday-school 
children.  Get,  if  possible,  all  the  young  people  in  the  parish  to 
interest  themselves  in  this  work,  and  to  make  the  Form  of  Conse- 
cration. Be  enthusiastic  yourself  and  try  to  excite  enthusiasm  in 
them  for  the  glory  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  Read  and  explain  the 
Form  of  Consecration  to  the  children  before  they  make  it,  and  dis- 
tribute copies  of  it  among  them.  If  you  want  more  Lists,  let  me 
know,  and  I  will  send  them. 

Ask  the  Sisters  in  the  schools  to  teach  the  children  some  easy 
hymns  and  prayers  to  the  Sacred  Heart,  and  get  them  all  into  the 
habit  of  using  them  frequently  and  devoutly,  and  the  enthusiasm 
will  not  easily  die  out.  It  will  be  very  edifying,  if  you  can  have 
the  fathers  and  mothers  present  at  their  children's  consecration. 
Make  the  ceremony  as  impressive  as  you  can.  Father  Dewey 
will  be  very  glad,  if  you  will  send  him  an  account  of  it,  to  be 
published  in  THE  MESSENGER  OF  THE  SACRED  HEART. 

I  earnestly  recommend  to  you  and  to  all  under  your  charge 
THE  MESSENGER  OF  THE  SACRED  HEART  and  The  Pilgrim  of 
Our  Lady  of  Martyrs,  otherwise  called  The  Little  Messenger  of  the 
Sacred  Heart.  The  latter  will  be  specially  interesting  and  useful 
to  the  children.  I  have  asked  Father  Dewey  to  be  good  enough 
to  send  you  sample  copies  of  them.  They  are  most  entertaining 
and  edifying  to  ecclesiastics  as  well  as  lay  people  ;  and  you  will 
be  abundantly  consoled  for  any  trouble  you  may  put  yourself  to 
in  introducing  them  into  your  parish.  Old  and  young  will  be 
delighted  with  them.  The  terms  are  very  moderate.  You  will 
find  them  on  the  title-page. 

In  my  circular  the  other  day,  I  exhorted  you  to  establish  in 
your  parish  and  missions  The  League  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  other- 
wise called  The  Apostleship  of  Prayer.  I  do  not  wish  you  to 
''treat  this  as  a  mere  exhortation,  but  as  a  command,  which  the 
charity  of  Christ  presses  me  to  make,  and  which  I  know  the  same 
charity  of  Christ  will  press  you  to  put  into  effect.  Let  us  all  say 
with  St.  Paul :  Caritas  Christi  urget  nos.  To  organize  the 
League  and  keep  it  going  will  cost  you  some  work  and  trouble ; 
but  what  are  we  for,  but  to  put  ourselves  to  trouble  for  the  good 


72  THE   LEAGUE  AT   WORK. 

of  souls?  Be  assured,  however,  that  the  happy  results  in  your 
missions  will  well  repay  you  for  all  your  zeal  and  pains.  My 
heart  is  in  the  work,  and  I  hope  yours  will  be  too,  and  I  promise 
you,  our  Lord's  will  be  in  it  likewise  with  many  graces  to  your 
people  and  consolations  to  yourself. 

To  save  you  trouble  at  the  outstart,  I  will  send  you  some 
preliminary  instructions  and  documents  in  a  couple  of  weeks, 
together  with  a  copy  of  the  Handbook  of  the  Holy  League. 
A  little  study  of  it  will  show  you  how  to  organize  the  League 
and  keep  it  alive  and  active.  It  will  be  of  small  use  to  start  it, 
if  it  be  not  kept  going.  I  want  your  heart  to  be  in  it,  and  from 
the  fulness  of  the  heart  the  mouth  will  speak.  You  will  preach 
it  from  the  altar,  teach  it  in  'the  confessional,  talk  about  it  in 
private,  and  pray  for  it  in  the  secrecy  of  your  own  heart.  Its 
success  under  God  will  be  largely  in  proportion  to  your  xeal. 
I  commit  the  work  to  your  charity  in  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus. 
Yours  sincerely, 

®  JOHN  A.  WATTERSON, 

Bishop  of  Columbus. 


THE   LEAGUE  AT   WORK. 
ST.  JOHN  BAPTIST'S  CHURCH,  SYRACUSE,  N.  Y. 

I  AM  pleased  to  tell  you  that  the  League  is  doing  much  good  in 
this    parish.       We    have    large    Communions    on    the    First 
Fridays  and  many  conversions  have  been  effected  through  this 
consoling  devotion.     Very  many  have  been  brought  to  the  Sacra- 
ments who  have  been  away  from  God  for  years.     Many  beautiful 
gifts  have  come  to  the  church  through  our  petitions,  for  which  I 
am  most  grateful. 

We  have  yet  much  to  desire.  I  have  a  few  families  in  the 
parish  who  have  not  been  reached  yet,  but  with  the  prayers  of  the 
League  I  look  for  a  change  of  heart  soon. 

I  remain,  gratefully, 

J.  F.  MULL  A  NY. 


THE   LEAGUE  AT   WORK.  73 

ST.  JOSEPH'S  CHURCH,  NEWPORT,  R.  I. 

Through  the  /eal  arid  discretion  of  the  Promoters  the  League 
lias  made  enormous  strides,  the  vast  majority  of  the  members 
taking  the  Second  and  even  the  Third  Degree.  I  know  I  have 
bothered  you  about  the  Rosary  sets,  but  the  demand  so  far  exceeded 
expectation  that  I  am  hardly  to  blame — I  will  be  able,  I).  V., 
to  send  you  an  accurate  order  for  January. — Thank  God  for  the 
League  and  for  the  untold  blessings  it  has  brought  on  this  parish 
and  city.  In  Corde  Jesu, 

JAMES  COYLE. 

ST.  PATRICK'S  CHURCH,  MEMPHIS,  TENN. 
Our  League,  thank  God  !  is  doing  much  good.     A  very  large 
number,  indeed  scores,  go  to  Holy  Communion  now  on  the  First 
Friday  when  but  a  few  were  previously  accustomed  to  approach 
it. 

The  Promoters  bring  us  every  month  many  new  accessions 
into  the  ranks  of  the  League,  a  large  proportion  of  whom  promise 
to  practise  the  2d  and  3d  Degrees.  It  is  a  glorious  work  and  will 
be  a  saving  power  to  numbers  of  our  people. 

Very  fraternally  yours  in  the  Sacred  Heart, 

JNO.  VEALE. 

ST.  COLUMBA'S  CHURCH,  YOUNGSTOWN,  OHIO. 

On  the  15th  of  June,  our  new  Promoters,  to  the  number  of 
thirty-four,  received  the  much  coveted  Cross  and  Diploma.  The 
ceremony  took  place  before  Benediction  in  the  evening.  Our  Rev. 
Pastor  explained  in  a  beautiful  and  very  clear  manner  this  grand 
devotion  of  the  present,  and  urged  all  to  lose  no  time  in  earning 
the  privilege  of  wearing  the  dear  Sacred  Heart  Badge.  He  then 
solemnly  blessed  and  conferred  the  Badge  upon  fully  one  thousand 
persons,  who  approached  the  altar  for  that  purpose,  while  the  choir 
sang  O  Cor  Amoris  and  other  beautiful  hymns.  There  is  some- 
tiling  so  touching  and  sublime  in  this  devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart 
of  our  Lord,  and  its  public  observance  seems,  more  than  any 
other,  to  lift  the  soul  and  bear  it  "  out  beyond  the  bounds  of 


74  THE  LEAGUE  AT   WORK. 

space,"  only  to  bring  it  more  sweetly  and  at  peace  back  to  the 
world's  homely  duties,  already  consecrated  in  the  Morning  Offer- 
ing. LORENE  H.  DUBBIN,  SEC'Y. 

DANBURY,  CONNECTICUT. 

I  thought  of  writing  to  you  several  times  during  the  past 
months,  to  tell  you  of  the  marked  success  which  the  League  of 
the  Sacred  Heart  is  having  in  my  parish ;  but  one  thing  or 
another  kept  me  putting  it  off,  until  now  I  am  ashamed  of  myself. 
Well,  I  am  glad  to  tell  you  that  its  effects  are  simply  astonishing. 
Nearly  all  the  "  stay-aways  "  of  the  parish  have  returned  to  their 
duty.  Immense  crowds  —  nearly  1500  —  go  to  Communion 
monthly.  I  have  in  all,  about  2000  enrolled  in  it. 

Sincerely  in  Christ, 

H.  J.  LYNCH. 

RANDALL'S  ISLAND,  NEW  YORK. 

Since  the  establishment  here  of  the  Holy  League,  by  our 
venerable  pastor,  a  marked  change  has  manifested  itself  in  the 
increased  piety  and  devotion  of  all  the  Catholics,  and  we  earnestly 
beg  through  the  prayers  of  the  League,  that  this  spirit  of  devotion 
may  continue  and  daily  increase,  until  each  one  of  us  is  called  to 
receive  the  reward  in  the  bosom  of  the  Divine  Heart,  that  is 
promised  for  those  who  have  been  faithful,  and  have  persevered 
to  the  end. 

TRANSFIGURATION  CHURCH,  NEW  YORK. 

Enclosed  find  our  Intention-blank.  I  think  it  will  open 
your  eyes,  as  it  certainly  did  mine,  when  I  saw  the  grand  total  of 
Intentions.  The  people  are  gradually  recognizing  the  power  and 
efficacy  of  "  co-praying,"  and  each  month  is  more  and  more  prolific 
in  obtaining  favors.  Nothing  is  better  calculated  to  keep  alive 
the  interest  in  the  devotion  of  the  Sacred  Heart  than  is  this  feature 
of  special  intentions.  May  all  the  Associates  of  the  League  learn 
of  the  efficacy  of  these  prayers  and  make  use  of  this  means  of 
obtaining  favors  from  the  Sacred  Heart. 

W.  F.  DOUGHERTY. 


APOSTLESHIP  in  1    NOTICES. 


RECENT  AGGREGATIONS. — To  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer, 
League  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  (December  12,  1890,  to 
January  12.  1891). 

(Name  of  diocese  in  italics,  before  parish  or  community  aggregated. ) 

Baltimore)  Maryland :  St.  Peter  Claver's  Church,  Baltimore ; 
Our  Lady  of  Mercy  Convent  (Sisters  of  Mercy),  Mount  Wash- 
ington. 

Belleville,  Illinois:  St.  Joseph's  Church,  Olney. 

Boston,  Massachusetts:  St.  Joseph's  Church,  Wakefield. 

Grand  Rapids,  Michigan :  St.  Joseph's  Church,  Grand 
Rapids. 

Hartford,  Connecticut :  St.  Francis'  Church,  New  Haven. 

Helena,  Montana:  St.  Francis  Xavier's  Church,  Missoula 
City. 

Kansas  City,  Missouri :  St.  Mary's  Church,  Kansas  City. 

Newark,  New  Jersey:  St.  Antoninus'  School  (Sisters  of 
Charity),  Newark ;  Convent  of  St.  Joseph  (Sisters  of  St.  Joseph), 
Orange  Valley. 

New  Orleans,  Louisiana :  Holy  Angels'  Academy  (Marianite 
Sisters),  New  Orleans. 

New  York,  New  York :  St.  Mary's  Church,  Clifton. 

North  Carolina,  North  Carolina:  Sacred  Heart  Church, 
Ohio. 

Ogdensburgh,  New  York:  St.  Mary's  Cathedral,  Ogdens- 
burgh ;  St.  Andrew's  Church,  Norwood ;  Visitation  Church, 
Norfolk. 


75 


76  APOSTLESHIP   NOTICES. 

Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania :  St.  John  Baptist's  Church, 
Pottsville. 

Savannah,  Georgia :  St.  Patrick's  Church,  Savannah. 

St.  Louis,  Missouri:  St.  Vincent's  Seminary  (Lazariste)  and 
Academy  of  Loretto  (Sisters  of  Loretto),  Cape  Girardeau. 

Trenton,  New  Jersey :  Sacred  Heart  Church,  Mount  Holly. 

Vincennes,  Indiana :  St.  Michael's  School,  Madison. 

THE  SODALITY  OP  THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN. 

Diplomas  of  Affiliation,  received  from  the  Prima  Primarifi, 
have  been  transmitted  to  the  following  : 

Chicago,  Illinois :  Catholic  Industrial  School,  Chicago. 

Detroit,  Michigan:  Immaculate  Conception  Church,  Lapeer, 
Michigan. 

Scranton,  Pennsylvania :  St.  Leo's  Church,  Ashley. 

St.  Louis,  Missouri:  St.  Joseph's  Church,  JCdina. 

THE  TREASURY  OP  THE  SACRED  HEART. 

Associates  can  gain  100  days'  Indulgence  for  each  action  offered  for  the 
Intentions  of  the  League. 

Offerings  for  the  Intentions  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  received  from  December  12,  1890, 
to  January  12,  1891. 

No.  OF  TIMKS.  No.  or  TIMES. 

1.  Acts  of  Charity  .  481,994  11.  Masses  Heard     ....  135,613 

2.  Beads 217,574  12.  Mortifications    ....  188,117 

3.  Stations  of  the  Cross     .  45,606  13.  Works  of  Charity     .    .  116,287 

4.  Holy  Communions    .    .  48,518  14.  Works  of  Zeal  ....  115,032 

5.  Spiritual  Communions .  262,184  15.  Prayers 2,197,168 

6.  Examens  of  Conscience  87,163  16.  Charitable  Conversation  80,104 

7.  Hours  of  Labor  .    .    .    .  407,728  17.  Sufferings  or  Afflictions  76,171 

8.  Hours  of  Silence    .    .    .  189,744  18.  Self-Conquest     ....  86,136 
1  9.  Pious  Reading    ....  86,376  19.  Visits  to  B.  Sacrament  179,728 
10.  Masses  Celebrated      .    .  1,701  20.  Various  Good  Works   .  235,568 

Total 5,238,512 

The  above  returns  represent  five  hundred  and  fifty  Centras. 

The  Treasury  is  made  up  of  prayers  and  good  works  specially 
offered  for  the  Intentions  of  the  Holy  League.  Promoters  and 
Associates  are  exhorted  to  make  use  of  the  printed  lists  (on 
Intention  Blanks),  which,  when  filled  up,  should  be  forwarded 
with  the  Intentions  to  the  MESSENGER. 


ALL YDU  THAT  LABOURED  ARE  BURDENED 


IN  THANKSGIVING   FOR  GRACES   OBTAINED. 

TOTAL  NUMBER  OF  THANKSGIVINGS  FOR  LAST  MONTH,  95,424. 
For  I  say  to  you,  Ask  and  it  shall  be  given  you  (St.  Luke,  xi,  9.) 

PASSAIC,  N.  J.,  NOVEMBER  12. — A  person  in  debt,  having  no 
means  of  meeting  his  engagements,  recommended  the  matter  to  the 
prayers  of  the  League.  Two  days  after,  this  person  received 
word  that  the  debt  was  cancelled,  the  demand  having  been  satisfied 
by  other  parties. 

SCRANTON,  PA.,  NOVEMBER  14. — Sincere  thanks  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  for  the  recovery  of  an  invalid  from  the  influenza : 
also,  kindly  offer  our  heartfelt  gratitude  for  the  preservation  of  the 
same  person's  sight,  which  was  threatened  to  be  taken  away  by 
ulceration  of  the  eyes. 

,  PA.,  NOVEMBER  16. — Especial  thanks  for  the  return 

of  my  husband  to  his  duties — he  had  not  been  to  confession  for 
more  than  a  year. 

OMAHA,  NEB.,  NOVEMBER  17. — Thanks  are  returned  to  the 
Divine  Heart  for  an  extraordinary  improvement  in  health,  and 
a  great  spiritual  favor  bestowed  on  a  person  recommended  some 
months  ago ;  for  a  lady's  return  to  the  Church  after  an  apostasy 
of  twenty  years ;  for  the  cure  of  several  cases  of  diphtheria  in 
which  Blessed  Margaret  Mary  was  invoked,  her  relic  being 
applied  in  two  of  them ;  for  removal  of  obstacles  to  a  religious 
vocation,  and  for  several  spiritual  and  temporal  favors. 

COLORADO,  NOVEMBER  21. — Heartfelt  thanks  to  the  Sacred 


77 


78  IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES   OBTAINED. 

Heart  for  bringing  me  safely  through  a  night  of  danger,  which 
was  nothing  short  of  a  miracle  from  Heaven. 

JOHNSVILLE,  CAL.,  NOVEMBER  22. — I  asked  some  time  ago 
for  my  brother  to  get  a  chance  to  make  his  First  Communion 
before  winter.  A  priest  came  last  week  and  he  received  his 
First  Communion  last  Sunday. 

ST.  Louis,  NOVEMBER  24. — For  the  blessing  of  relief  from  a 
very  painful  and  severe  illness,  of  a  very  slow  and  tedious  nature. 
Great  relief  came  within  the  nine  days  of  the  Novena,  and  almost 
complete  cure  since. 

CANTON,  O.,  NOVEMBER  25. — Some  weeks  ago  the  baby  had 
an  attack-  of  pneumonia  ;  the  doctor  on  being  called  said  he  was  a 
very  sick  child  and  only  very  careful  handling  would  bring  him 
through  in  safety.  I  placed  a  picture  of  Blessed  Margaret  Mary  on 
his  chest,  and  promised  that  I  would  write  to  the  MESSENGER  OF 
THE  SACRED  HEART,  if  she  would  obtain  his  recovery  from  the 
Sacred  Heart.  He  recovered  rapidly  and  I  now  fulfil  my  promise. 

LOGAN,  O.,  NOVEMBER  27. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart 
for  two  special  favors  granted,  along  with  many  smaller  ones. 

LEE,  MASS.,  NOVEMBER  27. — A  young  girl  wishes  to  return 
sincere  thanks  for  a  position  she  has  obtained  as  book-keeper 
through  the  prayers  of  the  Associates. 

PETALUMA,  CAL,.,  NOVEMBER  29. — Thanksgiving  for  the 
conversion  of  a  young  man,  who  though  belonging  to  a  good  Cath- 
olic family,  ignored  all  religious  sentiment,  and  had  never  made 
his  First  Communion.  After  some  years  of  a  reckless  life  he 
returned  home  in  the  last  stages  of  consumption.  He  positively 
refused  to  hear  one  word  on  the  subject  of  religion.  Some  days 
before  his  death,  he  consented  to  see  a  priest,  who  was  immediately 
summoned ;  with  sentiments  of  heartfelt  contrition  he  made 
his  confession,  received  Holy  Communion,  and  the  next  day, 
Extreme  Unction.  The  change  wrought  in  him  by  the  reception 
of  the  Sacraments  was  truly  a  miracle  of  grace ;  from  a  peevish, 
irreligious  man  he  became  a  perfect  lamb  of  patience  and  mild- 
ness, edifying  every  one  by  his  faith,  piety,  and  resignation  until 
his  last  breath. 


IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES   OBTAINED.  79 

SPRINGFIELD,  MASS.,  DECEMBER  1. — Many  thanks  are 
returned  to  the  Divine  Heart  of  Jesus  for  employment  obtained 
the  day  after  the  intention  had  been  recommended. 

CHICAGO,  DECEMBER  2. — Will  you  thank  the  Sacred  Heart 
for  many  spiritual  and  temporal  favors  granted  during  the  past 
month,  especially  for  three  happy  deaths. 

,  DECEMBER  3. — Please  thank  the  loving  Heart  of  Jesus 

through  the  MESSENGER  for  employment  obtained  by  my  two 
brothers  in  a  most  unexpected  way. 

NEW  YORK,  DECEMBER  4. — An  Associate  returns  most  heart- 
felt thanks  to  the  Divine  Heart  of  Jesus,  for  her  child's  miraculous 
escape  from  being  killed.  It  fell  from  a  great  height,  but  was 
found  unhurt. 

An  Associate  returns  thanks  for  the  conversion  of  one  who 
was  wayward,  recommended  for  two  months. 

An  Associate  returns  thanks  most  gratefully  for  being 
speedily  cured  of  an  affliction,  recommended  last  month. 

A  Protestant  friend  borrowed  the  MESSENGER  last  month. 
On  returning  it  a  few  weeks  later,  she  requested  to  be  recom- 
mended to  the  prayers  of  the  League.  She  is  now  receiving 
instructions  in  the  Catholic  Faith,  and  owes  her  change  for  the 
better  to  the  prayers  of  the  Holy  League.  May  I  ask  the  prayers 
of  MESSENGER  readers,  for  the  grace  of  perseverance  for  her. 

PHILADELPHIA,  DECEMBER  5. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart 
for  a  very  great  favor.  The  favor  I  received  was  almost  a  miracle 
— and  I  feel  and  know  I  received  it  through  the  prayers  of  the 
Holy  League. 

ST.  Louis,  Mo.,  DECEMBER  7. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart 
for  the  grace  of  the  last  Sacraments  to  a  man  who  had  neglected 
his  religious  duties  since  the  time  of  his  first  Communion,  a  period 
of  more  than  thirty  years.  He  had  also  been  long  addicted  to  the 
vice  of  intemperance  and  had  opposed  his  family  in  the  practice 
of  their  Christian  duties. — A  mother  of  six  children  returns 
heartfelt  thanks  to  the  Heart  of  Jesus  for  the  conversion  of  her 
husband  from  the  vice  of  intemperance.  He  had  also  long  neg- 
lected his  duty  to  God,  and  had  abused  and  neglected  his  family. 
He  is  now  temperate,  and  a  model  husband  and  father. 


8O  IN    THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES  OBTAINED. 

TOLEDO,  O.,  DECEMBER  11. — My  husband  lost  his  position 
in  the  middle  of  the  year,  and  in  his  business  it  is  very  difficult 
to  get  another  at  that  season ;  but  thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart, 
St.  Joseph,  and  Blessed  Margaret  Mary  he  got  another  one. 

FREDERICK,  MD. — \Ve,  the  Catholic  deaf-mutes  of  Frederick, 
wish  to  give  our  grateful  thanks  to  the  most  Sacred  Heart  of 
Jesus  for  one  very  great  spiritual  favor,  obtained  through  the 
prayers  of  the  League,  as  also  for  many  other  blessings  given  to 
us  and  our  teachers. 

. — A   family   desires   to   return    thanks    to    the    Sacred 

Heart  by  publishing  the  conversion  of  their  grandfather,  whose 
advanced  age  and  peculiar  disposition  precluded  all  hope  of  his 
acceptance  of  our  holy  faith.  However,  his  daughter,  her  husband 
and  five  children  have  been  faithful  Associates  of  the  League  for 
some  years  and  constantly  implored  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  to 
give  him  the  light  of  faith.  Last  April  the  youngest  of  the 
grandchildren,  who  is  an  Associate  of  League,  being  about  to 
receive  his  First  Communion,  said  he  would  ask  our  Lord  the 
favor  of  liis  grandfather's  conversion.  This  child  had  been 
remarkable  in  always  asking  this  conversion  in  the  monthly  inten- 
tions. On  the  afternoon  of  the  day  on  which  the  little  fellow 
received  his  First  Communion  a  letter  came  from  the  grandfather, 
saying  that  on  the  following  morning  he  was  to  be  baptized  ! 
The  conversion  is  especially  remarkable  in  its  entire  completeness, 
and  the  aged  man,  before  so  self-sufficient,  is  now  with  the  humble 
docility  of  a  little  child  preparing  for  his  First  Communion. 

VARIOUS  CENTRES. — Thanks  through  the  MESSENGER  for  the 
baptism  of  three  of  my  children. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart, 
through  the  MESSENGER,  for  a  business  position  for  a  young  man, 
which  he  obtained  after  the  Intention  had  been  recommended  to 
the  prayers  of  the  League. — Heartfelt  thanks  are  returned  for  the 
obtaining  of  a  temporal  favor  from  the  Sax; red  Heart,  through  a 
Novena  made  to  Blessed  Margaret  Mary. — Thanks  for  the  settle- 
ment of  a  lawsuit  between  relatives. 


TflKIH  /^©©OT  M  TO! 

(From  a  Diisseldort  design  ot  C.  Schonherr) 


SACRED  HEART  OF  JESUS 


VOL.  VI  (xxvi).          FEBRUARY,  1891. 


No.  2 


THE   HOLY   HOUR, 

By  M.  Regina  Colgan. 


ADST  thou  been  in  Gethsemani 

That  darksome  night  and  drear 
When  Christ  the  bitter  chalice  drained, 

With  none  to  comfort  near, 
When  all  the  crimes  of  sinful  men 

His  cup  filled  to  the  brim, 
And  trickling  fell  the  sweat  of  blood — 

Wouldst  thou  have  watched  with  Him? 


All  agony  that  heart  can  bear, 

All  sorrow  earth  hath  known, 

He  suffered  in  that  cruel  hour 
And  suffered  it — alone. 

The  comfort  that  the  Angel  brought 
Had  rapture  been  from  thee  : 

Oh,  hear  His  cry  of  wounded  love : 
"Wilt  watch  one  hour  with  Mef" 

His  Heart  is  calling  to  thee  still : 
Canst  thou  resist  its  power? 

Oh,  bow  before  His  lonely  shrine, 
To  watch  with  Him  one  hour  ! 


Copyright,  1891,  by  Rev.  R.  S.  Dewey,  S.  J.    All  rights  reserved.] 


81 


TOMB  OF  CECILIA  METELLA. 


THE   QUEEN   OF   HIGH    WAYS. 

THE  sun  of  Rome  is  mighty.     In  the  clear  winter  days  it 
glorifies  the  earth  and  sky  with  a  semblance  of  the  summer 

of  less  favored  lauds. 
Then  many  a  stranger 
who  is  "doing  Rome" 
is  tempted  beyond  the 
city  walls,  at  least  so 
far  as  a  carriage  will  take  him.  There  are  plenty  of  things  for 
him  to  see,  yet  for  the  most  part  nowhere  is  there  less  really  seen. 
It  is  because  the  "mind's  eye"  of  the  traveller  has  not  been  fitted 
beforehand  with  a  glass  for  proper  insight. 

The  average  tourist  will  go  out  beyond  the  Porta  San  Sebas- 
tiano  to  the  Catacombs  of  St.  Callistus.  Perhaps  his  excursion 
will  be  prolonged  to  the  Basilica  of  St.  Sebastian — one  of  the 
seven  of  Rome — a  little  further  on.  He  is  told  that  he  has  seen 
the  famous  Via  Appia.  He  has  indeed  been  driving  along  its 


82 


THE  QUEEN  OF  HIGH  WAYS.  83 

course,  but  always  between  high  walls  of  brick  roughly  plastered 
over  with  cement,  and  shutting  out  the  view  of  everything  except 
the  intensely  blue  sky  above  and  the  black  polygonal  century- 
old  paving-stones  over  which  he  jolts  below.  The  most  curious 
thing  he  will  have  seen  by  the  roadside  is  the  rare  species  of  ivy 
growing  over  the  walls  and  showing  in  this  season  its  clusters  of 
yellow  berries.  Here  and  there,  through  a  clumsy  gate,  there  is 
a  break  into  some  vigna  where  there  are  antiquities  to  show  and 
perhaps  to  sell  to  the  unshrewd  traveller.  But  the  real  Appian 
Way — "the  Queen  of  High  Ways,"  as  the  ancient  poet  called  it — 
he  has  not  seen  at  all. 

The  more's  the  pity.  All  the  surroundings  of  Rome  might 
give  him  an  education  in  this  world's  history  and  point  its  moral, 
if  he  only  visited  them  with  some  proper  insight  into  what  they 
all  mean.  A  little  further  along  this  Appian  Way,  for  instance, 
the  mind's  eye  can  look  through  all  the  periods  of  Roman  history 
from  the  time  it  became  the  world's  centre  until  now,  quite  as 
easily  as  the  eye  of  the  body  can  look  down  its  long  line  of  ruined 
monuments. 

If  he  would  silver  over  his  persuasion,  the  vetturino  who  is 
his  charioteer  would  readily  bring  him  a  mile  or  so  beyond  the 
Basilica,  and  then  alighting  he  could  wander  at  will  on  foot  along 
the  wonderful  High  Way.  There  he  would  tread  the  soil  over 
which  passed  the  feet  of  heroes,  Apostles,  and  Martyrs.  But  if 
city  life  has  altogether  unfitted  him  for  a  pedestrian  excursion, 
still  from  the  first  elevated  point  he  may  have  a  fair  view  of  all 
that  has  been  preserved  of  the  great  way  which  once  led  from  the 
Eternal  City  down  to  Capua  and  then  across  Italy  to  where  the 
ships  started  for  Greece,  Egypt,  and  the  East.  He  should 
certainly  find  it  as  interesting  as  two  thousand  years  from  now 
posterity  will  find  our  own  lines  of  railway,  if  indeed  our  work 
will  endure  so  many  years. 

All  this  part  of  the  Roman  Field  is  a  continuous  up  and 
down  of  the  surface  of  the  ground,  never  rising  so  high  as  the 
hills  of  Rome  and  never  descending  lower  than  some  deeply  cut 
water-course  which  drains  the  hills  far  away.  The  elevation  near 


84  THE  QUEEN  OF  HIGH  WAYS. 

which  we  emerge  from  the  line  of  walls  that  shut  in  the  way  is 
the  great  circular  tomb  of  Cecilia  Metella,  wife  of  a  certain  Crassus, 
perhaps  the  "lean  and  hungry"  conspirator  against  Caesar. 

Her  name  goes  back  to  the  early  Republic,  when  the  plebian 
family  bearing  it  gradually  grew  rich  and  strong  until  it  was 
ennobled.  But  it  was  later,  in  Christian  times,  that  the  Martyr 
St.  Cecilia  became  the  crowning  glory  of  her  race  in  the  Cata- 
combs we  have  just  passed.  All  along  here  the  Cecilian  family 
had  its  possessions.  Back  from  the  broad  High  Way  were  the 
sumptuous  mansions.  Along  the  great  Way,  after  the  ostenta- 
tious manner  of  the  Romans  when  they  grew  rich,  they  housed 
their  dead  in  great  masses  of  brickwork,  three  and  four  and  more 
stories  in  height,  all  encased  in  precious  marble.  The  marble 
disappeared  centuries  ago  and  went  to  adorn  churches  and  palaces 
in  the  City,  or  was  ground  up  into  lime  for  whitewashing  the 
vineyard  walls  of  the  neighboring  peasants.  But  the  brickwork 
remains  and,  to  all  appearances,  may  remain  for  ever.  The  Roman 
bricks  were  long  thin  slabs,  and  when  firmly  set  together  with 
the  tenacious  cement  of  the  ancients  in  which  broken  earthenware 
was  freely  mixed  they  form  a  conglomerate  mass  of  rubble  that 
seems  a  part  of  the  earth's  living  rock. 

From  this  point  on  for  many  miles  the  whole  Way  is  lined 
with  these  monuments,  more  or  less  dilapidated.  On  the  top  of 
some  of  them  is  found  a  modern  tower,  if  that  can  be  called  modern 
which  was  built  nearly  a  thousand  years  ago.  These  towers  were 
places  of  refuge  against  the  Saracens  when  they  made  their  inroads, 
or  for  the  shepherds  of  one  powerful  family  when  harried  by  the 
sudden  onset  of  the  retainers  of  the  next  powerful  family  at  feud 
with  their  own  lords.  At  the  end  of  the  vista  from  this  first  great 
tomb,  some  few  miles  away  toward  the  Alban  mountains,  one  of 
the  most  curious  of  all  these  Roman  ruins  may  be  seen.  Over  the 
very  top  of  a  great  circular  tomb,  the  ages  with  wind  and 
weather  have  scattered  so  much  fertile  soil  that  a  farmhouse  has 
been  set  up  there  as  on  some  natural  mountain,  and  an  olive 
orchard  may  be  seen  growing  far  above  the  remains  of  Rome's 
proudest  nobility. 


86  THE  QUEEN  OF  HIGH  WAYS. 

When  this  part  of  the  Appian  Way  was  first-  excavated  and 
laid  open  to  -  the  ordinary  traveller  by  Pius  IX.,  then  ruler  in 
Rome  and  public-spirited  in  all  his  works,  many  travellers  came 
out  here  to  refresh  their  classical  memories.  But  either  the  lazi- 
ness of  recent  tourists,  or  the  short  time  in  which  they  hurry  over 
all  these  scenes  that  would  need  years  of  study,  has  caused  this 
excursion  to  be  again  neglected  except  perhaps  by  a  few  profes- 
sional students.  Yet  nowhere  are  there  finer  views  to  be  seen. 

To  the  left  of  the  great  road  you  see  stretching  for  miles 
across  the  plain  the  lofty  broken  arches  of  the  Roman  aqueducts, 
over  which  the  water  from  the  distant  mountain  streams  was  con- 
veyed to  the  City  when  it  had  outgrown  the  use  of  the  muddy 
Tiber.  Further  still  against  the  horizon  you  have  the  framework 
of  the  Sabine  Mountains  and  the  Alban  Hills.  The  former  are  of 
limestone  worn  away  into  all  manner  of  angular  and  prismatic 
shapes.  All  through  the  winter  season  their  tops  are  covered  with 
snow  and  shine  forth  in  the  sunlight  like  masses  of  rose  quartz. 
The  Alban  Hills  nearer  have  their  rugged  sides  clothed  with  the 
russet-brown  hues  of  the  Campagna  at  their  feet,  except  where, 
far  away,  they  show  dark-blue  against  the  intenser  azure  of  the 
sky.  On  their  sides  here  and  there  gleam  the  yelloAv  walls  of 
the  Italian  villages. 

To  the  right,  the  eye  passes  over  the  fields  of  the  Campagna 
toward  the  sea,  which  however  can  be  seen  from  few  points. 
When  seen  at  all  it  is  only  as  a  silver  streak  at  the  horizon,  some 
twelve  miles  distant.  The  Campagna  itself  is  the  despair  of 
painters.  Every  shadow  of  the  clouds,  every  change  of  light  from 
the  sunrise  over  the  Albali  summits  to  the  western  sheen  across  the 
sea  waves  gives  a  vital  change  in  color  to  its  surface.  In  the  dis- 
tance it  looks  like  the  smooth  floor  of  an  American  prairie,  but 
coming  nearer  you  find  it  the  same  continuous  up  and  down 
variety  of  hill  and  dale  which  we  have  along  this  part  of  the 
Appian  Way.  Grazing  here  and  there  are  herds  of  the  light  dove- 
gray,  sleek-coated  oxen,  so  famous  for  the  immense  span  of  their 
ebony-black  shining  horns.  Then  there  may  be  some  of  the 
humped-backed  black  and  white  Roman  buffaloes,  now  becoming 


88  THE  QUEEN  OF  HIGH  WAYS. 

rare,  or  again  black  goats  with  glistening  yellow  eyes  waging  their 
gray  beards.  For  the  tourist  from  the  New  AYrorld,  as  interest- 
ing as  any  are  the  herdsmen  themselves  in  their  coats  of  sheepskin, 
with  sheepskin  leggings  curiously  protecting  the  front  of  the  leg. 

All  this  region — the  ruined  tombs,  the  amphitheatres,  the 
High  Way  and  the  ruins  which  border  it,  even  the  names  of  its 
insignificant  streams — is  bound  up  with  some  one  or  other  impor- 
tant part  of  the  world's  history.  To  explain  all  its  transforma- 
tions of  land  and  population  would  go  far  toward  determining 
many  of  the  vexed  questions  of  our  own  day.  Here,  in  the  oldest 
period  of  which  we  know,  were  scattered  the  fifty  or  so  small 
independent  towns  which  made  up  together  the  confederacy  of 
Latium.  Alba  Longa,  far  away  on  the  mountain  yonder,  was  at 
first  the  head  of  the  confederacy,  until  supplanted  by  its  all-con- 
quering daughter,  Rome.  Some  three  hundred  years  before  the 
Christian  era,  Rome  had  nothing  more  left  to  conquer  in  her  own 
immediate  neighborhood.  Then  she  began  absorbing  all  to  herself. 
Means  were  found  by  which  the  population  of  these  towns  was 
drawn  to  the  great  City,  and  then  the  more  powerful  citizens  of 
the  Republic — the  leading  politicians,  or  those  who  had  "political 
influence,"  as  we  would  say — began  buying  up,  or  appropriating 
without  buying,  all  the  land  into  great  estates.  These  estates 
were  cultivated  by  slaves  and  little  by  little  ceased  to  be  ploughed, 
as  under  the  old  system  of  careful  cultivation.  Then  home-grown 
food  had  been  eaten  and  home-made  garments  worn ;  now  every- 
thing became  foreign  and  exotic,  and  the  land  at  home  was  turned 
over  to  pasture.  Thus  began  the  second  period,  of  which  the 
Roman  historian  says  sententiously,  Latifundia  perdidn°e  Latium 
"Great  landholdings  ruined  Latium." 

But  the  Roman  landlord  now  found  an  enemy  witli  which  he 
could  not  deal  as  with  those  of  his  own  kind.  When  the  careful 
cultivation  of  the  soil  had  ceased  and  only  great  herds  roamed 
over  the  broad  Campagna  there  came  forth  a  subtle  influence  from 
the  land  which,  little  by  little,  has  reduced  it  to  its  present  desolate 
condition. 

The  soil  is   made  up  of  the  friable  tufa  coming   from  the 


THE  QUEEN   OF  HIGH   WAYS. 


89 


decomposition  of  the  great  streams  of  lava  sent  forth  ages  ago  by 
the  Alban  Mountain.  It  is  only  along  a  narrow  strip  of  the  plain, 
beginning  just  here  at  the  tomb  of  Cecilia  Metella,  that  we  find  the 
strong  lava  rock  resulting  from  a  later  eruption  over  the  earlier 
tufa.  It  is  the  property  of  this  volcanic  soil  greedily  to  suck  up 
moisture  and  tenaciously  to  retain  it.  In  autumn  and  winter  all 
this  land  is  brown  and  bare  with  little  but  dry  stubble  upon  it, 
because  the  intense  heat  of  summer  has  at  the  very  last  dried  up 
its  moisture.  But  with  the  heavy  rains  of  winter  and  springtime 


SHEPHERDS  OF  THE  CAMPAGNA. 


9O  THE   QUEEN  OF  HIGH  WAYS. 

the  soil  will  again  become  spongy  and  damp,  and  so  remain  month 
after  month  through  the  greatest  heats  into  the  Dog-days. 

Then  such  vegetation  as  can  be  seen,  perhaps,  nowhere 
else  in  the  world  will  spring  up  on  every  hillside.  Myriads  of 
flowers,  homely  or  exotic  elsewhere,  will  here  bloom  together — 
crimson-tipped  daisies,  daffodils  with  perfume  as  of  the  tuberose, 
fox-gloves  and  hollyhocks,  lupins  and  gorgeous  scarlet  poppies 
that  wave  from  the  top  of  every  tomb  and  crumbling  tower — even 
the  very  thistles  will  flaunt  their  purple  tufts  and  give  a  crown 
of  glory  to  the  land.  But  then  the  tourist  will  be  warned  not  to 
pass  through  these  beautiful  vales  after  the  sunset,  for  it  is 
the  hour  when  the  subtle  influence  is  rising  to  stalk  abroad 
through  the  land.  It  is  the  dreaded  malaria,  generated  by  the 
moisture  left  stagnating  in  fertile  soil  through  lack  of  cultivation ; 
and  the  lack  of  cultivation  began  with  the  great  landholdings, 
when  the  people  were  driven  away  and  all  this  fair  region  was 
turned  to  the  pasturage  of  cattle  by  landlords,  "absentee"  in 
Greece  or  by  the  Hellespont. 

This  is  the  state  of  the  Roman  Campagna  down  to  the  former 
Neapolitan  frontier.  Perhaps  no  government  will  ever  command 
the  necessary  means  and  men  to  bring  it  back  to  that  state  of 
fertility  when  fifty  independent  nations  two  thousand  years  ago 
lived  from  its  broad  acres.  But  their  natural  fertility  is  so  great 
that  they  prove  a  source  of  riches  to  the  few  owners  who  can 
induce  the  peasants  to  brave  the  deadly  fever.  Even  so,  in  the 
summer  season  all  with  the  night  seek  the  protection  of  some 
neighboring  hill,  or  of  the  City  itself,  against  the  subtle  enemy. 

But  so  far  we  have  said  little  of  the  tomb  before  us.  It  is 
an  immense  round  tower  of  Roman  brick,  once  cased  with  marble, 
resting  on  a  square  foundation  of  massive  blocks  of  travertine. 
Nearly  all  that  remains  of  ancient  adornment  is  a  band  of  ox 
skulls  alternating  with  festooned  garlands  round  the  upper  part. 
From  this  the  neighboring  peasants  have  called  it  for  centuries 
the  Tower  of  the  Bull's  Head.  Conspicuous  above  it  are  the 
forked  battlements  which  distinguished  the  Ghibellines  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  For  these  Roman  tombs  have  suffered  many  a 


THE   QUEEN  OF  HIGH   IV AYS.  91 

curious  change  in  the  course  of  time.  This  one  was  used  by  the 
great  Gaetani  family  as  their  stronghold ;  and  from  its  wall  to  the 
ruins  across  the  road  they  extended  their  castle  like  a  monstrous 
toll-gate  whence  they  might  domineer  over  the  whole  Appian 
Way,  lords  or  brigands  as  we  choose  to  consider  them.  The 
great  tomb  far  away  at  the  end  of  the  long  line  was  used  in  like 
fashion  by  the  Orsiiii  family,  which  still  remains  in  its  broad 
possessions  of  the  Roman  Field. 

Another  curious  thing  of  this  tomb  is  that  it  has  the  same  buff 
color  which  distinguishes  ruins  and  ancient  buildings  alike 
through  all  this  part  of  Italy,  as  if  the  Italian  sun  had  somehow 
got  into  the  eyes  of  men  and  created  in  the  color-sense  a  craving 
for  something  of  its  own  sheen. 

The  period  of  Rome's  boundless  wealth  and  luxury  passed 
away,  and  with  it  the  memory  of  most  of  these  great  landed 
proprietors  who,  to  the  ruin  of  their  country,  built  up  these 
monuments  of  an  idle  ostentation. 

This  much  alone  we  know — Metella  died, 

The  wealthiest  Roman's  wife  :  behold  his  love  or  pride. 

It  was  in  those  last  days  of  human  vanity,  which  were  to- 
end  in  the  subtle  malaria  of  these  fields,  that  another  influence 
sprang  up,  subtler  and  more  powerful  and  which  from  here  was 
to  spread  little  by  little  through  the  whole  world.  This  was  the 
religion  of  the  Christian  Martyrs  who  lie  by  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands in  the  Catacombs  beneath  these  fields. 

From  his  prison  in  Jerusalem  the  Apostle  Peter  came  out 
hither  to  the  Jews  who  had  settled  around  the  gate  opening  on 
the  Appian  Way.  They  were  the  lowly  and  despised  of  this 
world;  but  their  traditional  industry  and  enterprise,  and  the 
purity  of  their  social  relations  had  already  made  them  felt  as  an 
element  in  the  corrupt  Roman  society.  Along  this  Appian  Way 
St.  Peter,  and  later  on  St.  Paul,  came  to  find  their  countrymen 
and  to  spread  among  them,  and  among  the  Romans  in  whose 
midst  they  lived,  the  faith  of  the  Crucified  God.  To  Him  they 
had  given  up  their  lives,  and  for  Him  they  were  to  suffer  death 
in  this  same  Rome.  St.  Luke,  who  was  St.  Paul's  companion, 


THE  QUEEN  OF  HIGH   IV AYS.  93 

in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  tells  how  the  new  Christians  of  this 
Jewish  colony  came  out  to  meet  them  far  along  the  Appian  Way 
when  the  great  Apostle  was  brought  as  a  prisoner  to  Csesar.  But 
there  is  something  more  interesting  yet  about  this  Way  than  the 
passing  over  it  of  those  who  were  to  give  the  beginning  to  the 
Roman  Church.  It  is  connected  with  the  great  estates  whose 
palaces  and  monuments  lined  the  Queen  of  High  Ways. 

The  Cecilian  family,  as  has  been  said,  found  its  crowning 
glory  in  the  Martyr  St.  Cecilia,  who  was  laid  to  rest  with  count- 
less other  martyrs,  Popes  and  priests  and  simple  faithful,  in  the 
Catacombs  on  her  own  estate.  But  these  Catacombs  had  long 
before  been  opened  to  Christian  burial  by  a  more  ancient  member 
of  her  race,  one  who  has  been  eulogized  by  no  less  a  pagan  than  the 
historian  Tacitus  and  who  may  have  received  St.  Peter  himself 
when  he  first  came  to  Rome.  It  is  only  the  diligent  deciphering 
of  inscriptions  long  hidden  under  the  ground,  which  has  made  it 
possible  during  the  last  few  years  to  identify  this  noble  matron. 
Tacitus,  who  saw  in  the  Christian  religion  only  an  "  execrable 
superstition,"  was  still  able  to  appreciate  the  fruits  of  that  relig- 
ion in  a  saintly  life  which  he  wondered  at  and  eulogized  without 
understanding. 

In  the  year  43  after  Christ,  shortly  after  the  arrival  of  St. 
Peter  in  the  Capital  of  the  World,  Pomponia,  a  matron  of  high 
rank,  suddenly  changed  her  worldly  life  to  the  unqualified  aston- 
ishment of  her  pagan  friends.  She  withdrew  from  society,  she  put 
on  the  garments  of  mourning,  and  went  to  live  retired  on  her 
country  estate.  Some  thought  she  was  mourning  her  intimate 
friend,  Julia  of  the  family  of  Csesar,  who  had  been  put  to  death 
under  Tiberius  in  one  of  the  endless  intrigues  of  his  corrupt  court. 
But  the  years  passed  by,  and  there  was  no  change  in  the  manner 
of  her  life.  "  She  lived  long,"  says  Tacitus,  "  always  in  her  Bad- 
ness. During  forty  years  she  wore  only  the  habit  of  mourning." 

At  last  this  existence,  so  singular  in  the  world  of  that  day, 
excited  suspicion.  Pomponia  was  accused  of  joining  in  "  foreign 
superstitions."  According  to  the  Roman  law,  she  was  handed 
over  to  the  judgment  of  her  husband.  He  was  an  old  consul,  who 


©4  THE  QUEEN   OF  HIGH  IV AYS. 

had  had  a  hand  in  the  conquest  of  Britain.  He  seems  to  have  had 
something  of  the  oldtime  honor.  After  holding  a  council  of  his 
noble  family,  he  declared  his  wife  innocent  and  free  to  continue  in 
the  way  of  life  she  had  chosen.  Recent  discoveries  made  in  the 
excavation  of  the  first  Christian  cemeteries  along  the  Appian  Way 
show  that  the  famous  crypt  of  Lucina,  which  ran  into  the  Cata- 
combs of  St.  Callistus  where  St.  Cecilia  was  buried,  was  the 
private  property  of  Pomponia.  Among  the  earliest  Christian 
inscriptions  there  is  one  narrating  the  virtues  of  a  young  Pom- 
ponius,  two  generations  later,  showing  that  this  Christian  matron 
had  left  the  heritage  of  her  faith  to  her  descendants.  It  is  not 
certain  even  that  the  name  Lueina,  which  means  the  "enlightened 
one  "  and  which  is  attributed  to  the  powerful  Roman  matron  who 
preserved  the  bodies  of  the  first  Christian  martyrs,  is  not  the 
mystic  name  of  this  same  Pomponia. 

So  does  this  Appiau  Way  bring  back  the  memory  of  the  good 
and  the  evil  of  ages  past.  In  its  present  desolation,  it  tells  the 
story  of  that  "foreign  superstition"  which  from  Rome  and  the 
See  of  Peter  has  spread  and  subtly  transformed  the  whole  civiliza- 
tion of  the  world  and  the  lives  of  men,  even  of  those  men  who 
would  now  drive  it  from  the  earth.  Without  Rome  the  world 
had  not  been  Christian,  nor  without  Christianity  had  our  brief 
life  been  worth  the  living. 

Awe-struck  I  gazed  upon  that  rock-paved  way. 
The  Appian  Road  ;   mannorean  witness  still 
Of  Rome's  resistless  stride  and  fateful  Will. 

Which  mocked  at  limits,  opening  out  for  aye 

Divergent  paths  to  one  imperial  sway. 
The  Nations  verily  their  parts  fulfil ; 
And  war  must  plough  the  fields  which  Law  shall  till ; 

Therefore  Rome  triumphed  till  the  appointed  day. 

Then  from  the  Catacombs,  like  waves,  up-burst 
The  Host  of  God,  and  scaled,  as  in  an  hour, 
O'er  all  the  earth  the  mountain  seats  of  Power. 

Oladly  in  that  baptismal  flood  immersed 

The  old  Empire  died  to  live.     Once  more  on  high 

It  sits ;  now  clothed  with  immortality  ! 

(Aubrey  de  Vere.) 


EUCHARISTIC  THOUGHTS. 

By  the  Rev.  Matthew  Russell,  S.J. 

V. 

IN  our  moments  before  the  tabernacle  we  might  be  supposed  to 
be  occupied  with  nothing  else  but  prayer ;  and  these  are  not 
prayers.  No ;  because  I  think  it  is  well  in  our  devotions  to 
practise  sometimes  one  of  the  wise  suggestions  of  St.  Ignatius.  He 
tells  us  that  we  ought  to  show  more  reverence  when  we  address 
God  directly  in  prayer  than  when  we  are  only  thinking  about 
Him  and  His  eternal  truths.1  Now  our  sloth  is  not  capable  of 
much  strain,  and  therefore  we  quickly  tire  of  our  attempts  at 
direct  and  fervent  prayer,  taking  refuge  in  that  exercise  of  the 
powers  of  the  soul  which  exacts  less  reverence  and  less  restraint. 
And  therefore  it  does  not  seem  to  me  wise  to  impose  it  on  our- 
selves as  a  duty  to  be  always  formal  and  solemn  in  the  thoughts 
and  words  which  spring  up  in  our  hearts  or  rise  to  our  lips  during 
our  moments  before  the  Tabernacle.  We  may  very  properly  and 
very  fruitfully  occupy  ourselves  with  holy  and  appropriate 
thoughts  of  any  kind  cast  in  any  form.  And  therefore,  kneeling 
or  sitting  before  the  Tabernacle,  we  may  now  perhaps  dwell  with 
profit  on  a  eucharistic  thought,  which  I  will  set  down  here,  not  by 
itself  but  with  some  of  its  surroundings. 

VI. 

In  the  Life  of  Felix  Dupanloup,  Bishop  of  Orleans,  there  is 
given  incidentally  an  account  of  an  English  governess,  Harriet 

1  Exerdtia  Spiritualia,  Annotatio  3.  The  Directoriuin  (chapter  15,  section 
7)  says  that  our  colloquies  with  God  and  His  Saints  in  meditation  require  greater 
reverence  than  our  meditations  and  speculations. 


95 


96  EUCHARIST  1C    THOUGHTS. 

Shillito,  who  was  received  by  him  into  the  Catholic  Church,  and 
who  has  been  for  more  than  twenty  years  a  Poor  Clare  in  Eng- 
land, if  she  is  living  still.  Her  name  occurs  to  me  now  before 
the  altar,  not  on  account  of  the  Bishop's  words  to  her :  "  Why  are 
you  not  a  Catholic?  Are  you  quite  sure  you  are  in  the  truth, 
your  religion  having  so  many  separate  sects?  Can  you  strike  the 
Tu  es  Petrus  out  of  the  Gospel?"  Not  for  those  words  of  the 
Bishop,  but  for  these  other  words  of  Harriet  Shillito  herself. 
"The  Church  has  the  Eucharist,  the  most  complete  and  perfect 
gift  of  God  to  man;  the  Church  produces  Virginity,  the  most 
complete  and  perfect  gift  of  man  to  God.  I  think  that  perfect 
truth  must  be  there  where  there  is  perfect  love." 

VII. 

The  foregoing  words  join  together,  with  a  slight  variation, 
two  ideas  which  I  have  long  been  accustomed  to  link  with  certain 
words  of  a  great  and  good  man  wrhose  death  has  called  forth  a 
wider  and  more  earnest  expression  of  affectionate  admiration  than 
has  marked  the  departure  of  any  man  of  our  time  or  perhaps  of 
any  time.  Yes,  the  truly  Christian  heart  needs  no  other  notes  of 
the  true  Church  of  Christ  than  the  Holy  Eucharist  and  the  Blessed 
Virgin.  Ecce  Mater  tua.  Hoc  est  corpus  meum.  But  with  these 
grand  war-cries  and  watchwords  of  the  Faith  let  us  join  Tu  es 
Petrus, 

The  great  and  good  man  from  whom  we  take  the  eucharistic 
thought  on  which  wre  are  going  now  to  dwell  for  a  little,  is  Cardinal 
Newman.  Long  before  that  title  belonged  to  him,  in  his  first  year 
as  a  Catholic  priest,  he  preached  some  sermons  which  even  he 
never  before  or  since  surpassed,  and  wThich  form  his  first  Catholic 
book,  Discourses  to  Mixed  Congregations.  In  the  last  of  these  he 
makes  a  remark  which  I  have  often  repeated  to  others,  and  to 
myself  hundreds  of  times  as  a  sort  of  meditative  ejaculation :  for 
I  hold  strongly  that  the  practice  of  ejaculations  ought  not  to  be 
confined  to  direct  aspirations  to  God  and  His  Saints  but  ought  to 
include  mottoes  and  principles  and  reflections  of  many  kinds,  not 
all  directly  spiritual.  But  this  saying  is  directly  spiritual.  "It 


EUCHARIST  1C   THOUGHTS.  97 

is  the  boast  of  the  Catholic  religion  that  it  has  the  gift  of  making 
the  young  heart  chaste :  and  why  is  this  but  that  it  gives  us  Jesus 
for  our  Food  and  Mary  for  our  nursing  Mother?" 

vin. 

It  is  the  name  of  Jesus  and  not  of  Mary  that  brings  these 
words  before  our  minds  in  these  moments  before  the  Tabernacle  ; 
yet  He  will  let  us  think  first  of  His  nursing  Mother.  She  was  so 
indeed  for  Him  in  reality. 

Et  lade  modica  pastus  est 
Per  quern  nee  ales  esurit. 

"He  on  a  little  milk  is  fed 
Who  gives  the  birds  their  daily  bread." 

Did  the  great  neophyte  mean  by  calling  Mary  not  only  our 
Mother  but  our  nursing  Mother  to  claim  for  her  again,  in  her 
mystical  maternity,  not  the  half  only  but  the  whole  of  the  bene- 
diction pronounced  on  her  of  old  by  the  good  woman  in  the 
crowd  :  "  Blessed  is  the  womb  that  bore  Thee,  and  the  breasts  that 
Thou  hast  sucked !"  St.  Clement  of  Alexandria  says  that  the 
mother  who  does  not  nourish  her  infant  at  her  breast  is  but  half  a 
mother.  Quce  parit  et  non  lactat  dimidium  matris  est.  All  the 
love. and  tenderness  of  the  best  and  truest  mothers  must  yield  to 
the  higher  and  truer  love  that  yearns  toward  us  all  from  the 
Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary  our  nursing  Mother.  She  is  our 
Mother  and  our  nursing  Mother.  The  relations  we  hold  to  the 
Blessed  Virgin  are  not  those  of  the  grown-up  son  or  daughter  to 
the  venerated  parent  on  whom  they  lavish  marks  of  respect  and 
affection,  the  arrears  of  gratitude  accumulated  during  the  long 
years  during  which  they  were,  first,  the  wholly  unconscious  and 
then  the  only  half  conscious  objects  of  a  mother's  self-sacrificing 
love.  We  are  not  so  far  independent.  We  have  not  outgrown 
the  wants  of  childhood.  We  are  helpless  children  always,  quasi 
modo  geniti  infantes,  like  new-born  babes  needing  always  to  be 
nursed  and  tended,  needing  always  the  Blessed  Virgin  for  our 
nursing  Mother. 


THE  THROUGH  TRAIN  TO  PARADISE. 

By  Joseph  E.  Barnaby. 

I. 

4<TT  TA-WA — Germantown — Mauch   Chunk — Through   traiu 
\  \       — Bel-vi-dere  division  !" 

Every  frequenter  of  the  superb  railway  station  on 
Broad  Street  in  Philadelphia  knows  that  this  is  not  quite  the  way 
the  words  run.  But  this  seemed  about  their  sum  to  the  tired 
little  woman  in  black  who  had  been  waiting  till  late  in  the  night 
for  a  train  that  was  never  called. 

Her  clothing  was  old  and  rusty,  but  very  neat.  A  soft  white 
handkerchief  was  pinned  round  her  wasted  throat  in  motherly 
fashion.  The  dingy  crape  veil  pushed  back  over  her  antique 
bonnet  set  off  a  pale  worn  face  from  which  smiles  had  long  since 
fled.  On  her  arm  was  an  old-fashioned  wicker-basket ;  and  the 
fingers  of  her  thin  hands  were  nervously  locked  together  in  her 
lap. 

She  sat  at  the  end  of  one  of  the  long  benches  of  the  waiting- 
room.  It  was  close  to  the  great  door  opening  out  on  the  platform. 
She  could  hear  the  first  words  of  the  "  usher "  or  caller-out  of 
trains,  as  he  came  in  to  announce  their  departure.  She  looked 
him  steadily  in  the  face,  leaning  a  little  forward  that  she  might  not 
miss  a  word  of  what  he  was  saying  so  deliberately.  But  her  train 
never  came.  After  a  time  it  seemed  to  her  that  he  only  called  out 
over  and  over  the  same  thing. 

"  Wa-wa — Germantown — Mauch  Chunk — Through  train — 
Bel-vi-dere  division !" 

Her  expectation  grew  more  anxious  each  time  that  she  settled 
back  into  her  place.  She  looked  timidly  after  the  usher  to  see  if 
she  might  not  speak  to  him  the  next  time  he  should  pass  her  by. 

He  was  very  different  in  look  from  herself.  Youth  was  still 
a-Maying  with  him ;  and  he  stood  straight  upright  in  the  dark 
blue  uniform  and  close  cap  worn  by  the  employees  of  that  great 

98 


THE   THROUGH   TRAIN   TO  PARADISE.  99 

company  which,  it  is  said,  owns  the  State  of  Pennsylvania.  He 
was  a  handsome  figure  of  a  man.  His  black  hair  and  kindly  grey 
eyes  were  set  off  by  a  bright  healthy  flush  on  cheeks  of  dusky  firm 
complexion.  All  this  belongs  to  the  "  dark  Irish  "  \vho  are  the 
true  Milesians,  and  came  from  Spain  two  thousand  years  ago.  He 
was  known  as  "Irish  Charley,"  though  American-born." 

He  was  very  proud  of  his  calling  out.  When  his  turn  came 
on,  all  the  waiting  passengers  looked  relieved.  They  were  sure  to 
understand  in  time  when  their  train  was  ready. 

He  had  noticed  the  poorly  dressed  little  woman  in  black. 
She  had  given  a  twinge  to  his  heart-strings,  which  were  tender 
after  his  race's  wont. 

Only  a  few  years  brought  him  back  to  his  childhood  when  he 
had  seen  his  mother  seated  like  that  in  the  waiting-room  of  these 
great  railway  offices.  That  was  after  his  father  had  been  crushed 
to  death  between  two  freight  cars  he  was  coupling  one  stormy 
night.  She  had  grown  old  and  wasted  then  like  this  woman 
before  him.  She  worked  hard  and  ate  little  that  he  might  have 
enough,  until  at  last  some  one  in  the  great  corporation  was  found 
willing  to  take  him  in  and  pay  for  the  life  of  the  father  by 
enabling  the  son  to  earn  a  living.  He  earned  more  than  that,  now 
he  had  been  promoted  to  call  out  the  trains ;  and  the  mother 
could  rest  a  little  and  try  to  grow  young  again. 

At  least,  this  should  have  been  the  case.  But  it  was  just 
here  that  the  twinge  came  to  his  heart-strings.  He  called  out  the 
trains  so  loudly  that  all  the  waiting  crowd  turned  agape  to  hear 
what  was  so  specially  announced.  He  half  excused  himself  by 
winding  up  with  a  prolonged — "  Local !"  Then  all  the  people 
who  were  for  the  through  trains  settled  back  and  looked  at  the 
long  gilt  hands  on  the  black  dial  of  the  clock  up  against  the  wall 
before  them. 

Irish  Charley  stood  with  a  deepened  flush  on  his  face  beside 
the  little  old  lady  who  had  betrayed  him  into  this  unusual  out- 
burst. Her  faded  eyes  were  looking  straight  up  to  his,  with  a 
wan  look.  The  frank  kindliness  of  his  own  questioning  gaze 
emboldened  her  to  speak. 


1OO  THE   THROUGH   TRAIN   TO  PARADISE. 

"If  you  please,  sir,  when  is  the  train  for  Paradise?" 

He  gave  a  surprised  start,  but  she  went  on  quickly:  "I  try 
and  be  patient;  but  I  have  been  here  very  long  and  you  never 
call  out  that  train.  And  I'm  so  tired." 

By  this  time  he  was  reassured.  "Oh,  I  see  now.  I've 
heard  of  the  place.  It's  not  on  this  line — that's  why  I  don't 
call  it." 

The  poor  creature  shrank  back  in  her  corner  trembling 
violently  as  with  cold  and  misery  combined.  It  was  time  for 
him  to  be  back  at  the  platform  for  another  train ;  but  he  said  a 
word  to  comfort  her  in  her  dismay. 

"Don't  be  afraid.  There's  a  connection  somewhere — I'll  ask 
out  at  the  Inquiry  Window  and  tell  you  the  next  time  I  come 
in.  Sorry  I  didn't  know  before.  'Twill  be  all  right — don't  be 
afraid.  We  connect  here  with  everywhere — no  trouble  at  all." 

She  pressed  her  fingers  tightly  together,  and  the  look  of 
patient  expectation  slowly  came  back  to  her  eyes.  She  still 
shivered  slightly  under  her  faded  shawl.  When  the  door  next 
opened,  she  sat  forward  to  hear,  with  a  touching  glance  of  recog- 
nition at  the  usher.  He  was  flustered,  and  his  calling  out  was 
not  nearly  up  to  the  mark.  When  he  had  finished,  he  stopped 
beside  her  once  more. 

"I've  found  your  connection.  It's  up  above  Lancaster,  and 
you'll  have  to  ask  the  conductor  where  you're  to  change.  I  guess 
you'll  have  to  stage  it  part  of  the  way." 

She  looked  gratefully  up  at  him  and  laid  her  withered  hand 
anxiously  on  his  sturdy  arm,  though  he  was  not  moving  away. 

"Can  I  go  now?  Is  it  long  before  the  train  goes?  Oh,  I'm 
in  such  a  hurry — and  I'm  so  tired." 

He  flushed  up  once  more  and  turned  aside  his  look  as  he 
answered  almost  timidly:  "Well,  the  truth  is,  lady,  there  ain't 
any  more  trains  that  way  to-night.  The  Harrisburg  Express  was 
the  last,  and  that's  gone  half  an  hour." 

The  woman  was  trembling  violently  again,  and  warm-hearted 
Charley  could  not  endure  the  suffering  and  agitation  visible  on 
her  pinched  features  as  he  hastily  glanced  down  at  her. 


THE   THROUGH   TRAIN   TO  PARADISE.  1O1 

"Now,  now,  it  can't  be  helped  and  'twill  all  come  out  right, 
I  know.  Have  you  no  friends  you  can  go  to  for  the  night,  here 
in  the  city?" 

She  stared  straight  before  her,  without  saying  a  word. 
Charley  was  afraid  she  was  going  to  faint  clear  away.  Her  hands 
were  clasped  together  again  on  her  lap,  but  she  no  longer  leaned 
forward  with  expectation.  He  touched  her  on  the  shoulder  and 
bent  slightly  over  to  say  soothingly:  "Well,  don't  mind  it  now. 
I'll  be  off  work  in  a  few  minutes  now,  and  then  I'll  see  to  getting 
a  good  cheap  lodging  for  you  near  the  station.  Then  you  can  get 
the  early  train.  The  evening  train  would  have  landed  you  any- 
way in  the  night ;  and  I  don't  think  that's  pleasant  out  in  those 
country-places.  Now,  do  you?" 

If  she  could  answer  his  question,  he  thought,  she  would  not 
faint.  She  mumbled  something  faintly,  but  he  could  only  catch 
as  he  bent  more  closely — "  I'm  in  such  a  hurry  to  see  the 
King—." 

It  was  time  for  him  to  be  back  at  his  post.  He  did  the  best 
thing  to  be  done  with  women  and  children  and  even  men,  when 
they  are  weak  and  in  trouble.  With  a  firm,  cheery  voice  and 
giving  a  little  pat  on  her  shoulder  to  draw  attention  to  his  words, 
he  said  :  "Now,  see  here.  Just  stay  quiet  where  you  are  till  I'm 
through,  and  I'll  see  everything  is  all  right." 

She  turned  her  eyes  toward  his  steady  gaze,  and  after  an 
anxious  scrutiny  bowed  her  head  in  assent.  There  was  an  old- 
fashioned  ladylikeness  about  the  gesture,  and  her  lips  formed  the 
word  "  Thanks  "  without  uttering  it. 

When  the  next  train  had  been  called,  Charley  stopped  at  her 
side  and  said  :  "  There  is  only  one  more.  Then  I'll  be  ready." 

H. 

At  last  it  was  midnight,  and  the  special  officer  came  on.  He 
was  to  attend  to  the  duties  of  the  usher  as  well  as  of  several  other 
functionaries  of  the  more  busy  time  of  the  day,  until  six  in  the 
morning  when  the  railway  public  would  again  begin  ebbing  and 
flowing  in  its  ceaseless  tide.  Charley  ran  hastily  off  to  the  coat- 


102  THE   THROUGH   TRAIN   TO  PARADISE. 

room  to  doff  the  cap  and  insignia  of  the  Company  and  to  put  on 
the  ordinary  attire  of  an  American  citizen.  It  is  one  of  our 
national  characteristics  that,  outside  of  the  duties  of  our  respective 
offices,  we  desire  to  look  each  quite  like  the  other,  excepting 
always  the  inborn  American  principle  that  clergymen  should  wear 
their  cloth. 

Just  as  he  was  leaving  the  room,  with  his  neat  black  hat  and 
grey  coat,  one  who  had  come  in  on  the  same  errand  clapped  him 
on  the  shoulder. 

"  Oh,  here  you  are,  just  in  time  !  The  boys  are  all  ready,  and 
we'll  have  a  night  of  it.  You  know  the  officials  of  the  Steel  Ring 
will  be  up,  and  if  you  make  friends  with  them  you  will  not  be 
black-balled  at  the  election." 

Charley  started  back,  and  the  flush  on  his  face  grew  several 
shades  deeper.  "Sorry,"  he  mumbled,  "but  really  I  can't  go 
to-night.  I  have  to  hurry  up  home  on  important  business." 

The  new-comer  was  employed  like  himself  in  the  great  Rail- 
road Company.  He  was  very  different  in  appearance.  Of  about 
the  same  age,  he  had  lost  all  frankness  of  look,  if  indeed  he  had  ever 
had  it.  His  pink-and- white  cheeks  were  inclined  to  hang  down  in 
pockets,  and  the  moustache  which  railway  men  favor  only  partly 
hid  those  cruel  lines  about  the  mouth  which  betoken  a  disposition 
sure  to  follow  on  prolonged  self-indulgence.  His  eyes  too  had 
taken  that  half-almond  shape  which  we  see  in  the  worst  classes  of 
the  Chinese,  and  which  perhaps  has  something  to  do  with  their 
general  paganism  in  religion. 

He  looked  sharply,  and  for  a  moment  threateningly,  at  his 
Irish  companion.  Then,  smoothing  his  face,  he  spoke  persuasively. 
"  You  are  not  going  back  on  me  now,  after  all  the  trouble  I  have 
taken  with  you,  are  you  ?  It  isn't  everyone  I  could  get  into  the 
Steel  Ring,  you  know,  and  if  you  do  not  make  yourself  solid  with 
the  boys  to-night  you  might  as  well  give  up  all  hopes  of  it." 

Charley  looked  up  resolutely,  though  a  little  stunned,  and 
said:  "Never  mind  about  the  Steel  Ring  just  now.  I  have  to  go 
home — and  home  I  am  going." 

The  other  looked  at  him  with  the  same  fell  look  on  his  face, 


THE   THROUGH   TRAIN   TO  PARADISE.  1O3 

before  he  spoke  again :  "  I  suppose  you  know  the  harm  this  will 
do  you,  my  fine  fellow?" 

Charley  laughed  lightly,  though  there  was  something  forced 
in  his  manner,  and  answered:  "I  guess  I'll  live  through  it  all 
right.  I  am  sound  enough  with  the  Union,  and  your  Steel  Ring 
don't  seem  so  powerful  around  here  anyway." 

His  companion,  with  an  ugly  sneer,  replied:  "Yes,  since  you 
Irish  took  possession  of  the  Union,  we  decent  fellows  don't  seem 
to  have  the  power  we  ought  to  have  by  rights.  All  the  same, 
you  will  be  fixed  if  you  go  back  on  us  now." 

On  the  whole,  he  seemed  greatly  vexed  at  the  conduct  of 
Irish  Charley.  However,  he  had  reason  to  see  that  he  was  not 
gaining  ground,  but  rather  exciting  the  natural  obstinacy  of  the 
one  he  wished  to  persuade.  So  he  tried  another  tack. 

"Now,  what  is  to  prevent  your  coming  with  us  to-night, 
after  all  the  plans  we've  made?  It  ain't  right  you  should  lead 
us  into  all  this  expense  and  then  back  out.  Sunday's  our  only 
day,  and  here  you  are,  free  till  morning,  with  your  turn  not  on 
again  till  four  in  the  afternoon.  Why,  you'll  sleep  everything  oif 
by  that  time." 

Charley  laughed  again,  this  time  more  easily,  and  answered 
lightly:  "Well,  you're  not  putting  things  very  nicely  for  an 
employee  of  the  corporation  that  owns  the  State  of  Pennsylvania. 
What  would  the  Governor  say  if  he  heard  you?  You  boys  will 
enjoy  yourselves  just  as  well  without  me,  and  I  can't  get  out  of 
it — I  have  to  go  home." 

The  other  was  not  to  be  rebuffed  so  easily.  There  was 
evidently  some  reason  for  his  wishing  to  get  the  usher  into  the 
Steel  Ring.  This  was  a  new  secret  society  among  the  employees, 
half-convivial  and  half-beneficial,  and  generally  dreaded  by  the 
employers  and  looked  on  with  suspicion  by  the  more  honorable 
members  of  the  ordinary  Labor  Union.  It  was  one  of  those 
societies  whose  name,  as  it  were,  "left  a  bad  taste  in  the  mouth." 
On  the  present  occasion  its  advocate  had  said  the  very  worst 
things  possible  to  persuade  his  friend.  An  Irish  workingman — 
even  an  Irish  American — may  be  drawn  with  his  eyes  closed  into 


1O4  THE   THROUGH   TRAIN   TO  PARADISE. 

any  number  of  ill-meaning  associations;  but  when  his  eyes  are 
open,  and  especially  when  his  nationality  or  his  religion  are 
attacked,  it  is  not  easy  to  draw  him  forward.  . 

The  advocate  of  the  the  Steel  Ring,  with  another  sneer,  now 
said:  "See  here,  Charley,  you're  an  Irishman.  I  didn't  think 
you  folks  got  religion  so  strong.  Have  any  of  your  priests  been 
at  you  about  the  Steel  Ring?" 

A  flush  now  came  to  the  usher's  face,  which  did  not  leave  it 
speedily.  He  answered,  almost  bitterly:  "If  I  did  get  religion 
in  the  Catholic  way  it  certainly  wouldn't  bring  me  oif  with  you 
boys  to-night,  let  alone  the  Steel  Ring.  Perhaps  it  would  be 
better  for  me  if  I  had  got  it ;  but  since  I  have  been  going  with 
you,  you  know  as  well  as  I  that  religion  is  easy.  And  no  priest 
has  been  talking  to  me.  He  wouldn't  be  likely  to,"  he  added, 
with  an  additional  tone  of  bitterness  in  his  voice,  "unless  he  came 
to  change  me  from  what  you've  made  me."  Then,  hastily  button- 
ing his  coat,  he  added:  "Well,  I  can't  go  with  you,  and  that  is 
the  end  of  it.  There  is  a  person  waiting  for  me  there  in  the 
waiting-room,  and  if  you  wish  to  see  me  again  to-night  you'll 
have  to  follow  me  where  I'm  going." 

So  saying,  he  stalked  off  with  rather  more  dignity  than 
became  his  station  in  life.  He  found  the  little  old  woman  still 
sitting  at  her  place  near  the  door.  She  looked  at  him  timidly, . 
and  there  was  again  the  twinge  at  his  heart-strings  as  he  noticed 
the  resemblance  between  her  and  his  mother.  He  went  up  to  her 
hastily,  and  bending  over  said:  "My  work's  over  now,  and  you 
had  better  have  a  cup  of  tea  with  me  here  in  the  restaurant. 
Then  I'll  take  you  home  to  my  mother.  She'll  be  the  best  one 
to  take  care  of  you  for  the  night,  and  to-morrow  we'll  get  you  a 
nice  train  for  the  place  you  want  to  go  to." 

His  face  was  still  agitated,  but  his  voice  had  recovered  the 
cheery  tone  which  is  so  affective  with  those  who  are  shaken  in 
mind  and  whose  dependence  has  been  thrust  home  upon  them. 
She  allowed  herself  to  be  raised  from  the  seat,  and  taking  him  by 
the  arm  feebly  walked  through  the  great  doors  into  the  dining 
room.  He  placed  her  at  a  table  and  gave  an  order  to  the  sur- 


THE   THROUGH   TRAIN   TO  PARADISE.  1O5 

prised  waiter,  who  knew  him  from  his  daily  familiarity  with  the 
station. 

The  Steel  Ring  advocate  had  followed,  looking  curiously  at 
what  he  was  doing.  Coming  up  behind  him  he  leaned  over  and 
said  quietly,  "  Is  that  your  mother  ?" 

Charley  again  flushed  angrily,  and  said  :  "  No.  But  it's  not 
your  business  to  ask." 

The  other  scowled  and  said  :  "  Well,  you're  not  the  fellow  I 
thought  you  were.  You  are  just  a  big  Mamma-boy.  You  may 
expect  that  we'll  show  you  small  favor,  after  leaving  us  in  the 
lurch  like  this." 

Charley  felt  himself  insulted  in  his  nation,  his  religion,  and 
his  family.  Under  other  circumstances,  he  probably  would  have 
felt  inclined  to  resent  the  treatment  in  some  more  violent  manner. 
As  it  was,  the  presence  of  his  charge  restrained  him.  He  simply 
answered  in  a  low  voice,  between  his  teeth  :  "  I  expect  from  you 
just  what  you  are  likely  to  give  me.  You  can  go  your  way  and 
I  will  go  mine.  That  is  the  end  of  it." 

The  workman  flung  himself  out  of  the  room.  The  waiter, 
who  had  been  watching  the  incident  with  interest,  remarked  in  an 
aside  to  his  nearest  mate :  "  I  believe  it  is  that  young  fellow's 
mother.  She's  keeping  him  tight.  She  knows  the  Saturday  night 
business."  And  the  two  laughed  together  until  all  the  teeth  in 
their  heads  glistened. 

Charley  was  considerably  discomposed.  Yet  he  took  the 
tenderest  care  of  his  charge ;  and  when  the  cup  of  tea,  which  is  the 
comfort  of  the  poor,  seemed  to  have  brought  a  little  warmth  into 
her  face  he  led  her  down  the  great  stairs,  and  calling  one  of  the 
few  hansoms  that  remained  at  the  stand  drove  oif  to  the  little  side- 
street  where  the  mother  had  all  but  given  up  waiting  for  him. 

III. 

As  the  door  opened,  Charley's  mother  came  forward  with  a 
little  glad  cry  of  surprise,  which  was  at  once  changed  into  an 
exclamation  as  she  saw  her  son's  companion. 

Charley  felt  again  the  troublesome  twinge  at  his  heart-strings. 


106  THE   THROUGH   TRAIN   TO  PARADISE. 

He  was  more  conscious  than  he  had  been  for  many  a  long  day  how 
he  had  neglected  latterly  the  good  mother  who  devoted  her  life  to 
him.  It  was  a  new  drop  in  the  cup  of  his  bitterness  against  his 
fellow- workman  that  even  to-night  he  would  have  left  her  waiting 
against  hope,  had  it  not  been  for  this  poor  old  creature  whom 
Providence  had  so  strangely  thrown  in  his  way. 

Without  hesitation,  however,  he  spoke  up  in  a  cheery, 
resolute  way  :  "  Mother,  here  is  a  poor  old  lady  who  was  unfor- 
tunate enough  to  miss  all  her  trains.  I  am  the  usher,  you  know, 
and  I  felt  a  little  responsible  as  she  had  no  friends  with  her.  So 
I  thought  it  best  to  bring  her  home  to  you  for  the  night." 

Charley's  delicate  heart  suggested  to  him  this  way  of  introduc- 
ing the  stranger  in  order  that  she  might  not  feel  so  dependent. 
For  herself,  the  stranger  seemed  rapidly  sinking  beyond  any  feel- 
ing of  dependence.  She  was  trembling  again  and  looking  wistfully 
at  Charley's  mother,  who  at  once  stepped  forward  and  taking  her 
by  the  hands  brought  her  into  the  warmth  of  their  little  room. 

It  was  in  one  of  those  "  detached  residences,"  as  they  are 
curiously  called — since  they  all  seem  attached  to  others,  in  a 
single  row  of  small  brick  houses  with  white  doors  and  steps  and 
shutters,  easily  the  most  striking  object  to  the  strange  visitor  to 
Philadelphia.  None  the  less,  they  are  one  of  the  great  helps  to 
the  solution  of  what  is  called  "the  workingmen's  problem." 
Here,  in  this  little  four-roomed  house,  with  its  cheap  rent,  was  a 
true  home  for  Charley  and  his  mother,  and  the  independence  of 
one  who  has  his  own  front-door  key  in  his  pocket.  The  room  was 
neatly  furnished.  The  young  man's  supper,  waiting  for  him  after 
his  night's  work,  gave  forth  its  pleasant  fragrance  in  the  room. 

Just  at  present,  however,  the  whole  attention  of  the  two  was 
demanded  by  the  new-comer.  She  seemed  on  the  point  of  fainting. 
Charley  briefly  informed  his  mother  of  the  events  of  the  afternoon. 
With  the  usual  sense  of  womenkind,  she  at  once  devoted  herself  to 
the  care  of  the  poor  creature. 

"I  could  not  send  her  off  to  the  station-house  in  her  condi- 
tion," said  Charley,  as  if  to  excuse  himself. 

"You   have   done    for  the  best,"  said  his   mother,  thinking 


THE   THROUGH   TRAIN   TO  PARADISE.  1O7 

perhaps  it  was  this  that  had  brought  him  home  to  her  side.  "  Only 
help  me  now  until  I  can  warm  her  up  a  little ;  and  then,  if  neces- 
sary, we  will  send  for  a  doctor." 

The  poor  woman  soon  seemed  more  easy  and  was  placed  on 
the  mother's  bed,  but  her  mind  now  began  wandering.  The  two 
soon  learned  her  simple  story — common  enough  in  this  world  of 
ours  and  yet  always  new  to  the  individuals  to  whom  it  comes  for 
the  first  time. 

She  was  an  English  woman  from  one  of  those  great  Lanca- 
shire manufacturing  centres  where  Catholics  have  remained  on 
without  changing  their  religion  in  spite  of  Henry  VIII.,  Elizabeth, 
and  all  the  other  Reforming  sovereigns.  Her  journey  to  America 
was  comical  enough  in  a  way,  though  the  two  hearers  could  not 
refrain  from  tears  as  they  listened  to  her  tale.  She  was  a  widow, 
with  a  son — his  name  too  was  Charley — who  had  employment  in 
one  of  the  great  railway  stations  at  the  junction  of  many  lines. 
Here  he  had  worked  his  way  up,  until  he  had  been  given  a  post 
of  considerable  responsibility.  It  occupied  him  constantly  about 
the  tracks,  which  he  had  to  traverse  every  few  minutes.  He  had 
much  to  do  with  the  incoming  and  outgoing  of  those  trains  which, 
to  an  American,  seem  to  dash  about  heedlessly  and  without 
system  in  the  railway  centres  of  England. 

Charley,  who  had  a  professional  interest  in  the  matter,  could 
not  make  out  to  just  what  office  in  his  own  station  this  other 
Charley's  position  in  England  might  have  answered.  But  what 
happened  to  him  became  clear  as  the  poor  mother  went  on  with 
her  story. 

He  had  been  led  away,  little  by  little  as  the  case  always  is, 
by  some  of  his  fellow-workmen.  He  had  first  been  taught  to 
drink;  then  he  had  joined  in  their  convivial  societies.  He  had 
finally  been  initiated  into  some  one  of  the  secret  associations  with 
which  the  paternal  government  of  England  has  more  than  once 
tried  to  interfere  by  law.  At  last,  one  Saturday  night  like  this, 
just  as  he  was  finishing  up  his  duties  and  in  haste  to  join  his  boon 
companions,  he  had  tripped  on  the  rails  as  the  flying  Liverpool 
Express  came  thundering  by.  All  that  was  left  of  his  mangled 


108  THE   THROUGH   TRAIN   TO  PARADISE. 

body  was  brought  home  to  add  its  horror  to  the  misery  of  his 
mother's  loss. 

Her  sympathetic  hearers  gathered  that  at  that  time  a  strange 
mixture  of  ideas  had  been  set  going  in  her  poor  brain.  She  told 
it  very  simply  in  her  own  words, — 

"  When  my  Charley  was  brought  home  and  the  priest  tried 
to  comfort  me,  I  fell  so  ill  that  I  remember  nothing  more  for  many 
days.  When  I  awoke  they  told  me  as  how  he  had  gone  to  Para- 
dise, and  the  priest  had  sung  a  Mass  and  had  sprinkled  the  holy 
water  over  his  grave.  Then  I  remembered  how  in  the  Church 
we  school-girls  sang  about  Paradise." 

And  in  her  cracked  old  voice,  flightily,  she  struck  up  a  hymn 
which,  without  much  sense,  has  touched  the  popular  sentiment  all 
through  England : 

O  Paradise  !    O  Paradise  ! 
The  world  is  growing  old- — 

and  so  it  goes  on.  Now,  if  she  could  reach  the  King  in  Paradise 
she  might  get  back  from  him  her  dead  Charley.  Through  all  her 
other  flighty  thoughts  ran  this  one  settled  idea,  that  he  had  gone 
into  the  next  world  unprepared  to  meet  the  King. 

By  some  strange  chance,  her  case  had  not  been  understood. 
With  that  dread  of  the  workhouse  which  settles  down  upon  every 
English  laborer  in  distress,  she  concealed  many  of  her  ideas  and 
actually  obtained  a  passage  to  America  which  she  had  always 
heard  called  the  "  New  World."  And,  if  "  this  world  was  grow- 
ing old,"  Paradise  must  certainly  be  found  in  the  New.  With 
her  neat  upper-servant  air  she  passed  unnoticed  through  the  port. 
When  questioned  as  to  her  destination,  she  had  managed  to  interest 
some  of  the  officials  in  her  search.  They  simply  understood  that 
in  some  American  town  called  "  Paradise  "  was  the  son  from  whom 
she  had  been  separated ;  and  finding  there  was  a  place  of  this 
name  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  they  had 
forwarded  her  from  New  York.  She  was  waiting  patiently  to  go 
still  further  on  toward  Paradise,  when  she  fell  under  the  observa- 
tion of  Irish  Charley. 

It  would  be  hard  to  say  who  was  the  more  touched  by  this 


THE   THROUGH   TRAIN   TO  PARADISE.  1O9 

simple  tale — the  mother  or  the  son.  The  mother  of  Irish  Charley 
had  had  many  occasions  of  late  to  fear  a  fate  much  like  that  of  this 
English  Charley  for  her  own  boy.  The  latter  had  himself  heard 
every  word  with  a  little  stab  of  self-reproach  for  his  own  past 
conduct.  He  could  not  help  thinking  that  the  fate  of  English 
Charley  might  have  been  his  own,  if  it  had  not  been  for  this  poor 
crazed  being  so  strangely  thrust  into  his  life. 

All  manner  of  good  resolutions  began  waking  in  him,  but 
just  at  this  tune  the  state  of  their  guest  demanded  all  their  atten- 
tion. The  nervousness,  the  nighty  manner,  the  disposition  to 
faint,  increased  so  much  that  Charley  hastened  out  for  the  nearest 
doctor  and  the  priest.  When  he  came  back  with  the  latter  he 
saw  that  all  was  nearly  over.  She  recognized  the  priest  and  said 
a  word  about  the  King  in  Paradise;  that  she  should  find  her 
Charley ;  that  if  she  could  get  to  the  presence  of  the  King  he 
would  give  him  back  to  her.  Then  she  sank  away  into  uncon- 
sciousness. 

Charley  and  his  mother  sat  by  the  bedside  watching  through 
the  remainder  of  the  night.  As  the  early  morning  light  came  in 
through  the  white  curtains  of  the  window,  the  two  could  see  that 
the  end  was  at  hand.  The  mother  read  from  a  worn  prayer-book 
the  Prayers  for  the  Dying  which  are  so  dear  to  every  Catholic 
heart;  and  Charley  kneeling  by  her  side  answered  her. 

At  last  the  sun  shone  between  two  gaunt  brick  walls  that 
stood  on  the  other  side  of  the  way.  A  ray  came  stealing  down 
and  fell  full  vupon  the  white  face  on  the  pillow.  All  the  hard 
drawn  lines  of  suffering  had  faded  away,  there  was  a  look  of  peace 
on  the  worn  features.  The  mother  and  son  knew  that  the  King 
in  Paradise  was  listening  to  the  petition  of  the  mother  of  English 
Charley. 

Irish  Charley,  still  upon  his  knees,  looked  up  doubtfully  to 
his  mother  as  she  arose  from  her  place.  Then  he  spoke  huskily : 
"Dear  Mother,  do  you  remember  how  I  used  to  tell  you  every- 
thing when  I  was  a  child?" 

The  mother,  whose  heart  was  full,  could  only  bow  her  head 
in  assent. 


HO  THE  STAR  IN   THE  EAST. 

The  boy  went  on :  "  You  will  not  expect  me  to  do  that  now 
that  I  am  grown.  But  I  promise  you  here  that  you  shall  never 
have  from  me  the  suffering  which  this  poor  woman  has  taught  me 
would  have  been  waiting  for  you,  had  she  not"  found  me  last 
night." 

The  mother  placed  her  hands  on  the  dark  locks  of  her  boy 
in  silent  benediction.  The  sunlight  crept  over  till  it  shone 
around  them  both.  It  was  not  alone  the  soul  which  had  dwelt 
beneath  the  pinched  features  of  the  corpse  on  the  bed  that  had 
taken  a  through  train  to  Paradise  that  night.  Two  others  also 
had  heard  it  called  out,  and  were  henceforth  on  the  way. 


THE  STAR  IN  THE  EAST. 

Unhappy  man  that  I  am !   Who  shall  deliver  me 
from  the  body  of  this  death  f 

St.  Paul,  to  the  Romans,  vii.  24. 

O  ancient  Kings,  O  Wise  ones  of  dim  story, 
Through  what  dark  depths  of  Time  your  eyes  were  aching  ! 
One  flash"  of  light  upon  your  figures  breaking, 

And  then  the  vision  blinded  by  New  Glory  ! 

Enough,  enough,  ah,  keep  your  secret  hoary  ! 
I  too,  from  blackest  darkness  now  awaking, 
May  share  the  pilgrimage  that  ye  are  making, 

Though  giflless,  sad,  and  weak  and  dilatory. 

"  His  star  we've  seen  ?"    I,  too,  have  seen  it  sadly  ; 
I,  laggard  on  the  track  that  Kings  have  run, 
Crawl  toward  the  goal  for  which  great  hearts  beat  madly. 
Without  avail  ?     Yet  I  would  worship  gladly  : 

Oh,  body  of  this  death,  when  wilt  have  done  ? 

S.  H. 


THE  CHASUBLE. 


CS}>  /fo  Secretary  of  a  Tabernacle  Society. 
II.    ORNAMENTATION. 

A  MONG  the  Romans  a  white  toga  with  a  purple  border  was 
£\_  worn  as  a  distinction  by  those  holding  office.  Following 
the  custom  of  the  times,  as  well  as'  the  seemliuess  of  it  for 
the  sacrifice  of  the  Lamb  without  spot,  it  is  probable  that  the 
Eucharistic  robe  was  originally  white.  In  the  life  of  St.  John 
Chrysostom  we  read  that,  being  about  to  die,  he  desired  to  celebrate 
the  Holy  Mysteries  and  called  for  the  white  vestments  that  he 
might  clothe  himself  therein.  The  purple  border  of  the  toga, 
was  repeated  in  the  bands  of  purple,  called  clam,  which  adorned 
the  planeta  of  the  Romans.  These  usually  went  to  the  end  of  the 
robe  and  were  made  rich  with  arabesques  and  embroidery  ;  they 
varied  in  elegance  according  to  the  wealth  and  dignity  of  the 
wearer.  When  the  planeta  passed 
from  profane  into  ecclsiastical  use, 
these  adornments  were  retained 
for  enriching  the  sacred  vestments 
of  priests  and  deacons.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  in  the  first  centuries  the 
richest  chasubles  had  a  band  of 
stuff  of  distinctive  color  back  and 
front.  In  certain  places  it  took 
at  the  back  the  form  of  a  cross. 

In  the  frescoes  of  the  Cata- 
combs and  in  early  mosaics,  we 


111 


112 


THE  CHASUBLE. 


see  vestments  adorned  with  the  bands  of  purple.  This  color  does 
not  mean  the  purple  of  our  day.  Crimson,  blood-red,  scarlet,  and 
what  we  call  rose-purple,  were  all  comprised 
under  this  name.  Sometimes  the  band  was  of 
gold ;  it  was  then  called  aureus  cla.vus,  and  later 
Aurifrigium  or  Orphrey. 

From  the  earliest  days  of  Christianity  the 
spirit  of  faith  delighted  to  lavish  adornment  on 
the  vesture  of  the  priest.  The  historian  Anasta- 
sius  speaks  much  of  the  beauty  and  costliness  of 
the  sacrificial  vestments  from  the  time  of  the 
Emperor  Aurelian,  A.  D.  275,  until  the  conver- 
sion of  Constantino  after  300,  when  the  sacred 
ritual  naturally  became  magnificent.  Then  the 
scarlet  stripe,  which  bordered  the  white  vestment, 
began  to  be  exchanged  for  bands  of  costlier  mate- 
rial to  correspond  with  the  greater  splendor  of 
the  material  of  the  vestments.  Gold,  silver,  and 
precious  gems  made  them  brilliant ;  and  images  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin  and  of  the  Saints,  or  symbolic 
flowers  and  animals  were  embroidered  on  them, 
a  custom  consecrated  by  the  Fathers  of  the  Second 
Council  of  Nice,  A.  D.  787. 

A  curious  fashion  sprang  up  in  the  Diptych 
Chasubles,  representing  the  successors  of  bishops 
or  pontiffs  who  had  governed  the  Church.  One 
belonging  to  the  Church  of  St.  Apollinaris  at  Ra- 
venna bears  in  needlework  the  images  of  thirty- 
five  bishops  of  Verona,  from  the  third  to  the  sev- 
enth century.  They  are  in  as  many  medallions  on 
a  large  band  of  gold  cloth  sewed  front  and  back 
and  dividing  round  the  neck.  This  chasuble  was 
six  feet  ten  inches  in  length,  while  the  front  meas- 
ured six  feet.  A  few  fragments  of  it  yet  remain. 

The  earliest  deviation  from  the  straight  band 
or  clavus  was,  according  to  an  English  authority  on  church  em- 


I 


THE   CHASUBLE. 


113 


r«j«\S 

I 


broidery,  what  is  called  the  Y- cross,  within  the  fork  of  which  were 
placed  elaborate  needlework,  gold,  and  jewels.  Dr.  Rock  says : 
"  The  most  beautiful  and  rarest  stuffs  were  sought 
after  to  make  this  ornament  (called  the  'flower'), 
which  consisted  of  a  mass  of  rich  golden  needle- 
work which  spread  itself  in  broad  thick  branches, 
sometimes  before  all  over  the  breast,  and  always 
behind  upon  the  higher  part  of  the  back  and 
about  the  shoulders  of  the  chasuble,  while  all 
around  its  neck  ran  a  broad  band  of  gold  studded 
with  jewels." 

When  the  Latin  cross  was  introduced  the 
orphreys  followed  its  straight  lines  ;  and  figures 
of  Christ,  the  JBlessed  Virgin  and  the  Saints,  as 
well  as  sacred  symbols,  were  embroidered  on  it. 
In  the  South  Kensington  Museum,  London,  many 
of  the  sacerdotal  vestments  of  the  fourteenth  and 
fifteenth  centuries  are  preserved  and  are  a  most 
interesting  study  of  sacred  subjects  for  embroidery 
and  painting. 

In  mediaeval  times,  spinning  and  embroidery 
were  the  occupation  of  women  of  all  ranks.  Imi- 
tating Mary,  the  Virgin  Mother  who  '  worked 
and  prayed/  pious  women  delighted  in  enriching 
the  robes  of  the  house  of  God  with  the  work  of 
their  hands.  St.  Etheldreda,  Queen  and  first 
Abbess  of  Ely,  presented  to  St.  Cuthbert  a  stole 
and  maniple  marvellously  embroidered  and  em- 
bellished with  gold  and  precious  stones. 

In  the  tenth  century,  in  France,  Queen 
Adelaide  wife  of  Hugh  Capet,  presented  to  the 
Church  of  St.  Martin  at  Tours  and  to  the  Abbey 
of  St.  Denis  chasubles  of  different  designs  and  of 
wonderful  workmanship.  Emma,  wife  of  Canute, 
gave  costly  vestments  to  the  church  at  Ely,  one 
of  which  had  been  embroidered  all  over  with  orphreys  by  the 


114  THE   CHASUBLE. 

queen  herself,  and  embellished  with  gold  and  gems  disposed  with 
such  art  and  profusion  as  could  not  be  matched  at  that  time  in  all 
England. 

St.  Barbara,  the  dear  St.  Elizabeth,  and  hosts  of  others, 
wrought  lovingly  the  vesture  for  glory  and  for  beauty  in  which 
the  priests  were  to  minister  to  God.  While  the  lords  and  knights 
of  the  Middle  Ages  fought  for  the  cause  of  the  Church  in  the 
Crusades,  their  ladies  sat  at  home  and  with  patient  zeal  worked 
rich  stuffs  and  embroideries  for  chapel  and  monastery.  Endless 
are  the  interesting  accounts  in  the  old  chronicles  of  the  gifts  of 
the  rich  and  puissant  to  the  Church. 

One  that  is  specially  attractive  is  that  from  the  Duchess  of 
Lancaster.  "A  chesible  of  red  baudekin,  with  orphreys  of  gold 
with  leopards,  powdered  with  black  trefoils,  with  two  tunacles 
and  three  albes  of  the  same  suit,  with  all  their  apparels.  Twenty 
fair  capes  every  one  of  which  had  wheels  of  silver  in  the  hoods. 
And  a  chesible  of  red  velvet  with  Catharine-wheels  of  gold,  with 
two  tunacles  and  three  albes,  with  all  the  apparels  of  the  same 

suit." 

The  vandalism  of  Henry  VIII.  and  of  Cromwell  ruthlessly 

destroyed  the  rich  treasures  of  the  Church  in  England,  while  the 
wars  and  revolutions  of  Continental  Europe  have  left  us  little  of 
the  work  of  mediaeval  days. 


MISSION  HOUSE,  ST.  PETER'S,  MONTANA. 


THE   URSULINES   IN   THE   ROCKY   MOUNTAINS. 

NESTLED  among  the  Montana  Buttes  is  a  spot  of  which  few 
but  the  Angels  have  heard.     It  seems  nearer  to  heaven 
than  any  other  on  earth,  and  yet  a  natural  winding  road 
•connects  it  with  the  Manitoba  Railway  station,  Cascade.     Hither 
wandered  Father  De  Smet  with  a  devoted  companion  fifty  years 
ago ;  hither  in  1884  came  six  devoted  Ursulines  from  the  pros- 
perous Toledo  mother-house. 

Like  many  great  things  the  Ursuline  foundation  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains  had  a  small  beginning.  First  conceived  by  an  ignorant 
laborer,  the  thought  was  communicated  to  one  of  those  sterling 
characters  not  often  found  even  under  the  hallowed  seal  of  priestly 
consecration.  From  him,  with  the  lightning's  power  and  with  its 
speed,  the  thought  became  a  deed  under  the  guidance  of  two  of  the 
most  noted  prelates  of  the  North  American  Church. 


115 


116  THE  URSU LINES  IN    THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS. 

How  few  noble-hearted  nuns  who  have  drunk  deep  at  the 
springs  of  self-immolation,  how  few  generous-hearted  girls  who 
yearn  with  all  the  eagerness  of  pure  youthful  enthusiasm  for  the 
active  seclusion  of  religious  life,  have  heard  of  the  picturesque 
Ursuline  Novitiate  of  St.  Peter's  Mission  !  And  yet  its  door 
swings  gladly  back  to  welcome  devoted  workers  into  the  whiten- 
ing field  where  may  be  yearly  garnered  a  rich  harvest  of  soulg. 

St.  Peter's  Mission  lies  fourteen  miles  south  of  Cascade  in  the 
hilly  district  of  Western  Montana.  It  boasts  a  post-office,  a 
Jesuit  mission  house,  an  Ursuline  convent,  several  rich  ranches,  and 
many  picturesque  huts  and  "tepees."  Thus  the  people  of  the 
surrounding  country,  old  and  young,  enjoy  plentifully  the  advan- 
tages of  religion  and  education.  While  the  boys,  both  white  and 
Indian,  are  trained  in  separate  schools  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  the 
girls  enjoy  like  advantages  at  the  hands  of  the  Ursuline  Sisters. 

We  who  trace  these  lines  for  the  readers  of  the  MESSENGER 
have  long  listened  to  the  Sisters'  enlightened  teachings,  and  would 
not  exchange  them  now  for  all  the  advantages  that  Europe  and 
our  own  American  so-called  "fashionable"  boarding-schools  afford. 
All  who  have  given  the  matter  of  education  serious  Christian 
thought,  know  well  that  the  heart  together  with  the  mind  needs 
careful  training,  and  that  no  hand  so  well  as  woman's  can  gently 
strike  its  strings  and  make  them  vibrate  to  what  is  noble  and 
good. 

The  Convent  at  St.  Peter's  is  a  series  of  log-cabins,  hung  with 
the  saintly  memories  of  the  dead,  vocal  and  bright  with  the  cheer- 
ful voices  and  the  smiling  faces  of  the  noble  workers  of  to-day  who 

keep 

With  many  a  slight  disguise 
The  secret  of  self-sacrifice. 

Under  the  watchful  polar  star  rises  the  "  Fish-back "  Butte ;  a 
little  to  the  east  is  the  "  Square "  Butte,  the  glory  of  the  land- 
scape ;  while  proudly  forming  the  apex  of  this  gigantic  triangle 
rises  the  "  Crown,"  a  resplendent  hill,  full  of  inspiration,  which  to 
the  thoughtful  mind  speaks  in  accents  not  unlike  those  suggestive 
and  delicate  promptings  of  Hawthorne's  Great  Stone  Face. 


118  THE  URSU LINES  IN    THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS. 

A  short  distance  from  the  log-cabin  convent  is  the  '  college '  of 
the  Jesuit  Fathers,  a  square  stone  building,  facing  the  semi- 
cardinal  points,  and  smiling  its  cheery  greeting,  to  the  unfinished 
monastery  where  future  Ursulines  will  follow  in  the  footsteps  of 
their  pioneer  log-cabin  sisters.  This  building  is  responsive  to  the 
grand  austerity  of  the  surrounding  landscape.  At  a  glance  the 
tourist  might  detect  its  object,  even  were  not  its  massive  walls 
of  cut  grey  stone  surmounted  by  a  ponderous  gilt  cross.  Here 
it  is  that  in  the  very  near  future,  so  we  trust,  the  |  despised  and 
deeply-wronged  race  that  long  held  sway  in  this  mighty  land  will 
receive,  in  exchange  for  these  glorious  hills  and  copious  waters,  the 
benefits  of  enlightened  civilization  and  deeply  Christian  Catholic 
education. 

Nor  has  St.  Peter's  Mission  gathered  for  itself  alone  the 
blossoms  the  wilderness  has  been  forced  to  yield.  We  read  in  the 
life  of  the  great  St.  Dominic  how  that,  scarcely  had  he  clothed  his 
brethren  in  the  white  garb  of  the  Friar  Preacher,  than  he  sent 
them  two  by  two  to  scatter  abroad  with  lavish  hand  the  Heaven- 
sent seed.  Some  of  these,  listening  to  the  dictates  of  human  pru- 
dence, bade  him  garner  first  the  precious  germ  to  let  it  ripen 
beneath  his  paternal  eye,  and  not  scatter  it  broadcast  upon  the 
desolate  waste  of  this  poor  world.  But  the  founder,  wiser  in  his 
seeming  foolishness,  did  not  change  his  purpose.  And  the  thirsty 
earth  drank  in  the  dew  from  Heaven  and  the  cockle  of  Albigensian 
growth  rotted  and  died  beneath  its  gentle  violence,  and  the  order 
grew  strong  and  prospered,  and  God's  blessing  rested  upon  the 
spreading  Dominican  tree. 

In  six  years  the  mustard  seed  planted  by  Ursuline  hands  has 
sent  forth  seven  mighty  shoots :  St.  Peter's,  the  Novitiate  and 
generous  Mother-house ;  St.  Francis  Xavier's  Mission  among  the 
Crows,  its  proudest  blossom  ;  next,  but  not  second  in  importance, 
old  St.  Ignatius,  in  the  heart  of  the  great  Rocky  Mountains; 
Holy  Family  Mission  among  the  Blackfeet ;  Miles  City,  where  first 
the  Mothers  rested  on  their  Western  pilgrimage  ;  St.  Labre  among 
the  Cheyenne  Indians ;  and  picturesque  St.  Paul's,  where  the 
generous  purpose  of  the  workers  is  aided,  as  the  seraphic  Teresa 


o  > 


»    O 


12O  THE  UR.SULINES  IN   THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS. 

would  have  it  for  her  daughters,  by  all  the  grace  and  loveliness  of 
nature. 

The  reader  perhaps  now  asks  :  What  is  the  actual  work  of 
these  pioneer  missionaries  in  their  distant  western  field  ?  What 
and  how  must  the  Indian  children  be  taught? 

Of  the  seven  missions  we  have  mentioned,  the  Holy  Family 
Mission  in  the  Blackfoot  Reservation  is  the  youngest.  To  trace 
the  every-day  life  of  the  workers  there,  is  to  answer  the  question 
we  have  proposed,  in  the  fairest  because  the  strongest  way.  The 
Blackfoot  Nation  numbers  three  families:  the  Blood,  the  Black- 
foot,  the  Piegan.  The  representative  of  this  latter  is  simple 
man.  Sunk  in  degradation  by  centuries  of  paganism  and  by  the 
recent  example  of  fortune-seekers,  which  the  late  treaty  with  his 
nation  has  drawn  in  crowds  to  this  distant  point  of  the  great 
mining  state,  he  is  still  faultlessly  reserved,  silent,  and  quick  to 
discern  and  to  revere  purity  and  truthfulness  in  others.  And 
this  man  must  be  reached,  Christianized,  civilized  through  his 
child.  Its  first  Sign  of  the  Cross  is  his  religion ;  its  stuttered 
English  his  Shakespeare  and  his  Addison ;  its  simple  song,  his 
Mozart  and  all  the  harmonies  that  are  to  soothe  and  soften  him. 
He  is  a  foolish,  doting  parent,  governed  by  his  child's  caprice. 
The  first  work  of  the  founders  of  a  mission,  therefore,  is  to  entice 
the  child  by  all  the  means  that  God's  grace  may  suggest  to  those 
whom  the  Church  has  fitly  styled  the  "Mothers  of  Christianity" — 
from  the  squalid  "tepee"  to  the  peaceful,  beautiful  convent,  from 
ignorance  to  education.  Reason  and  philanthropy  are  nowhere ; 
maternal  tenderness,  the  purest  supernatural  charity  alone  can 
compass  this.  Tents  whose  filth  and  misery  cannot  be  described, 
scenes  of  degradation  and  sorrow  that  make  the  heart  sick  and 
faint,  deception,  misunderstanding,  trickery  on  the  part  of  the 
prejudiced  white  man,  may  not  stay  the  worker.  And  when,  at 
last  the  children  are  safe,  sheltered  beneath  the  convent  roof,  what 
must  they  be  taught,  what  is  left  for  the  Ursuline  to  do?  AVe 
spare  our  readers  the  ceremony  of  initiation  to  civilized  life.  If 
charity  were  not  its  own  reward,  perhaps  some  compensation 
might  be  found  in  the  expression  of  strange  and  exquisite  comfort 


x 

5  > 
a^ 

O    K 

Z  50 

s  ^ 

O    t» 

z 


122  THE  URSU LINES  IN    THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS. 

that  steals  across  the  dusky  face  when  the  process  nears  comple- 
tion. Comb,  brush,  needle,  thread,  fork,  knife,  broom  and  mop 
are  strangers  to  these  little  ones :  to  these  must  they  be  personally 
introduced.  The  task  of  teaching  household  work  is  very  labori- 
ous. Not  only  must  the  children  be  watched  and  directed,  but  in 
many  instances  the  work  must  be  renewed  before  them  day  after 
day.  At  last  their  imitative  genius  gets  the  better  of  their  native 
laziness,  and  then  they  are  quick  and  willing  enough.  Two 
hours  daily  are  devoted  to  such  instruction  in  these  mission- 
schools  ;  and  besides  the  sewing  and  the  ordinary  school  branches, 
the  pupils  are  occasionally  and  in  turn  called  upon  to  assist  with 
the  washing,  cooking,  and  baking. 

The  Indian  children  are  fond  of  books:  writing  is  their 
delight :  and  singing ! — there  is  no  better  means  of  teaching  them. 
The  English  alphabet  was  a  medley  of  intangible  nothings  to  the 
Piegan  children,  until  communicated  to  them  by  means  of  song, 
when  it  began  to  re-echo  enthusiastically  through  the  school-rooms 
and  back  from  "  Buffalo  Rock."  They  are  wild  and  roving  in 
disposition,  with  pretty,  suggestive  faces,  full  of  merriment  and 
affectionate  ways.  Philanthropy  might  smile  at  a  scene  which  the 
above  recalls. 

Not  far  from  the  white  cross-shaped  convent  of  the  Holy 
Family  Mission  is  the  little  church  which  the  children  love  to 
visit.  What  strikes  their  fancy  in  the  Ursuline  dress  is  the  girdle, 
and  this  they  are  fond  of  seizing  at  recreation  hours  with  the 
suggestive  cry  "Natuapaki  notas — Holy  Mother,  thou  art  my 
own  horse" — and  off  to  the  church.  Is  their  irreverent  reverence 
unwelcome  to  Him  Who  said  :  Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto 
Me? 

While  the  little  Indian  girl  is  learning  to  be  clean,  to  be 
reconciled  to  a  roof  and  to  the  customs  of  civilized  life,  to  speak 
English,  to  read,  to  write  it,  is  she  doing  nothing  better  ?  We  hear 
of  the  ecstasy  of  the  philanthropist  who,  after  years  of  toil,  suc- 
ceeded in  making  a  girl  that  was  dumb,  deaf,  and  blind  conceive 
the  idea  of  God.  Her  shapeless  countenance  was  transfigured. 
Now  this  very  grace  and  joy  may  be  hers,  however  unlettered  she 


THE  URSU LINES  IN   THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS. 


123 


may  be,  who  offers  a  true  and  generous  heart  to  the  Ursuline 
Novitiate  at  St.  Peter's.  Gentleness  and  prayer  and  the  force  of 
example  transmute  our  wild  little  creatures. 

As  we  have  said,  they  are  imitative ;  the  rites  and  ceremonies 
of  the  Church  captivate  them  and  little  by  little  the  inner  meaning 
dawns  on  their  clouded  intellects.  Though  they  have  the  word 
"Apistatokin,"  they  have  not  as  yet  the  true  idea  of  God.  Surely  no 
prouder  privilege  was  ever  woman's  than  to  kindle  in  the  mind  of 
a  fellow-creature  this  mighty  light. 

Ah  !  little  human  souls,  buried  for  centuries  in  sensuality, 
paganism,  and  degradation,  shall  there  be  none  to  break  to  you  the 
bread  of  Catholic  education  ?  Shall  your  fathers  still  reach  you  a 
stone  ?  And  when  the  workers  of  the  present  lie  down  in  your 
midst  to-night,  broken  and  weary,  or  are  awakened  to-morrow, 
more  |weary  still,  perchance  by  the  wailing  voice  of  Montana's 


URSUUNE  NUNS  WITH  INDIAN  PUPILS. 
ST.  PETER'S  MISSION,  MONTANA. 


124  THE  FATHER  OF  MANY  SOULS. 

buttes  or  the  grey  streaks  of  the  circling  dawn,  must  they  be  pur- 
sued by  the  dread  that  when  their  strength  has  wholly  waned,  you 
are  to  be  bereft  of  your  truest,  your  only  friends  ? 

Shall  not  this  first  band  of  Ursulines  live  many  years  in 
generations  of  successors?  Welcome  to  this  laborious  work,  ye 
hearts  of  gold,  who  in  your  silent,  well-appointed  cloisters  have 
learned  the  price  of  naked  poverty  !  Welcome  ye  who  watching 
the  shadows  play  on  tessellated  floor  and  oaken  rafter  have 
learned  that  the  sanctuary  lamp  can  guard  as  dear  a  Treasure 
in  the  western  wilds !  Welcome,  ye  devoted  teachers,  who  in  the 
delights  of  deeper  study  or  mathematical  research  have  learned 
the  wisdom  of  the  little  catechism,  the  value  of  a  single  soul! 

Shall  this  great  work  perish  for  want  of  workers?  Shall  we 
suffer  the  urgings  of  our  soldier-hearts  to  be  silenced  by  dreamy 
indolence,  or  lack  of  energy?  Shall  we  who  were  born  to  work 
for  God — and  who  was,  if  not  we? — indulge  the  sweets  of  contem- 
plation, turning  a  deaf  ear  to  the  silent  whisperings  of  the  Spirit 
that  presses  us  night  and  day  to  go  forward  and  join  these  con- 
quering ranks? 


THE  FATHER  OF   MANY  SOULS. 
JOHN  HENRY  NEWMAN, 

Priest  of  the  Oratory  of  St.  Philip  Neri  and  Cardinal  of  the  Holy  Koman  Church  : 
born  in  London,  England,  21  February,  1801,  elected  Fellow  of  Oriel  College, 
Oxford  University,  in  1823,  sometime  University  preacher  (Anglican),  received 
into  the  Catholic  Church,  October  9,  1845,  died  11  August,  1890. 

MONG  the  notable  deaths  of  the  year  which  is 
past,  that  of  Cardinal  Newman  drew  most  atten- 
tion to  itself.  Indeed,  it  was  the  fitting  close — 
after  a  lifetime  long  and  full  of  work  well  done 
— of  a  career  most  worthy  of  note.  All,  of  every 
or  no  religion,  knew  something  of  the  wonderful 
power  of  thought  and  expression  of  the  dead  Cardinal ;  and  all 


THE  FATHER   OF  MANY  SOULS.  125 

had  felt  something  of  the  still  more  wonderful  power  he  wielded 
over  the  minds  of  men  by  leading  them  to  think  along  with  him- 
self as  he  expressed  his  thought  in  sermons  or  written  books. 
Catholics  cannot  doubt  that  he  was  raised  up  in  this  difficult  gen- 
eration to  bring  back  the  minds  of  men  to  the  eternal  interests  of 
the  soul,  so  often  forgotten  in  the  midst  of  the  passing  interests  of 
worldliness  and  worldly  science.  It  will  be  pleasant  and  comfort- 
ing for  them  to  follow  him  in  his  co-operation  with  the  Spirit  of 
God  while  working  out  his  Providential  mission. 

God  does  not  regularly  choose  out  men  to  work  great  things 
in  the  souls  of  others  without  first  making  their  own  souls  ready 
for  the  great  work.  Happily,  we  have  many  words  from  the 
worker  himself — written  at  the  various  periods  of  a  life  exposed 
of  necessity  to  the  glare  of  publicity — which  may  help  us  to 
appreciate  the  spiritual  worth  of  this  remarkable  career. 

While  as  yet  only  a  young  Protestant  minister  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Oxford,  he  visited  Rome  and  had  an  interview  with  one 
who  was  destined  to  help  him  much  later  on  in  reaching  the  term 
of  his  course — the  future  Cardinal  Wiseman.  "When  we  took 
leave  of  Monsignore  Wiseman,  he  had  courteously  expressed  a 
wish  that  we  might  make  a  second  visit  to  Rome;  I  said  with 
great  gravity,  'We  have  a  work  to  do  in  England.'  I  went  down 
at  once  to  Sicily,  and  the  presentiment  grew  stronger.  I  struck 
into  the  middle  of  the  island,  and  fell  ill  of  a  fever  at  Leonforte. 
My  servant  thought  that  I  was  dying,  and  begged  for  my  last 
directions.  I  gave  them,  as  he  wished ;  but  I  said,  'I  shall  not 
die/  I  repeated,  'I  shall  not  die,  for  I  have  not  sinned  against 
light,  I  have  not  sinned  against  light.'  I  never  have  been  able 
quite  to  make  out  what  I  meant.' '; 

Thus  he  wcote  thirty  years  after;  but  meanwhile  He  Who 
searcheth  the  reins  and  the  heart  of  man  well  knew  whither  He 
was  leading  this  sincere  soul.  It  was  at  this  time  that  Newman 
himself  wrote  lines  inspired  by  the  great  thought  weighing  upon 
him.  They  have  become  familiar  wherever  the  English  language 
is  spoken,  and  they  express  more  perfectly  than  anything  else 
we  can  know  the  inmost  spiritual  life  of  this  man  w,hom  God 


126  THE  FATHER.   OF  MANY  SOULS. 

was  leading  on  to  be  the  "Father  of  many  souls"  in  their  way  to 
the  light  of  the  Christian  Catholic  faith. 

Lead,  kindly  Light,  amid  the  encircling  gloom, 

Lead  Thou  me  on ; 
The  night  is  dark,  and  I  am  far  from  home, 

Lead  Thon  me  on. 

Keep  Thon  my  feet;  I  do  not  ask  to  see 
The  distant  scene ;  one  step  enough  for  me. 

All  this  first  part  of  his  life  the  young  Newman  had  been  a 
diligent  student  of  holy  things.  He  preached  the  first  sermon  of 
which  we  have  record  in  1825 ;  and  before  the  great  movement 
Homeward  with  which  his  life  is  connected  had  begun  he  pub- 
lished his  first  book — 2  he  Arians  of  the  Fourth  Century. 

In  his  writings  of  this  time  we  have  glimpses  of  an  unusually 
earnest  soul,  one  to  whom  conscience  is  all  in  all.  It  may  be  said 
here  that  one  of  the  lessons  of  his  life,  which  was  also  inculcated 
in  many  of  his  writings  in  defence  of  his  final  faith,  was  simply 
this :  Faith  in  the  Divine  Revelation  is  not  likely  to  be  accepted 
by  one  who  merely  reasons  about  it  as  a  matter  of  speculative 
truth  or  falsehood ;  it  is  not  the  mere  knowledge  of  truth  which 
is  sufficient  for  receiving  into  the  heart  God's  gift  of  faith,  but 
the  willingness  to  receive  it  is  also  required.  And  this  supposes 
that  a  man's  reason  acts  not  only  by  judging  truth  from  falsehood, 
but  also  by  judging  right  from  wrong  and  acknowledging  the 
obligations  of  conscience.  Thus,  in  a  sermon  on  "  Secret  Faults," 
preached  January  12,  1825,  he  goes  on  in  this  way — curious 
enough  at  that  time  of  dead  calm  in  the  Established  Church  of 
England : 

"If  you  receive  Revealed  Truth  merely  through  the  eyes 
and  ears,  you  believe  words,  not  things :  you  deceive  yourselves. 
You  may  conceive  yourselves  sound  in  faith,  but  you  know  no- 
thing in  any  true  way.  Obedience  to  God's  commandments,  which 
implies  knowledge  of  sin  and  of  holiness,  and  the  desire  and 
endeavor  to  please  Him — this  is  the  only  practical  interpreter  of 
Scriptural  doctrine.  Without  self-knowledge  you  have  no  root  in 
yourselves  personally :  you  may  endure  for  a  time,  but  under 
affliction  and  persecution  your  faith  will  not  last.  This  is  why 
many  in  this  age,  (and  in  every  age),  become  infidels,  heretics, 


THE  FATHER   OF  MANY  SOULS.  127 

schismatics,  disloyal,  despisers  of  the  Church.  They  cast  off  the 
form  of  truth  because  it  never  has  been  to  them  more  than  a 
form." 

This  turning  in  upon  self  of  the  light  of  conscience  was  one 
of  the  first  effects  of  his  influence  over  others  :  and  to  understand 
his  life  in  the  lines  along  which  it  was  cast  from  the  beginning,  it 
should  be  remembered  that  he  was  specially  raised  up  by  God  to 
influence  others.  As  he  thought  and  worked  out  truth  for  himself 
and  trembled  with  fear  or  hope,  so  many  others  around  him 
thought  and  labored  and  feared  and  hoped.  This  comes  out 
curiously  in  some  of  the  familiar  reminiscences  which  have  been 
published  since  his  death.  Father  Lockhart,  who  was  his  early 
disciple  and  even  preceded  him  by  some  years  into  the  Church,  has 
this : 

"  Newman's  sermons  had  the  most  wonderful  effect  on  us 
young  men.  It  was  to  many  of  us  as  if  God  had  spoken  to  us  for 
the  first  time.  I  could  never  have  believed  beforehand  that  it  was 
possible  that  a  few  words,  read  very  quietly  from  a  manuscript 
without  any  rhetorical  effort,  could  have  so  penetrated  our  souls. 
I  do  not  see  how  this  could  have  been  unless  he  who  spoke  was 
himself  a  seer,  who  saw  God  and  the  things  of  God  and  spoke  ot 
that  which  he  had  seen  in  the  keen,  bright  intuition  of  faith.  We 
felt  God  speaking  to  us,  turning  our  soul,  as  it  were,  '  inside 
out.'  " 

What  follows  will,  to  most  observant  Catholics,  be  still  more 
expressive  of  that  disposition  of  mind  which  made  Newman  and 
his  true  followers  so  open  to  the  influences  of  the  Catholic  faith. 
Father  Lockhart  goes  on  : 

"  The  great  defect  of  Protestant  training  is  that  no  one,  (I 
speak  of  fifty  years  since),  ever  spoke  clearly  of  the  essential 
immorality  of  all  impurity.  Certain  things  which  injured  life, 
health,  or  reputation  were  reprobated.  Nothing  else  was  ever 
hinted  at.  There  was,  of  course,  no  training  of  the  confessional, 
by  which  alone  with  Catholics  this  evil  is  generally  nipped  in  the 
bud.  For  the  Catholic  child  knows  by  the  instinct  of  faith  and 
through  the  few  modest  words  said  to  him  by  teachers  or  parents, 
when  he  is  preparing  to  make  his  examination  of  conscience  before 
confession,  that  '  immodest  thoughts '  even,  if  deliberately 


128  THE  FATHER    OF  MANY  SOULS. 

indulged  in,  would  be  mortal  sin.  This  is  the  great  defence  ol 
Catholic  morality, — a  fortification  with  a  strong  outwork — murus 
et  antemurale.  .  .  .  The  absence  of  this  training  left  English 
Protestant  society  in  a  very  corrupted  state.  The  public  and,  still 
more,  the  private  schools  were  such  that  it  was  rare  indeed  if  any 
innocent  youth  passed  through  them  without  being  stained :  too 
often  he  was  utterly  corrupted.  It  was  of  such  materials  that  the 
youth  of  Oxford  were  chiefly  composed.  On  such  as  these 
Newman's  sermons  came  down  like  a  new  revelation.  He  had  the 
wondrous,  supernatural  power  of  raising  the  mind  to  God,  and  of 
rooting  deeply  within  us  a  personal  conviction  of  God — a  sense  of 
His  presence.  He  compelled  us  to  an  intuitive  perception  of 
moral  obligation — of  that  natural  law  of  right  which  is  written  in 
the  mind  by  the  Word  and  Wisdom  of  God,  and  which  St. 
Augustine  and  St.  Thomas  say  is  the  'Reason  of  the  Divine 
Wisdom  imparted  to  man  by  the  light  of  human  reason.' '' 

Another  characteristic  of  the  young  University  preacher  was 
his  unworldliness.  It  is  certain  that,  humanly  speaking,  the  use 
he  made  of  his  exceeding  literary  talent  was  not  such  as  to  draw 
to  him  the  rewards  of  this  world.  If  a  great  name  came  to  him 
later  in  life,  it  was  rather  in  spite  of  the  line  of  thought  and  labor 
which  he  mapped  out  for  himself  than  because  of  it.  In  a  sermon 
of  the  year  1831,  toward  the  close  of  this  period  of  preparation  for 
his  life  work,  he  has  this  : 

Christians  are  called  upon  to  think  little  of  the  ordinary 
objects  which  men  pursue, — wealth,  luxury,  distinction,  popularity, 
and  power.  It  was  this  negligence  about  the  world  which  brought 
upon  them  in  remote  times  the  reproach  of  being  indolent.  Their 
heathen  enemies  spoke  truly — indolent  and  indifferent  they  were 
to  temporal  matters.  If  the  goods  of  this  world  came  in  their 
way  they  were  not  bound  to  decline  them,  nor  would  they  forbid 
others  in  the  religious  use  of  them ;  but  they  thought  them 
vanities,  the  toys  of  children,  which  serious  men  let  drop.  Nay, 
St.  Paul  betrays  the  same  feeling  as  regards  our  temporal  callings 
and  states  generally.  After  discoursing  about  them,  suddenly  he 
breaks  off,  as  if  impatient  of  the  multitude  of  words  ;  "But  this  I 
say,  brethren,"  he  exclaims,  "the  time  is  short." 

Another  prime  element  in  the  spiritual  life  of  this  man  so 
pure  and  unworldly  was  his  keen  sense  that  the  truths  of  religion 
must  be  taught  him  from  above.  That  is,  as  a  sympathetic,  but 


THE  FATHER   OF  MANY  SOULS.  129 

non-Catholic  biographer  has  but  lately  said,  "  Dogma  is  the  back- 
bone of  religion."1 

Newman's  mind  was  all  along  clear  in  this  regard.  He  says 
in  the  Apologia,  that  wonderful  history  of  his  religious  opinions 
which  an  attack  obliged  him  to  lay  before  the  world : 

"From  the  age  of  fifteen,  dogma  has  been  the  fundamental 
principle  of  my  religion.  I  know  no  other  religion.  I  cannot 
enter  into  the  idea  of  another  sort  of  religion.  Religion  as  a  mere 
sentiment  is  to  me  a  dream  and  a  mockery.  As  well  can  there  be 
filial  love  without  the  fact  of  a  father  as  devotion  without  the  fact 
of  a  Supreme  Being.  What  I  held  in  1816  I  held  in  1833  and  I 
hold  in  1864.  Please  God,  I  shall  hold  it  to  the  end." 

He  came  at  the  close  of  an  age  when  the  scattered  fragments 
of  Christian  faith  which  early  Protestantism  had  preserved  were 
still  held  with  a  certain  vigor.  It  was  not  as  in  these  later  days 
when  even  the  fragments  seem  dissolving  before  the  powerful 
action  of  free  thought.  But  Newman  already  had  an  unusually 
intense  realization  of  that  spiritual  world  whose  existence  is  made 
known  to  us  by  the  teachings  of  the  Christian  faith.  A  sermon 
on  the  action  of  the  Angels  in  connection  with  the  natural  forces 
of  this  world  is  often  quoted  as  an  instance  of  curious  speculation. 
An  exquisite  early  poem  on  "The  Separation  of  Friends,"  begun 
in  1833  and  finally  completed  on  the  death  of  a  beloved  com- 
panion in  1836,  shows  this  even  more  clearly.  As  it  is  little 
known,  it  will  be  worth  while  quoting  a  few  lines  from  it : 

Do  not  their  souls,  who  'neath  the  altar  wait 

Until  their  second  birth, 
The  gift  of  patience  need,  as  separate 

From  their  first  friends  of  earth? 
Not  that  earth's  blessings  are  not  all  ontshone 

By  Eden's  Angel  flame, 
But  that  Earth  knows  not  that  the  Dead  has  won 

That  Crown  which  was  his  aim. 


So  day  by  day  for  him  from  earth  ascends, 

As  dew  in  summer  even, 
The  speechless  intercession  of  his  friends, 

Towards  the  azure  heaven. 

1  Cardinal  Newman,  by  R.  H.  Hutton. 


ISO  THE  FATHER   OF  MANY  SOULS. 

We  may  stop  to  notice,  in  these  lines  of  his  first  period,  that 
he  had  already  a  firm  hold  of  the  Catholic  truth  of  the  Com- 
munion of  Saints.  Later,  after  the  death  of  Hurrell  Froude — a 
brother  of  the  historian,  and  one  of  whom  Cardinal  Wiseman  said 
that  he  might  be  considered  as  dying  a  catechumen,  so  near  was 
he  to  the  Church,  these  lines  were  added : 

Ah !  dearest,  with  a  word  he  could  dispel 

All  questionings,  and  raise 
Our  hearts  to  rapture,  whispering  all  was  well, 

And  turning  prayer  to  praise. 

Dearest,  he  longs  to  speak  as  I  to  know, 

And  yet  we  hoth  refrain  : 
It  were  not  good ;  a  little  doubt  below, 

And  all  will  soon  be  plain. 

To  this  same  line  of  thought  belong  the  two  last  verses  of 
the  hymn  "  Lead  Kindly  Light,"  which  seem  to  have  puzzled  one 
of  the  Cardinal's  later  correspondents.  In  1879,  he  answered 
quaintly  that  "  he  was  not  bound  to  remember  his  own  meaning, 
whatever  it  was,  at  the  end  of  almost  fifty  years."  But  the  lines, 
taken  in  this  connection,  explain  themselves : 

And  with  the  morn  those  angel  faces  smile 
Which  I  have  loved  long  since  and  lost  awhile. 

Another  characteristic  of  the  soul  of  Newman  was  his  intense 
reverence  for  truth,  his  utter  sincerity  in  seeking  for  it,  his  will- 
ingness to  be  satisfied  with  it  when  it  was  found.  With  this 
reverence  for  truth  was  bound  up  his  life-long  opposition  to  what 
he  called  "Liberalism"  in  religion.  When  he  was  raised  to  the 
Cardinalate,  he  spoke  these  significant  words: 

"I  rejoice  to  say,  to  one  great  mischief  I  have  from  the  first 
opposed  myself.  For  thirty,  forty,  fifty  years,  I  have  resisted  to 
the  best  of  my  powers  the  spirit  of  liberalism  in  religion.  Never 
did  the  Holy  Church  need  champions  against  it  more  sorely  than 
now  when,  alas,  it  is  an  error  overspreading,  as  a  snare,  the  whole 
earth.  .  .'  .  Liberalism  in  religion  is  the  doctrine  that  there 
is  no  positive  truth  in  religion,  but  that  one  creed  is  as  good  as 
another,  and  this  is  the  teaching  which  is  gaining  substance  and 
force  daily.  It  is  inconsistent  with  any  religion  as  true." 


THE  FATHER   OF  MANY  SOULS.  131 

As  to  the  sincerity  of  the  great  Cardinal,  it  is  curious  to 
notice  that  precisely  on  this  point  he  was  accused  both  before  and 
after  the  time  of  his  conversion.     People  could  not  understand 
why  he  did  not  say  flatly  just  what  he  believed  and  whither  he 
was  tending  in  his  belief.     It  should  have  been  plain  that  he 
could  not  say  what  he  could  not  possibly  know  without  a  divine 
revelation  of  the  future.      But   this  strange   opinion   remained 
floating  in  the  air  till  the  late  Canon  Kingsley  publicly  accused 
him   of  saying  that   "truth   had   never  been  a  virtue  with   the 
Roman  clergy,  and  on  the  whole  ought  not  to  be."     This  ruthless 
accusation  forced  Newman  into  writing  what  will,  perhaps,  remain 
the  most  important  of  his  works  and  what  was,  undoubtedly,  the 
most  painful  to  him  in  the  writing.     This  is  the  history  of   his 
religious  opinions,  published  under  the  title  of  Apologia  pro  Vita 
sua.     It  is  this  book,  more  than  anything  else,  which  has  com- 
pletely changed  the  course  of  English  thought  in  regard  to  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church.     Its  entire  frankness  and  simplicity,  its 
touching  laying  bare  of  the  inmost  roots  of  belief  in  the  soul  of 
one  so  entirely  in  sympathy  with  his  age  and  with  the  souls  of 
other  men,  its  portrayal  of  the  growth  of  Catholic  belief  in  one 
who  by  nature  should  have  been  a  leader  in  the  opposition  camp, 
strongly  impressed  English  readers  with  the  mistaken  judgment 
of  the  past  three  centuries  concerning  that  Church  which  had 
civilized  the  world  and  given  them  their  own  moral  life.     From 
this  book  we  may  date  the  recognition  on  the  part  of  English 
thought  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  leads  now,  as  before,  in 
Christian  religion  and  the  observance  of  the  Ten  Commandments. 
Of  his  confidence  that  truth  can  be  found  and  his  satisfaction 
with  it  once  it  was  in  his  grasp,  we  have  only  to  repeat  the  words 
of  a  non-Catholic  critic  and  others,  still  more  significant,  from  him- 
self.    Mr.  Hutton,  the  well-known  writer  of  the  London  Spectator, 
says  : 

"  This  is  what  makes  Cardinal  Newman  a  really  great  man. 
His  whole  life  has  been  lived  in  the  passionate  confidence  that 
these  great,  these  apparently  appalling  difficulties  are  not  only  not 
really  insuperable  but  are  infinitely  less  than  those  which  any  man 


132  THE  FATHER.   OF  MANY  SOULS. 

would  encounter,  who,  dealing  honestly  with  his  own  conscience, 
should  yet  give  up  as  false  belief  in  the  divine  origin  of  the  world 
and  the  divine  character  of  Christianity." 

Newman's  own  words  need  always  to  be  remembered  by  those 
who  breathe  in,  day  by  day,  the  atmosphere  of  a  world  that  gives 
ear  to  all  objections  and  never  waits  to  know  the  answer. 

"Ten  thousand  difficulties  do  not  make  one  doubt;  as  I 
understand  the  subject  difficulty  and  doubt  are  incommensurate." 

This  can  be  easily  illustrated  from  a  school  of  philosophy 
which  has  sprung  into  great  vogue  since  Newman  has  upturned 
English  thought  from  its  depths.  It  declares  that  no  less  obvious 
a  truth  than  that  two  and  two  make  four  cannot  be  known  to  be 
a  necessary  truth.  Undoubtedly  many  who  would  stand  open- 
mouthed  at  the  assertion  would  be  unable  to  answer  clearly  the 
arguments  brought  to  sustain  it.  It  is  the  same  in  regard  to  the 
defence  of  the  Christian  faith.  What  is  demanded  is  not  a  ready 
answer,  tripping  on  the  tongue,  to  every  difficulty  which  may  be 
brought  from  any  and  every  quarter,  but  enough  reason  for  belief 
that  God  has  revealed  what  is  taught.  Then  God  Himself  will  do 
the  rest.  For  faith,  being  a  grace,  is  always  a  gift  from  Himself 
to  the  soul  of  His  creature. 

What  we  have  said  of  this  early  period  of  Newman's  life  is 
intended  to  show  why  a  soul,  in  circumstances  naturally  so  ill- 
adapted  to  the  reception  of  Catholic  faith,  might  still  be  rightly 
expected  to  receive  it  as  a  gift  from  the  Holy  Spirit  on  account 
of  its  dispositions  for  welcoming  the  truth.  Such  dispositions, 
which  are  needed  much  more  for  the  will  than  for  the  intellect  of 
man,  were  his  sensitiveness  to  the  obligations  of  conscience,  his 
purity  and  unworldliness,  his  trust  in  God  as  a  Teacher  and  his 
near  sense  of  the  spiritual  world,  his  sincerity  and  readiness  to 
follow  the  "  kindly  Light "  whenever  he  could  discern  its  leading. 

Keep  Thou  my  feet;   I  do  not  ask  to  see 
The  distant  scene ;  one  step  enough  for  me. 


THE   SECOND   BISHOP  OF  CHARLESTON. 

By  M.  L.  Meany. 

[GNATIUS  A.  REYNOLDS,  successor  of  the  glorious 
England  in  the  See  of  Charleston,  is  almost  for- 
gotten.     The  doom  of  being  misunderstood,  which 
attended  him  through  life,  seems  to  have  followed 
him  after  death.     This  has  sometimes  been  imputed 
to  his  predecessor's  overshadowing  renown;  but  it  seems  to  have 
a  deeper  and  earlier  cause.     Mr.  Webb  says:1 

"Of  all  the  native  priests  of  Kentucky,  the  late  Dr.  Reynolds 
was  possibly  the  least  understood  and  the  least  appreciated  by 
others  than  men  of  discriminating  judgment.  Nature  had  not 
given  to  him  the  pleasing  ways  by  which  persons  so  endowed  are 
able  to  attract  and  lead  captive  the  hearts  of  men.  Still,  it  was 
not  because  his  own  heart  was  not  open  as  the  day  to  all  gentle 
influences  that  such  was  the  case.  It  was  for  the  reason,  rather, 
that  his  was  a  peculiarly  sensitive  nature.  No  man  ever  had  a 
juster  appreciation  of  the  transcendent  dignity  of  the  priesthood. 
He  appeared,  indeed,  at  all  times,  as  if  he  were  fearful  lest,  by 
some  inadvertent  act,  or  some  frivolous  speech,  he  might  cause 
men  to  lose  sight  of  the  unworldly  character  of  his  ministry." 
This  timidity,  which  in  such  a  divine  might  seem  absurd, 
probably  arose  from  one  of  the  earliest  incidents  of  his  ministry — 
the  excommunication  of  a  brother  priest,  who,  after  giving  bright 
promise  of  a  noble  career,  suddenly  abandoned  not  only  his 
mission  but  the  Faith,  and  sealed  his  apostasy  by  marrying. 
Mr.  Webb  thus  pictures  the  sad  ceremony: 

"Shortly  afterward  he  was  publicly  excommunicated — the 
first  and  last  time  the  awful  ceremonial  was  witnessed  in  the 
diocese — from  the  high  altar  of  the  cathedral  church  of  St.  Joseph, 
Bardstown.  I  was  present  on  this  occasion,  and  occupied  a  place 
in  my  father's  pew,  immediately  in  front  of  the  sanctuary.  I  was 

1  Sketch  of  Eight  Rev.  Bishop  Reynolds,  in  the  Catholic  Centenary  of  Ken- 
tucky. By  Hon.  Benj.  J.  Webb. 

133 


134  THE  SECOND  BISHOP  OF  CHARLESTON. 

under  twelve  years  of  age  at  the  time,  but  I  can  say  that,  from 
that  day  to  this,  the  scene  I  witnessed,  in  all  its  terrible  signifi- 
cance, has  remained  firmly  impressed  in  my  memory.  It  had 
become  publicly  known  that  something  extraordinary  was  to  take 
place  in  the  cathedral  on  that  day,  and  the  building  was  filled  by 
a  dense  and  expectant  crowd,  many  of  whom  were  non-Catholics. 
In  the  sanctuary  appeared  Bishops  Flaget  and  David,  accompanied 
by  a  numerous  retinue  of  priests  and  seminarians.  While  the 
dread  formula  was  being  read  by  the  late  Rev.  I.  A.  Reynolds, 
afterward  raised  to  the  See  of  Charleston,  the  attitude  of  the 
venerable  Bishop  of  Bardstown  was  itself  a  study.  His  face  was 
stern,  but  very  sad.  As  it  has  since  appeared  to  me,  it  was  as  if 
another  Abraham,  at  the  voice  of  God,  was  on  the  point  of  sacri- 
ficing the  beloved  of  his  heart.  As  was  their  head,  so  were  the 
ecclesiastics  by  whom  he  was  surrounded.  One  could  discern  the 
sorrow  that  was  in  their  hearts  by  its  pictured  impress  on  their 
faces.  The  stillness  that  pervaded  the  church  was  so  profound 
that  the  reader's  voice,  rendered  tremulous  and  deeply  pathetic  by 
his  own  emotion,  was  audible  in  every  part  of  the  sacred  edifice. 
The  saddest  of  obsequies  could  not  have  been  more  impressive, 
nor  more  significant,  indeed,  of  death  and  the  grave." 

The  recollection  of  that  sad  day  probably  overshadowed  all 
the  young  priest's  life,  made  doubly  personal  to  him  as  the  reader 
of  the  "dread  formula." 

Among  the  early  emigrants  from  Maryland  to  Kentucky  in 
1785  were  John  and  Ann  (French)  Reynolds  who  settled  on  a 
small  farm  about  three  miles  north  of  Bardstown.  Of  their  five 
children,  Ignatius  Aloysius  (the  second  eldest)  was  born  on  the 
octave  of  the  Assumption,  1798. 

"But  for  the  fact,"  says  Mr.  Webb,  "that  John  Reynolds 
was  the  husband  of  an  extraordinary  wife,  and  the  father  of  a  still 
more  extraordinary  son,  no  special  mention  of  his  name  would  be 
here  necessary.  He  was  an  industrious,  well-meaning  man,  to  be 
sure,  and  after  a  manner,  pious.  But  he  was  given  to  the  vice  of 
intemperance.  His  wife  was  altogether  of  another  stamp.  To 
use  the  expression  applied  to  her  by  an  aged  Sister  of  the  Nazareth 


THE  SECOND  BISHOP   OF  CHARLESTON.  135 

community,  she  was  '  a  living  saint.'  It  is  doubtful  if  there  has 
ever  occurred  in  Kentucky  a  more  noteworthy  example  of  health- 
ful influence  exerted  over  a  household  than  that  which  is  presented 
in  the  case  of  Mrs.  Ann  Reynolds.  In  addition  to  the  fact  that 
her  religion  was  as  the  measure  of  her  life,  she  was  of  that 
precise  temperament  that  is  most  attractive  of  love  and  confidence. 
Modest,  retiring,  helpful,  prayerful,  sweet  of  temper  and  loving 
her  children  in  God  and  for  God,  it  will  not  be  considered  strange 
that  these  latter  should  have  readily  yielded  themselves  to  her 
moulding  hands,  and  become,  even  as  she  was  herself,  exemplars 
of  Christian  life  and  social  respectability." 

The  Holy  Spirit  re  warded  the  fidelity  of  this  valiant  woman 
not  only  by  unusual  graces  to  all  her  children,  but  by  making  one 
of  them  a  shining  light  in  the  Church.  The  little  Ignatius  was 
among  the  earliest  ecclesiastical  students  in  the  log-cabin  Seminary 
of  St.  Thomas,  and  was  transferred  by  its  venerable  President, 
Father  David,  to  the  Sulpitian  Seminary  at  Baltimore,  where  he 
completed  his  theological  studies,  and  was  ordained  priest  in  Balti- 
more, by  the  Most  Rev.  Archbishop  Marechal,  on  the  24th  Octo- 
ber, 1823. 

During  the  next  twenty  years,  the  young  priest  was  con- 
tinually at  work  for  God  and  souls.  As  companion  to  his  bishop 
(Flaget)  and  to  the  renowned  missionary  priest,  Kenrick  (afterward 
Archbishop  of  Baltimore),  he  went  through  the  vast  diocese  of 
Bardstown,  preaching  the  jubilee  of  1825,  teaching  in  St. 
Joseph's  College,  of  which  he  was  president  for  three  years,  pastor 
of  the  Bardstown  Cathedral,  and  afterward  of  the  Church  of  St. 
Louis,  then  the  only  Catholic  temple  in  Louisville.  One  year 
was  spent  abroad  in  attending  to  diocesan  affairs,  and  then,  after 
three  years  of  arduous  and  successful  labors  as  vicar-general,  he 
became  Bishop  of  Charleston. 

Never  was  ecclesiastical  promotion  more  unwelcome  to  its 
recipient.  The  most  aspiring  ambition  might  well  hesitate  to  take 
the  place  of  the  lamented  England.  What  then  must  it  have  cost 
this  modest,  self-distrustful  priest !  But,  as  his  biographer  says  : 
"  Dr.  Reynolds  was  not  the  man  to  evade  in  the  least  particular 


136  THE  SECOND  BISHOP  OF  CHARLESTON. 

the  requirements  of  ascertained  duty.  It  had  never  been  his  habit 
to  question  either  the  motives  or  the  wisdom  of  those  to  whom  he 
had  vowed  obedience,  and  now  that  Christ's  Vicar  on  earth  had 
given  expression  to  his  will  in  his  regard,  he  felt  that  the  proper 
course  for  him  to  pursue  was  to  render  cheerful  obedience." 

He  was  consecrated  in  the  Cathedral  of  Cincinnati,  on  the 
feast  of  St.  Joseph,  1844.  Even  in  this  he  felt  a  "splinter  of  the 
cross  ":  his  own  bishop  would  have  been  his  choice  for  consecrator, 
but  his  age  and  infirmities  forbade  it.  "  Bishop  Flaget  could  do 
no  more  than  be  present  at  the  ceremonial  and  pray,  as  he  no 
doubt  did,  that  this  son  of  his  adoption  might  be  led  by  the  Spirit 
of  God — "  says  Mr.  Webb,  who  adds  in  a  note  :  "  I  was  present 
at  the  consecration,  and  I  remember  to  have  been  greatly  struck 
by  an  incident  that  took  place  immediately  after  the  newly-conse- 
crated bishop  had  imparted  the  episcopal  blessing  to  the  kneeling 
crowds  that  filled  the  cathedral.  I  observed  from  where  I  sat  the 
tottering  form  of  our  late  saintly  prelate  being  led  up  the  steps  of 
the  high  altar.  In  a  moment  after,  in  accents  so  feeble  that  they 
could  scarce  be  heard  at  the  extremity  of  the  church,  he  intoned 
the  initiatory  words  of  the  solemn  episcopal  benediction,  Sit  nomen 
Domini.  When  he  turned  to  give  the  blessing,  every  knee  was 
bent  to  receive  it,  whether  of  bishops,  priests,  or  people." 

It  was  characteristic  of  the  unassuming  nature  of  the  new 
prelate,  that  he  had  already  taken  leave  of  his  Kentucky  home 
and  friends,  so  that  there  was  nothing  to  delay  his  immediate 
journey  to  Charleston.  During  this  journey  it  was  the  writer's 
privilege  to  see  him,  under  circumstances  never  to  be  forgotten. 

Stopping  over  Sunday  on  the  way,  Bishop  Reynolds  was  pre- 
vailed on  by  a  former  college-mate  to  fill  the  pulpit  in  his  church. 
Late  as  it  was  on  Saturday  night,  word  went  with  lightning  speed 
through  the  parish,  and  some  who  had  more  curiosity  than  piety 
were  induced  by  anxious  friends  to  anticipate  an  intellectual  treat. 
Among  them  was  a  young  scape-grace  whose  feet  had  since  boy- 
hood been  unfamiliar  to  the  house  of  God.  Great  was  the  delight 
of  many  to  see  him  duly  walk  up  the  middle  aisle.  .  The  Gospel 
of 'the  day  was  rather  long,  and  Bishop  Reynolds  read  it  in  a  con- 


THE  SECOND  BISHOP   OF  CHARLESTON.  137 

fused,  hesitating  tone  that  promised  poorly  for  the  sermon,  his  eye 
glancing  occasionally  in  a  strangely-beseeching  way  at  the  silent 
and  motionless  crowd  before  him.  When  he  had  finished,  and  all 
had  taken  their  places,  the  youth  before  mentioned  opened  the 
pew-door  and  walked  deliberately  down  the  middle  aisle,  in  full 
sight  of  the  pulpit.  The  Bishop's  face  did  not  flush  at  what  was 
but  too  evidejitly  meant  as  an  insult.  The  appealing  gaze  became 
more  childlike,  as  it  rested  on  the  congregation,  and  in  a  tone  no 
less  calm  than  sad,  he  proceeded  to  say  that  not  many  words  were 
needed  to  explain  the  Gospel  just  read :  it  was  its  own  best 
expounder.  What  the  sermon  was,  whether  eloquent  or  common- 
place, no  one  probably  could  have  told. 

"That  was  just  like  Ignatius!"  said  the  pastor  afterward. 
"Well,  you  came  to  hear  a  preacher, — you  saw  a  saint." 

"Perhaps will  owe  his  conversion  to  it,"  said  a  sorrow- 
ing relative ;  for  all  felt  that  the  sensitive  heart  prayed  for  the 
offender. 

No  greater  contrast  could  be  imagined  than  between  the  first 
prelate  of  Charleston  and  his  successor.  Each  had  his  pecu- 
liarities. But  in  the  one  essential,  zeal  for  God's  honor  and  the 
interests  of  the  Church,  both  were  alike  and  both  successful. 
Bishop  Reynolds  was  not  deficient  in  pulpit  oratory;  indeed  we 
are  told  that  in  the  first  year  of  his  ministry  he  was  ranked  as  the 
second  preacher  in  the  diocese  of  Bardstown — Rev.  R.  A.  Abell, 
his  senior  by  ten  years,  being  the  first.  Bishop  England  was 
dauntless  and  in  fact  aggressive,  where  Bishop  Reynolds  was 
patient,  retiring  and  almost  shy.  The  first  had  the  true  Irish- 
man's facility  in  turning  strangers  into  friends  and  helpers :  the 
second,  by  his  want  of  self-confidence,  made  others  slow  in  yield- 
ing to  an  influence  that  was  more  supernatural  than  they  would 
have  believed.  He  once,  in  a  moment  of  unthinking  confidence, 
no  doubt,  told  Mr.  Webb  "that  relief,  often  from  unexpected 
quarters,  had  never  failed  him  in  his  most  urgent  needs." 

During  the  eleven  years  of  his  episcopate  there  was  some- 
thing about  him  that  often  recalled  the  scriptural  eulogy  on  the 
valiant  woman:  "The  heart  of  her  husband  hath  trusted  in  her." 


138  THE  MORNING   OFFERING. 

The  heart  of  the  Church  could  trust  implicitly  in  him.  As  great 
a  contrast  as  could  be  imagined  to  his  illustrious  predecessor,  he 
yet  carried  out  his  unfinished  work,  was  as  ready  to  help  on  the 
publication  of  Bishop  England's  varied  writings  as  to  approve'  a 
child's  catechism,  as  zealous  for  the  building  of  a  grand  cathedral 
as  for  opening  poor  stations  where  others  deemed  it  "a  sin  to  have 
Mass  said."  A  hard  and  close  worker  himself,  he  was  indulgent 
to  the  weakness  of  others.  Always  keeping  within  the  strict  lines 
of  his  legitimate  duty,  he  was  yet  neither  impatient  with  so-called 
dreamers,  nor  distrustful  of  new  undertakings.  It  was  fortunate 
for  Mr.  Webb  that  it  was  Dr.  Reynolds  he  consulted  about  pub- 
lishing a  Catholic  paper,  the  thought  of  which  had  occupied  his 
mind  for  five  years.  Of  course,  he  met  with  neither  discourage- 
ment nor  ridicule.  "Our  relations  may  be  said  to  have  been 
intimate  from  this  time  to  the  end  of  his  life.  I  can  truly  say 
that  the  more  he  revealed  himself  to  me,  the  greater  was  my 
respect  for  him  as  a  man,  and  the  more  was  my  reverence  for  him 
as  a  priest." 

To  the  last,  he  was  the  same — a  worshipper  of  the  Divine 
Will  and  a  doer  of  it.  In  the  midst  of  his  great  episcopal  labors, 
he  was  struck  with  a  mortal  illness,  which,  after  many  months  of 
suifering,  terminated  his  earthly  life  on  the  9th  of  March,  1855. 
As  his  untiring  labors  had  edified  all,  so  the  Bisho'p's  patience 
and  resignation  in  suifering  completed  the  holy  example  he  left 
his  widowed  flock. 


THE  MORNING  OFFERING, 
A  SECOND  DIALOGUE. 

DlSCIPLE.  We  were  on  the  question  of  principles.  You 
were  saying  that  the.  union  of  many  in  a  League  of  Prayers  was 
likely  to  induce  certain  careless  Christians  to  remember  their 
morning  prayers.  Their  motive  would  be  to  have  the  benefit  of 


THE  MORNING   OFFERING.  139 

all  those  prayers  which  would  be  offered  for  them  by  others,  pro- 
vided only  they  themselves  are  faithful  to  the  common  Morning 
.  Offering.  Just  here  I  have  a  difficulty.  Is  it  worth  the  while  to 
induce  careless  Christians  to  pray  in  that  manner  ?  Some  people 
imagine  that  as  long  as  a  man  is  in  a  state  of  sin,  it  is  of  no  great 
use  for  him  to  pray  at  all,  let  alone  the  expecting  any  benefit  to  be 
received  by  others  in  virtue  of  his  prayers.  I  think  you  under- 
stand what  I  mean. 

Teacher.  The  difficulty  is  not  a  new  one,  and  you  will  find 
it  explained  by  the  old  theologians.  I  wish  a  little  more  of  this 
old  theology  would  get  into  our  present-day  practices.  I  consider 
this  one  of  the  chief  benefits  of  a  League  like  the  Apostleship  of 
Prayer,  which  makes  a  morning  offering,  common  to  all  its  mem- 
bers, its  essential  starting-point. 

Disciple.  What  is  it  the  old  theologians  can  have  to  say  on 
this  point?  Do  you  mean  that  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer  is 
merely  an  application  of  what  has  always  been  taught  by  Christian 
Doctors  ? 

Teacher.  That  is  about  what  I  mean.  The  theologians  put 
the  question  to  themselves  in  this  way :  Ought  every  one,  whether 
saint  or  sinner,  to  pray  ? 

Disciple.  The  stricter  sort  of  people  are  apt  to  think  that  it 
is  a  kind  of  undue  familiarity  on  the  part  of  one  who  is  not  a 
friend  of  God  to  address  Him. 

Teacher.  St.  Augustine  had  heard  so,  and  answers  that  the 
duty  of  prayer  amounts  to  this :  We  are  .to  do  what  we  can  to 
obey  God,  and  what  we  cannot  do  (either  through  our  own  weak- 
ness, or  extraordinary  temptations,  or  even  from  our  own  wretched 
fault)  we  are  to  pray  God  that  we  may  become  able  to  do.  It 
would  be  a  very  sad  thing  that  a  sinner  who  has  no  direct  claim 
on  God's  kindness  could  not  even  ask  for  a  little  of  His  mercy. 

Disciple.  I  am  afraid  that  it  is  here  the  difficulty  begins. 
There  is  a  certain  class  of  minds  who  are  always  rating  God  from 
a  human  standpoint.  They  seem  to  think  that  if  absolute  justice 
is  done,  all  and  more  than  all  that  one  has  a  right  to  ask  is  done. 
So  they  conclude  the  work  must  stop  there.  It  is,  as  I  under- 


14O  THE  MORNING   OFFERING. 

stand  you,  the  duty  of  the  sinner  to  count  on  the  mercy  of  God 
over  and  above  every  claim  He  may  have  on  him. 

Teacher.  Yes ;  that  is  partly  the  case,  but.it  does  not  reach 
the  whole  truth.  It  is  said  in  the  Scripture  that  God  hears  the 
little  ones  of  the  raven  that  open  their  mouths  to  call  upon  Him ; 
and  He  fills  their  beaks  with  food.  Now,  no  matter  how  great  a 
sinner  a  man  may  be,  he  is  still  God's  creature.  God  is  with 
him,  God  works  in  him,  God  is  still  his  father — One  God  the 
Father  of  all,  as  St.  Paul  reminded  Timothy.  It  is  a  horrible 
perversion  of  ideas  that  the  one  who  needs  God's  grace  the  most 
should  not  be  allowed  to  ask  for  it.  In  fact,  the  asking  for  it  is 
all  that  he  can  do.  He  is  God's  creature,  he  is  under  God's 
Providence ;  and,  unless  like  the  devils  in  hell  he  wishes  to  reject 
once  and  forever  all  love  of  his  Maker,  he  is  under  the  bounden 
duty  of  having  some  communication  with  Him.  Now  this  com- 
munication is  prayer  for  God's  mercy. 

Disciple.  I  imagine  that  in  this  the  theologians  do  not  far 
diifer  from  the  sinners  themselves.  I  know  that  very  hard  cases, 
when  in  some  imminent  danger,  break  out  quite  spontaneously 
into  some  hasty  prayer  for  help.  It  may  be  the  first  time  for 
years,  but  it  shows  that  they  have  the  real  feeling  that  there  is  a 
God  above  them. 

Teacher.  Yes  ;  I  think  it  very  rarely  happens  that  a  man  is 
so  far  gone  that  he  willingly  contemplates  dying  in  his  sins. 
Usually  there  is  simply  a  question  of  temporizing :  he  will  accept 
God's  grace  some  time,  but  not  to-day.  Now  in  such  a  case  the 
practice  of  prayer  is  invaluable.  When  the  sinner  prays  he  exer- 
cises faith  and  hope,  to  say  the  least ;  and  all  this  is  a  direct  dispo- 
sition toward  penitence  and  charity. 

Disciple.  I  suppose,  then,  you  would  extend  the  duty  of 
praying  to  all  that  great  number  of  people  who  have  little  more 
than  the  light  of  nature  to  guide  them,  and  who  profess  no  religion 
at  all. 

TeacJier.  Yes ;  and  to  bring  back  the  question  to  that  from 
which  we  started — to  our  Apostleship  of  Prayer — I  can  give  you 
some  instances.  An  unbaptized  person  came  to  me  not  long 


THE  MORNING   OFFERING.  141 

since  with  one  of  the  cards  of  the  Apostleship  in  his  hand.  He 
was  greatly  struck  by  the  very  idea  of  such  a  vast  Association  of 
people  praying  to  God  for  the  same  things.  He  asked  whether  he 
could  not  join  in  with  the  others  and  have  his  own  needs  and 
intentions  recommended.  Of  course,  I  could  not  say  to  him  that 
he  could  share  in  the  privileges  of  the  others ;  for,  not  being  a 
Christian,  he  was  evidently  incapable  of  the  Communion  of  Saints. 
But  I  did  advise  him  to  begin  the  practice  of  the  Morning  Offer- 
ing, and  promised  to  recommend  his  intentions  along  with  the 
others.  I  believe  that  where  a  man  will  not  do  much  for 
God,  he  should  be  encouraged  to  do  a  little.  That  little,  with 
God's  grace,  may  grow  until  it  reaches  the  friendship  of  God : 
and  this  is  the  aim  of  all  our  labor.  I  cannot  bear  to  shut  the 
door  of  God's  grace  to  the  sinner  because  he  will  not,  here  and 
now  and  at  once,  come  forward  to  enter  it. 

Disciple.  I  hope  that  is  not  lax  teaching,  for  it  certainly 
seems  greatly  needed  in  our  time.  I  am  constantly  running  across 
people  who  have  given  up  all  practice  of  religion.  The  result  is 
that  except  for  some  very  serious  event,  as  at  the  death  of  a  friend 
or  in  the  case  of  some  misfortune,  they  never  pay  the  slightest 
attention  to  God.  I  do  not  quite  see  how  God's  mercy  is  likely 
to  reach  them.  There  is  nothing  in  them  for  Him  to  lay  hold  on. 
He  would  have  to  work  a  downright  miracle  in  order  to  bring 
them  back  to  Himself. 

leacher.  Oh,  for  that  matter,  the  turning  of  a  man  from  a 
state  of  sin  to  penitence  and  grace  is  always  a  kind  of  miracle  : 
that  is,  only  the  grace  of  God  can  do  it.  But  we  must  remember 
that  this  grace  is  always  ready,  even  for  the  worst  sinner  in  the 
world.  It  was  the  greatest  sin  of  Judas  that  he  despaired  and  put 
himself  out  of  the  reach  of  God's  grace  by  taking  his  own  life. 
God  could  have  pardoned  him  the  betrayal  of  His  own  Divine 
Son  ;  but  even  God  cannot  create  a  free  will  which  at  the  same 
time  shall  not  be  free.  This  is  the  true  secret  of  all  impenitence. 
It  is  not  because  God  has  not  offered  the  grace,  but  because  the 
man  has  freely  refused  it  even  unto  the  end. 


THE    READER. 

* 

With  the  Lenten  season  our  Mother  the  Church  opens  before 
us  the  fair  book  of  the  Passion  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour.  All  the 
year  round  the  simple  Catholic  faithful  read  therein,  and  are  com- 
forted in  their  disappointments  and  sorrows.  But  with  Lent, 
which  is  the  old  Saxon  word  for  the  springtime,  the  Church  calls 
us  to  walk  together  along  the  royal  road  of  the  holy  Cross. 
Weekly  in  all  her  temples  the  sweet  solemn  procession  takes  place 
from  station  to  station  of  the  Way  of  the  Cross.  All  the  voices 
are  lifted  up  to  Mary  Mother  of  Jesus  Crucified : 

Holy  Mother,  pierce  me  through, 

In  my  heart  each  wound  renew 

Of  my  Saviour  crucified. 

*  * 

Sometimes  a  stranger  to  the  Faith  timidly  enters  the  door 
through  which  the  heavenly  harmony  sounds  beyond  the  church's 
walls  and  into  the  profane  street.  He  looks  curiously  around, 
only  half-understanding.  The  loving  words  of  prayer  read  out 
for  each  successive  mystery  of  the  Divine  suffering  move  him 
strangely.  Is  not  his  own  life  a  solemn  journey  ever  lengthening 
out,  wherein  are  mysteries  of  suffering  ? 

Along  with  the  touching  prayers  follow  the  homely  practices 
of  devotion  which  to  his  beclouded  understanding  seem  minutious, 
unbecoming,  even  grotesque.  So  he  goes  away,  perhaps  to  come 
back  again  and  again  until  clearer  light  dawns  upon  his  soul, 
perhaps  to  drift  away  forevermore  into  the  darkness.  He  has  had 
but  a  glimpse  of  the  heart-filling  religion  of  Him  Who  has  trans- 
formed the  world  by  His  sufferings  and  death.  Will  he  remem- 
ber afterward  that  to  Catholics  Christ  is  not  a  mere  ideal  to 
bolster  up  some  theory,  nor  Jesus  a  name  to  be  bandied  about 
irreverently  in  the  mouths  of  men  that  say  unto  their  fellows — 

"I  am  holier  than  thou"? 

*  *  * 

No,  the  "  mighty  Mother,"  the  Catholic  Church,  the  Church 
of  Rome  which  alone  is  universal,  acknowledges  all  to  be  her 

142 


THE  READER.  143 

children — the  publican  and  the  sinner  quite  as  well  as  those  who 
seem  to  be  the  salt  of  the  earth.  And  she  does  this  in  the  name 
of  the  Good  Shepherd  Who  trod  the  way  of  the  Cross  with  bleed- 
ing feet,  that  He  might  seek  and  save  the  sheep  that  were  lost. 
She  is  a  mighty  Mother,  gracious,  strong,  faithful  in  life  and  in 
death ;  and  these  devotions  are  but  the  least  of  her  many  ways  for 
binding  her  children  fast  to  her  in  the  faith  and  hope  and  love  of 
Christ.  Yet  in  all  and  through  all,  it  is  the  Christ  Himself, 
Jesus  the  Son  of  the  Living  God,  Whom  she  brings  before  us. 
Visibly  He  is  gone  from  us;  but  she  stands  visibly  before  us 
clothed  in  widow's  weeds. 

"  Why,  O  my  Mother,  dost  thou  wear  the  garb  of  mourn- 
ing ?" 

And'  the  sinner,  still  sore  from  his  grievous  sin,  and  the  saint 
in  whom  divine  love  stirs  strange  questionings  about  this  unhappy 
world,  and  the  unbeliever  himself  if  he  will  but  look  attentively 
upon  her,  see  behind  her  and  above  her,  rising  high  as  the  heavens 
the  awful  presence  of  the  Crucified  One. 

*  *  *  * 

O  Face  of  agony,  from  whose  mercy  no  sin  can  debar  the 
penitent  heart !  O  outstretched  Arms,  from  whose  embrace  of  love 
not  Judas  himself  had  been  excluded,  had  he  not  so  willed  it  in 
his  despair  !  O  wounded  Hands  that  beckon,  O  bruised  Feet  that 
point  the  way!  O  pierced  Heart,  with  Thy  charity  infinite  as 
Thy  Divinity,  draw  unto  Thyself  all  souls,  for  all  do  sorely  need 
Thee ;  with  Thy  strength  in  the  midst  of  suffering,  stay  their 
weary  feet  amidst  the  sorrows  of  this  life ;  with  Thy  flames  of 
zeal,  enkindle  in  all  Thy  faithful  servants  the.  desire  to  bring 
souls  to  Thee,  true  Lover  of  souls,  even  though  they  must  sacrifice 
themselves  with  Thee  on  Calvary,  where  Thy  Mother  stands  beside 
Thy  Cross. 

Holy  Mother,  pierce  me  through, 

In  my  heart  each  wound  renew 
Of  my  Saviour  crucified. 

In  spite  of  the  power  and  sweetness  of  Catholic  devotions, 
perhaps  many  of  us — because  "the  world  is  too  much  with  us" — 
do  not  rate  them  at  their  true  value.  Controversy  is  good,  pro- 
vided it  is  divine  enough  to  bring  about  conversion — which  is  not 


144  THE  READER. 

always  the  case.  Organizations  humanly  planned  out  for  the 
reform  or  betterment  of  Catholics  are  also  good,  and  may  easily 
have  the  grace  of  God  attached  to  them.  And  the  Holy  Mass  and 
the  ringing  of  church  bells,  and  the  duty  of  observing  the  Ten 
Commandments  go  on  always.  Still,  there  is  always  the  room 
and  always  the  need  for  devotions  in  private  and  in  common. 
One  of  the  most  grievous  attacks  made  on  Christian  Faith  at  the 
time  of  the  so-called  Reformation  was  that  on  the  devotions  of  the 
faithful ;  and  as  such  it  was  recognized  by  the  Council  of  Trent. 
Perhaps  in  our  own  day  the  Faith  would  spread  more  rapidly 
among  those  who  live  and  die  unbaptized  in  the  shadow  of  our 
churches,  if  Catholics  would  breathe  in  more  constantly  this  air  of 
devotion.  Perhaps  the  hope  of  the  future  is  here. 

A  great  part  of  the  "  printing  work  "  of  the  MESSENGER  has 
been  to  spread  abroad  little  ways  and  means  of  just  such  devotions. 
Here  and  now,  it  is  proper  for  us  to  speak  again  of  the  booklet 
on  The  Holy  Hour, — one  of  the  three  practices  asked  by  our  Lord 
Himself  of  Blessed  Margaret  Mary ;  viz.,  for  His  sorrowing  love 
to  keep  one  hour  each  week,  one  day  (the  First  Friday)  each 
month,  and  one  day  each  year  as  the  feast  of  His  Sacred  Heart. 

In  this  book  Father  Nonell  says  :  "All  can  console  the  suffer- 
ing Heart  of  Jesus;  first,  all  who  suffer  from  bodily  ailments, 
whatever  they  may  be  ;  secondly,  all  who  have  some  natural  defect 
which  humbles  or  grieves  them ;  thirdly,  all  who  have  to  lament 
the  loss  or  absence  of  one  who  is  most  necessary  or  dear  to  them ; 
fourthly,  all  who  stand  in  need  of  human  aid  or  sympathy,  and 
yet  are  deprived  of  it ;  fifthly,  all  who  are  under  spiritual  trials, 
temptations,  doubts  or  fears  as  to  their  salvation ;  sixthly,  all  who 
suffer  loss  of  their  earthly  estate  or  fortune,  and  have  to  bear 
poverty  ;  seventhly,  such  as  are  victims  of  dishonor,  calumny, 
insult,  or  loss  of  reputation ;  or,  in  a  word,  all  who,  whether  will- 
ingly or  unwillingly,  have  to  suffer.  But  to  those  who  call  them- 
selves lovers  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  especially  those  who  form  part 
of  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer,  this  office  of  Consoler  particularly 
belongs." 


GENERAL   INTENTION 

FOR  FEBRUARY,    1891. 

Designated  by  His  Holiness,  Leo  XIII. ,  with  his  special  blessing,  and  given  to  His 
Eminence  the  Cardinal  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda — the  Protector  of  the 
League  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  called  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer— for  recom- 
mendation to  the  prayers  of  the  Associates. 

FIRMNESS   OF   FAITH. 

WHEN  the  Holy  Father  summons  us  to  pray  for  firmness 
of  faith,  it   may  be  worth  our  while  to  call  to    mind 
what  a  very  important  part  faith  plays  in  the  ordinary 
affairs  of  human  life. 

In  its  broad  outlines  it  means  information  taken  on  trust. 
Thus  we  trust  our  baker  for  the  freedom  of  our  bread  from 
poison;  we  trust  our  grocer  that  our  coffee  has  not  been  adulter- 
ated; we  trust  our  newspaper  that  the  stock  quotations  are  not 
misleading.  In  general,  we  take  upon  trust,  partly  as  a  con- 
venience and  partly  as  a  necessity,  very  many  things  which  we 
have  not  the  time  nor,  perhaps,  even  the  ability  to  investigate  by 
ourselves.  In  this  way  faith — mere  human  faith — conies  to  be  a 
very  common  method  of  information  to  man  about  the  common 
details  of  life. 


When  we  pass  from  the  realm  ot  the  visible  and  strive  to 
glean  some  knowledge  of  the  invisible  world,  then  faith  becomes 
the  only  source  of  information.  We  cannot  enter  in  or  investi- 
gate. We  are  even  overwhelmed  by  the  consciousness  of  our  own 
inability ;  and  the  utmost  that  we  can  achieve  is  to  insist  upon  a 
thorough  scrutiny  of  the  claims  of  any  one  who  professes  to  offer 
us  knowledge  of  the  world  beyond  our  senses.  That  brings  us, 
in  a  certain  way,  face  to  face  with  God  Himself.  For,  if  He  does 
not  speak,  as  of  old  He  spoke  in  the  lightnings  and  the  thunder 
of  Sinai,  He  gives,  at  least,  the  commission  to  one  who  can  speak 

145 


146  GENERAL  INTENTION. 

in  His  name  and  with  His  authority,  thereby  demanding  of  us  a 
reverent  obedience  to  His  authority  and  a  submissive  acceptance 
of  His  teaching.  And  it  was  in  this  way  that  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  sought  for  and  won  the  faith  of  mankind  in  the  doctrines 
which  He  proposed  to  them.  He  claimed  to  be  the  Son  of  God, 
and  He  established  the  justness  of  that  claim  by  His  numerous 
miracles  and  works  of  divine  power.  Those  who  heard  Him 
heard  God  the  Father  Who  had  sent  Him;  and  their  faith  rested 
on  the  divine  authority  itself. 

Faith  was  the  very  foundation  of  the  Kingdom  He  had  come 
to  establish — the  Kingdom  of  God  upon  earth.  And  when  He 
deigned  to  exalt  men  to  the  dignity  of  being  His  fellow- workers 
in  the  development  of  that  Kingdom,  faith  was  their  first  equip- 
ment for  the  discharging  of  their  sublime  duty.  It  was  by  firm- 
ness of.  faith  that  they  were  to  stand  bravely  against  all  the 
assaults  of  a  hostile  world  and  be  ready  to  forfeit  their  lives  for 
the  sake  of  a  religion  which  to  the  Jews  was  a  stumbling-block  and 
to  the  Gentiles  folly.  Their  firm  faith  vanquished  the  world: 
that  was  the  path  to  victory  which  had  been  marked  out  for  them 
by  their  Divine  Leader. 

II. 

When  the  solemn  moment  was  drawing  near  in  which  He 
was  to  leave  this  world  and  return  to  the  Father,  He  spoke  very 
instructive  words  to  the  one  whom  He  had  chosen  to  be  His 
visible  representative  upon  earth.  A  man  was  to  rule  the  King- 
dom of  Christ,  to  be  the  guardian  and  expounder  of  His  truth,  to 
teach  in  His  name  and  with  His  authority ;  and  to  that  man  He 
said  :  "  Simon,  Simon,  behold  Satan  hath  desired  you  that  he  may 
sift  you  as  wheat.  But  I  have  prayed  for  thee  that  thy  faith  fail 
not:  and  thou,  being  once  converted,  confirm  thy  brethren."  (St. 
Luke,  xxii.  31,  32.) 

Union  with  Peter  in  his  faith  and  its  profession  is  the  first 
essential  requirement  for  membership  in  the  visible  Kingdom  of 
Jesus  Christ  upon  earth.  It  is,  in  the  ordinary  Providence  of 
God,  the  one  way  of  salvation.  Hence  it  becomes  clear  that  faith 


GENERAL  INTENTION.  147 

is  a  priceless  treasure  bestowed  by  an  all-bountiful  Father  upon 
His  children.  Neither  is  it  less  clear  that  the  precious  gift  is  held 
by  very  unsteady  hands  and  is  always  in  danger  of  being  either 
lost  or  injured. 

The  chief  office  of  faith  being  to  enlighten  the  mind  with 
regard  to  divine  truth,  its  firmness  will  be  shown  in  the  strength 
and  clearness  of  conviction  and  in  the  fixity  of  purpose  to  hold  on 
to  that  truth  in  all  its  purity,  come  what  may.  Wherefore  a  man 
runs  very  dangerous  risks  who  does  not  watch  closely  after  the 
safeguards  of  faith,  or  who  deals  too  lightly  with  things  which  of 
themselves  tend  toward  its  destruction.  Sensuality,  pride,  wil- 
fulness  deal  very  damaging  blows  against  the  spirit  of  faith  :  the 
light  is  obscured,  the  conviction  becomes  infirm,  the  virtue  itself 
languishes.  It  is  corruption  of  the  heart  which  pushes  a  man  to 
that  depth  of  folly  wherein  he  says  :  There  is  no  God. 

Other  serious  dangers  to  the  purity  and  firmness  of  faith 
spring  from  association  with  those  who  either  have  no  faith  or  a 
very  spurious  quality  of  it.  Our  newspapers,  our  current  litera- 
ture, our  political  doctrines  assign  faith  a  very  inferior  position  in 
all  their  aims  and  reckonings.  They  regard  it  as  a  right  or 
privilege  to  be  allowed  to  question,  to  criticize,  to  explain  or  to 
impugn  doctrines  of  faith  with  as  much  freedom  as  might  be  used 
in  regard  to  any  uncertain  information.  The  countless  sects  into 
which  Protestantism  has  been  split  up,  and  their  wide  diversity  of 
views  about  the  fractional  tenets  of  the  Christian  faith  which  they 
have  retained,  make  upon  the  minds  of  many  an  impression  that 
it  is  extremely  hard  to  know  what  to  believe.  Then  the  evil 
tendency  of  fallen  nature  suggests  the  corollary,  that  it  makes 
very  little  difference  what  one  believes. 

It  is  in  an  atmosphere  impregnated  with  such  false  principles 
that  our  lives  are  passing.  Hence  the  great  readiness  to  find 
fault  with  the  teachers  of  religion,  from  the  Pope  down;  to  lay 
down  stern  laws  for  the  Church  in  her  dealing  with  the  affairs  of 
men;  to  stand  aghast  at  the  ignorance  of  Catholic  people  and 
their  supposed  tendency  to  superstition.  As  if,  indeed,  scholar- 
ship and  culture  can  be  substitutes  for  divine  revelation,  or  as  if 


148  GENERAL  INTENTION. 

the  simple  faith  of  one  in  whose  mind  the  light  of  God's  truth  is 
shining  must  necessarily  be  superstition  because  out  of  harmony 
with  the  earth-born  materialism  above  which  it  so'ars  heavenward ! 

in. 

Associates  of  the  League,  pray  for  firmness  of  faith  for  our- 
selves and  for  our  Catholic  brethren.  Clear  and  firm  faith  in 
God  and  in  the  One,  Holy,  Catholic  and  Apostolical  Church  which 
He  founded  upon  earth  to  be  the  ark  of  salvation  for  man,  is  the 
greatest  blessing  we  can  possess.  The  faith  of  the  Patriarchs  and 
Prophets,  of  Apostles  and  Martyrs,  of  Confessors  and  Virgins; 
the  faith  St.  Paul  describes  in  his  grand  eleventh  chapter  to  the 
Hebrews,  which  sounds  like  a  great  triumphant  march  after 
glorious  victory — such  faith  is  to  be  our  model.  We  should  aim 
at  having  a  faith  as  simple  as  the  trust  of  a  child  in  its  mother 
and  as  strong  as  the  loyalty  of  a  hero  to  the  flag  under  which  he 
fights. 

Now  faith  is  the  substance  of  things  to  be  hoped  for,  the  evi- 
dence of  things  that  appear  not. 

But  without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God.  For  he  that 
cometh  to  God,  must  believe  that  He  is,  and  is  a  rewarder  to  them 
that  seek  Him. 

Let  us  run  by  patience  to  the  fight  proposed  to  us,  looking  on 
Jesus  the  Author  and  Finisher  of  faith,  Who  having  joy  set  before 
Him  endured  the  Cross,  despising  the  shame,  and  notv  sitteth  on  the 

right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God. 

Hebrews,  xi.-xii. 

OFFEEING  FOR  THE  INTENTIONS  OF  THE  MONTH. 

O  Jesus,  through  the  Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary,  I  offer 
Thee  all  the  prayers,  work,  and  sufferings  of  this  day  for  all  the 
intentions  of  Thy  Divine  Heart,  in  union  with  the  Holy  Sacrifice 
of  the  Mass,  in  reparation  for  all  sin,  and  for  all  requests  pre- 
sented through  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer :  and  in  particular, 
for  firmness  of  faith  amid  all  temptations,  whether  from  the  life 
around  us  or  from  the  weakness  of  our  own  hearts.  Amen. 


DIRECTOR'S   CORRESPONDENCE. 

IN  answer  to  a  number  of  letters  lately  received  by  the  Head 
Director,  it  seems  necessary  to  state  very  plainly  and  dis- 
tinctly certain  formal  regulations  which  have  been  made 
concerning  the  management  of  the  League  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
called  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer.  These  regulations,  of  course, 
have  for  their  sole  object  to  safeguard  the  work  which  is  done  by 
the  League :  they  were  not  made  for  this  or  that  special  country, 
but  for  the  whole  League  when  it  was  approved  at  Rome. 
Doubtless  it  was  considered  that  without  these  regulations  the 
League  would  be  inefficient  and,  perhaps,  finally  altogether  unable 
to  do  its  work.  They  concern  the  publication  or  issuing  of 
various  documents  and  articles  which  are  made  use  of  in  its 
simple  machinery. 

After  all,  men  cannot  be  united  together  without  some 
exterior  signs  of  their  union.  Also,  the  Church  grants  her 
spiritual  favors  in  connection  with  similar  exterior  signs.  The 
questions  now  before  us  concern  the  Indulgenced  Cross  conferred 
on  the  Promoters  who  are  the  necessary  officers  of  the  League, 
and  the  Indulgenced  Badge,  which  forms  the  special  outward 
mark  and  rallying-sign  of  the  Associates  as  well  as  a  scapular  for 
constant  wear. 

As  to  the  first,  it  is  evident  that  any  number  of  trinkets 
quite  as  pious  in  look  and  far  more  expensive  might  be  manu- 
factured :  but  they  could  never  be  the  Promoters'  Cross.  They 
might  be  diamond  crosses,  and  emblematic  of  all  the  mysteries  of 
religion,  but  they  would  simply  serve  to  no  purpose,  no  matter  by 
whom  made  and  by  whom  conferred,  so  far  as  the  League  of  the 
Sacred  Heart  goes.  The  Promoters'  Cross  is  given  out  with  the 
Diploma  which  confers  on  them  their  office.  This  Diploma  is 
signed  and  the  Cross  given  in  the  name  of  the  Director  General 
of  the  League  throughout  the  world.  The  Director  General  is 
named  by  the  Pope;  and  those  who  sign  documents  in  his  name 
must  be  specially  delegated  by  him  for  that  purpose.  They  are, 

149 


150  DIRECTOR'S  CORRESPONDENCE. 

briefly,  the  Head  Directors  of  the  work  in  the  different  countries, 
and  are  regularly  associated  with  the  publication  of  the  different 
MESSENGERS.  It  is  therefore  idle  to  bring  in  more  ornamental 
diplomas  or  richer  crosses  simply  for  the  sake  of  adornment,  and 
it  is  worse  than  idle  to  pretend  to  associate  these  things  with  the 
League.  The  League  Cross  and  Diploma  do  not  constitute  a 
mere  decoration :  they  signify  a  thing.  And  it  is  evident  that  the 
Indulgences  granted  by  the  Holy  See  are  connected  only  with 
those  which  are  validly  given  out  by  the  authorized  Head 
Directors  of  the  League. 

Second,  as  to  the  Badge — something  which  has  become  dear 
and  sacred  to  millions  of  souls  throughout  the  world — it  is  still 
less  a  decoration.  It  is  very  essential  that  those  who  wish  to 
support  the  work  of  the  League  should  remember  that  the  League 
is  for  all,  for  the  rich  and  poor  alike.  Hence,  whatever  simple, 
outward  means  it  may  use  must  be  of  a  most  democratic — or 
republican,  whichever  you  wish — character :  meaning  that  it  must 
be  within  the  reach  of  all.  For  this  it  must  be  cheap,  stout,  and 
serviceable.  For  the  Irish  soldiers  going  off  to  the  battle  of  Tel- 
el-Kebir  in  Egypt,  silk-faced  and  gold-fringed  badges  were  not 
sewed  in  their  jackets ;  the  common  Badge  of  the  League — which, 
once  again,  is  dearer  to  its  members  than  any  new  invention  can 
be — was  all  they  asked  for.  And  for  those  who  have  any  true 
idea  of  the  spiritual  use  of  such  outward  things  it  is  evident  that 
the  League  has  already  all  that  is  required,  and  needs  nothing 
more  and  nothing  finer.  Besides,  any  other  is  spurious. 

We  ask,  then,  the  good  friends  of  this  work  to  protect  it  as 
far  as  they  can  against  the  mania  for  regalia  and  expensive  deco- 
rations. Once  for  all,  nothing  of  the  kind  I  rlongs  to  the  work 
or  has  been  authorized  for  it.  The  Head  Director  in  the  United 
States  is  as  powerless  in  this  regard  as  the  humblest  Associate. 

Third.  It  may  be  well  to  notice  here  that  the  great  zeal  of 
manufacturers  to  include  all  possible  devices  on  the  articles  they 
sell  has  led  to  the  insertion  of  the  special  motto  of  the  League  on 
very  many  badges  and  scapulars,  which  properly  have  no  right 
to  it.  "  Thy  Kingdom  come !"  is  doubtless  a  prayer  for  all  and 


THE  CENTENARY  OF  ST.  ALOYS1US.  151 

sundry,  and  cannot  be  spread  too  widely;  but  it  has  been  indul- 
genced  by  the  Holy  See  as  the  special  motto  of  the  Associates  of 
the  League.  To  publish  this  Indulgence,  therefore,  on  the  badges 
of  other  associations  is,  unwittingly,  to  put  out  a  false  declaration. 

(The  Roman  Rescripts  explicitly  limit  the  right  of  issuing  whatever  is 
officially  connected  with  the  Holy  League  to  the  Director  General,  and  to  those 
expressly  delegated  by  Mm  to  act  in  his  name, -i.e.,  the  various  Head  Directors. 
This  was  declared  in  1866,  1867,  implicitly  in  the  New  Statutes  of  1879,  and 
explicitly  in  1880,  and  finally  in  the  Letters  Apostolic  of  1886,  declaring  the 
powers  of  the  Director  General.  The  latter  officially  promulgated  this  limita- 
tion, for  the  American  Head  Director  in  1887,  and  with  reference  to  the  Badge 
in  1888  to  Ireland.) 


THE  CENTENARY  OF  ST.  ALOYSIUS. 

FATHER  DE  AUGUSTLNIS,  an  old  Woodstock  friend  of  the 
MESSENGER  and  for  some  years  now  Professor  of  Theology 
in  Rome  writes  from  the  latter  place  concerning  the  prepa-  - 
rations  made  for  the  due  celebration  of  the  300th  anniversary  of 
the  death  of  St.  Aloysius,  Patron  of  Catholic  youth.    The  "General 
Intention  "  of  January  brought  this  model  Saint  before  our  readers. 
We  have  also  given    a  general   notice   o,f  the  Centenary  in  the 
Almanac  for  this  year,  and  we  shall  have  occasion  to  recur  to  it 
again  in  detail.     At  present  we  desire  to  draw  the  attention  of  our 
readers  to  Father  de  Augustinis'  letter  : 

I  congratulate  your  Reverence  on  the  progress  of  the  work  of 
the  Sacred  Heart  in  the  United  States,  and  I  bless  God  for  it.  It 
is  having  wonderful  success  ;  and  your  periodical  really  deserves  it 
in  my  opinion.  I  desire  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  honor  of  your 
MESSENGER  to  lay  before  you  a  thought  which  has  come  to  me. 

You  know  that  in  Italy  as  well  as  in  the  rest  of  Europe  there 
is  a  great  movement  on  foot  to  celebrate  worthily  the  ter-centenary 
of  the  death  of  St.  Aloysius.  The  date  is  the  21st  of  next  June. 
Besides  the  feast  in  the  churches,  exercises  in  schools,  and  the 
like,  there  will  be  pilgrimages  to  Castiglione  and  to  Rome.  Some 
of  them  will  be  national,  for  Italy ;  but  there  will  also  be  inter- 
national pilgrimages.  I  really  think  that  your  MESSENGER  ought 


152  THE  CENTENARY  OF  ST.  ALOYSIUS. 

to  set  to  work  to  promote  as  far  as  it  can  this  honoring  of  St. 
Aloysius  in  the  United  States.  A  special  reason  is  that  St. 
Aloysius  had  unique  relations  with  the  spread  of  the  devotion  to 
the  Sacred  Heart.  You  know  the  words  of  St.  Mary  Magdalen 
of  Pazzi :  they  are  taken  from  her  vision  in  Florence  about  nine 
years  after  the  death  of  St.  Aloysius  and  seventy-three  years  before 
the  first  apparition  of  our  Lord  to  Blessed  Margaret  Mary,  to 
manifest  the  devotion  to  His  Sacred  Heart.  Now  the  Florentine 
Saint  says : 

"Would  that  I  might  go  through  the  whole  world  and 
declare  how  great  a  Saint  is  Aloysius  the  son  of  Ignatius." 

And  then  immediately  she  exclaims : 

"  How  great  was  his  love  while  on  earth.  Wherefore  now 
in  Heaven  he  is  in  possession  of  God  in  the  highest  fulness  of 
love.  As  darts  to  the  Heart  of  the  Eternal  Word  were  his  aspira- 
tions while  in  this  mortal  life,  and  now  that  he  is  in  Heaven,  as 
arrows  that  have  returned,  they  rest  in  his  heart." 

Father  de  Augustinis  next  cites  the  part  directly  taken  by 
St.  Aloysius,  a  century  and  a  half  after  his  death,  in  the  propaga- 
tion of  the  devotion  through  the  Italian  Jesuit  novice,  Nicholas 
Celestini.  This  was  described  in  our  MESSENGER  for  June,  1888. 
We  reprint  it  here,  adding  that  the  renown  of  this  remarkable 
vision  and  miracle  worked  profoundly  in  the  minds  of  both  friends 
and  foes  of  the  devotion"  at  that  time. 

The  Saint  took  an  active  part  from  his  blissful  heaven  in  the 
spread  of  a  devotion  calculated  to  make  men  know  and  love  and 
follow  Jesus  Christ.  It  was  in  the  year  1765  in  the  Jesuit 
novitiate  in  Rome.  The  young  Nicholas  Celestini  lay  at  the 
point  of  death.  He  had  been  during  his  short  religious  life  a 
worthy  imitator  of  the  three  Saints  who  stand  together  as  the 
special  models  of  such  as  he — Aloysius  Gonzaga,  Stanislaus 
Kostka,  John  Berchmans.  An  Italian,  a  Pole,  and  a  Belgian, 
they  represent  how  the  grace  of  the  Church's  Sacraments  brings  to 
all  nations  healing  and  peace. 

The  face  of  the  young  novice  was  already  corpse-like,  his  eyes 
sunken,  and  the  rattling  of  his  breath  announced  the  last  agony. 
The  physician  silently  took  his  departure,  saying — "  In  two  hours 
all  will  be  over." 

Suddenly  the  dying  man  raised  himself  up,  and  fastening  his 


THE  CENTENARY  OF  ST.  ALOYSIUS.  153 

looks  on  a  picture  of  St.  Aloysius  which  was  hung  in  the  room  for 
the  consolation  of  the  sick,  he  cried  out  as  though  to  one  who  had 
entered  by  his  deathbed  : 

"  O  St.  Aloysius,  how  beautiful  thou  art !  My  brother,  how 
beautiful  thou  art !" 

He  fell  back  upon  his  bed.  Then  again  he  rose  up,  and  the 
eager  listeners  heard  him  say — "  Thy  will  be  done  I" 

Then  he  turned  to  them  amazed  and  affrighted,  and  said  to 
them  in  a  resolute  and  strong  voice  :  "I  am  cured  ;  I  will  arise." 

It  was  true  ;  and  he  related,  later  on,  all  that  had  happened. 

"All  the  morning  •  long  I  saw  St.  Aloysius.  Suddenly,  I 
heard  him  ask  me  the  question — very  distinctly  : 

"  e  Which  do  you  wish,  your  health  or  to  die  ?' 

"  I  answered — '  Thy  will  be  done.' 

"  Then  the  loving  Saint  replied  :  '  During  your  illness  you 
have  manifested  no  desire  save  that  of  receiving  the  Holy  Viati- 
cum, and  in  all  else  you  have  desired  only  the  will  of  God. 
Therefore  our  Lord  has  granted  thee,  at  my  prayer,  the  grace  of 
health,  that  thou  mayst  apply  thyself  to  the  acquiring  of  perfec- 
tion, and  during  thy  whole  life  mayst  spread  the  devotion  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus!  This  is  a  devotion  most  pleasing  to 
Heaven.' '; 

The  young  novice  was  faithful  to  his  mission.  The  miracle 
which  had  been  wrought  was  examined  by  order  of  the  Holy  See, 
and  published  with  its  authority.  The  scene  of  the  apparition 
and  its  history  were  engraved  and  spread  throughout  Europe,  and 
powerfully  contributed  to  spread  the  devotion  in  the  midst  of  the 
increasing  coldness  of  those  evil  days  of  revolution  and  anti- 
Christian  violence.  Thus  St.  Aloysius  Gonzaga,  long  after  his 
death,  continued  his  work  as  an  apostle  of  the  Sacred  Heart. 

Long  after,  among  the  papers  of  Father  Ramiere,  the  chief 
founder  of  our  League,  was  found  a  little  picture  of  the  Saint 
leading  young  souls  to  the  Sacred  Heart. 

Father  de  Augustinis  adds  to  this  : 

You  see,  then,  that  the  MESSENGER  has  reason  to  give  special 
honor  to  St.  Aloysius,  and  the  organization  of  the  League  is  well 
adapted  to  secure  good  results  in  promoting  the  celebration  of  the 
Centenary.  And  as  so  many  come  over  to  Europe  for  their  own 
amusement,  perhaps  some  might  come  to  glorify  God  in  His 
youthful  Saint.  All  the  good  people  are  hoping  for  a  great 
renewal  of  virtue,  especially  among  the  young,  on  account  of  this 
Centenarv. 


APOSTLESHIP  (1"&fflBtf>n    NOTICES. 


NEW  APPROBATION. — The  Right  Reverend  Bishop  of  Natchi- 
toches  has  graciously  approved  the  propagation  of  the  League  of 
the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  in  his  diocese. 

RECENT  AGGREGATIONS. — To  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer, 
League  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  (December  12  to  January 
12,  1891). 

(Name  of  diocese  in  italics,  before  parish  or  community  aggregated.) 

Albany,  New  York:  St.  Colman's  Presentation  Convent 
(Presentation  Nuns),  West  Troy. 

Brooklyn,  New  York :  Holy  Name  Church,  Brooklyn ;  St. 
Francis  de  Sales'  Church,  Patchogue. 

Brownsville,  Texas :  Ursuline  Convent,  Laredo. 

Chicago,  Illinois :  St.  Sylvester's  Church,  Chicago. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio :  Holy  Cross  Retreat,  Mt.  Adams. 

Columbus,  Ohio :  St.  Mary's  Church,  Lancaster ;  St.  Rose's 
Church,  New  Lexington. 

Detroit,  Michigan :  St.  Boniface's  Church,  Detroit. 

Grand  Rapids,  Michigan :  St.  Mary's  Church,  East  Saginaw. 

Green  Bay,  Wisconsin :  St.  Casimir's  Church,  Stevens  Point. 

Helena,  Montana :  St.  Labre's  Mission,  Ashland. 

Leavenworth,  Kansas:  St.  Francis  Xavier's  Church,  Bur- 
lington. 

Milwaukee,  Wisconsin :  St.  Rose's  Church,  Racine. 

Natchitoches,  Louisiana :  St.  John  Baptist's  Church,  Cloutier- 
ville. 

Nesqually,  Washington :  Gonzaga  College,  Spokane  Falls. 

Neivark,  New  Jersey :  Seton  Hall  College,  South  Orange. 

154 


APOSTLESHIP  NOTICES.  155 

New  York,  New  York :  Epiphany  Church,  New  York ; 
Immaculate  Conception  Church,  Stapleton ;  Sacred  Heart  Church, 
Mount  Vernon. 

North  Carolina,  North  Carolina:  St.  Mary's  College  (Bene- 
dictine), Belmont. 

Peoria,  Illinois :  St.  Mary's  School,  Peru. 

Providence,  Rhode  Island :  Convent  of  Mercy,  Providence. 

San  Antonio,  Texas :  St.  Mary's  College  (Brothers  of  Mary) ; 
Ursuline  Convent,  San  Antonio. 

St.  Joseph,  Missouri:  Immaculate  Conception  Church  and 
Convent  of  Benedictine  Sisters  of  the  Perpetual  Adoration,  Con- 
ception. 

St.  Louis,  Missouri:  St.  Kevin's  Church,  St.  Louis. 

Vineennes,  Indiana:  St.  Michael's  Churcji,  Madison. 

THE  SODALITY  OF  THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN. 

Diplomas  of  Affiliation,  received  from  the  Prima  Primaria, 
have  been  transmitted  to  the  following  : 

Baltimore,  Maryland:  St.  Aloysius'  Church,  Washington. 

Boston,  Massachusetts:  Immaculate  Conception  Church, 
Boston. 

Chicago,  Illinois :  St.  James'  Church,  Kankakee. 

Concordia,  Kansas :  St.  Boniface's  Church,  Tipton. 

Detroit,  Michigan :  St.  Boniface's  Church,  Detroit. 

Green  Bay,  }Visconsin :  St.  Stephen's  Church,  Stevens  Point. 

New  York,  New  York:  St.  Mary's  Church,  Williamsbridge. 

Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania :  St.  Joseph's  Church,  Philadel- 
phia. 

Providence,  Rhode  Island:  Immaculate  Conception  Church, 
Westerly. 

Springfield,  Massachusetts :  St.  Mary's  Church,  Uxbridge. 

St.  Louis,  Missouri:  Our  Lady  of  Good  Counsel  School 
(Sisters  of  St.  Joseph),  St.  Louis. 


156  APOSTLESHIP  NOTICES. 

THE  SACRED  HEART  MISSION,  INDIAN  TERRITORY. 

[This  extract  is  from  The  Indian  Advocate,  a  quarterly  review  published  by 
the  Benedictine  Fathers  in  the  interests  of  the  Indian  Missions.  ] 

The  League  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  was  organized  at 
the  Sacred  Heart  Mission  by  Rev.  Father  Thomas,  Sunday,  October 
24.  His  Reverence  distributed  the  Badges  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
after  Vespers,  to  the  newly-received  members,  all  of  whom  were 
students  of  the  Sacred  Heart  College.  This  is  only  a  beginning ; 
the  girls  of  the  Sisters'  Convent  will  no  doubt  follow  the  noble 
example  of  the  boys.  The  Indian  children  take  pride  in  wearing 
openly  this  Badge  of  the  Holy  League,  and  every  morning,  at  the 
beginning  of  Mass,  they  recite  together  the  beautiful  Morning 
Offering.  We  hope  that  in  a  short  time  this  devotion  may  spread 
throughout  the  Prefecture,  and  that  the  fire  which  Jesus  came  on 
earth  to  kindle  may  soon  burn  deep  in  every  Catholic  heart. 

THE  TREASURY  OF  THE  SACRED  HEART. 

Associated  can  gain  100  days'  Indulgence  for  each  action  offered  for  the 
Intentions  of  the  League. 

Offerings  for  the  Intentions  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  received  from  December  12,  1890, 
to  January  12,  1891. 

No.  OF  TIMES.  No.  OF  TIMES. 

1.  Acts  of  Charity  .            .  164,620  11.  Masses  Heard     ....  117,637 

2.  Beads 208,959  12.  Mortifications    ....  223,533 

3.  Stations  of  the  Cross     .  45,215  13.  Works  of  Charity     .    .  74,334 

4.  Holy  Communions    .    .  68,417  14.  Works  of  Zeal  ....  35,126 

5.  Spiritual  Communions  .  203,650  15.  Prayers 1,515,349 

6.  Examens  of  Conscience  119,617  16.  Charitable  Conversation  14,529 

7.  Hours  of  Labor  ....  656,599  17.  Sufferings  or  Afflictions  25,073 

8.  Hours  of  Silence    .    .    .  444,832  18.  Self-Conquest     ....  65,913 

9.  Pious  Reading    ....  171,954  19.  Visits  to  B.  Sacrament  107,994 
10.  Masses  Celebrated     .    .  626  20.  Various  Good.  Works   .  109,388 

Total 4,373,365 

The  above  returns  represent  five  hundred  and  fifty-two  Centres. 


COMf  TOMC«ALLYOU  THAT  LABOURoANO  ARE  BURDENED 


IN  THANKSGIVING   FOR  GRACES   OBTAINED. 

TOTAL  NUMBER  OF  THANKSGIVINGS  FOE  LAST  MONTH,  94,415. 

That  for  this  gift  obtained  for  us,  by  means  of  many  persons,  thanks  may  be 

given  by  many  in  our  behalf  (II.  Corinthians,  i.  11). 

BUFFALO,  N.  Y.,  DECEMBER  12. — I  wish  to  thank  the 
Sacred  Heart  for  the  reform  of  my  nephew  who  had  been  addicted 
for  three  or  more  years  to  intemperance.  Also  for  his  return  to 
the  practice  of  his  religious  duties  after  the  same  number  of  years. 

NEWBURGH,  N.  Y.,  DECEMBER  13. — A  Promoter  returns 
fervent  thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  for  the  restoration  to 
health  of  her  brother  who  had  been  in  ill  health  for  a  number  of 
years.  In  November  he  was  recommended  to  the  prayers  of  the 
Holy  League,  and  is  now  in  perfect  health. 

FLORENCE,  ALA.,  DECEMBER  15. — Please  return  sincere 
thanks  for  prayers  answered. 

FREDONIA,  N.  Y.,  DECEMBER  16. — I  wish  to  return  thanks 
to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  improvement  in  health,  the  reformation  of 
a  brother  from  drinking,  and  assistance  in  temporal  affairs. 

NEW  YORK,  DECEMBER  17. — A  year  ago  I  was  asked  to 
petition  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  conversion  of  one  who  had  not 
practised  his  religion  for  over  forty-five  years.  Thanks  to  the 
Sacred  Heart,  he  received  the  last  Sacraments  three  weeks  pre- 
vious to  his  death. 

MOORELAND,  LA.,  DECEMBER  19. — God  has  most  mercifully 
heard  my  prayers. 


157 


158  IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES   OBTAINED. 

SYRACUSE,  N.  Y.,  DECEMBER  21. — Thanks  for  the  conver- 
sion of  my  brother,  who  had  been  very  negligent  about  his 
religious  duties  and  who  gave  his  whole  time  to  the  world. 

CLEVELAND,  O.,  DECEMBER  25. — Thanks  in  the  MESSENGER 
for  two  situations  obtained,  in  spite  of  many  difficulties. 

CHICAGO,  DECEMBER  26. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of 
Jesus  for  recovery  from  a  very  serious  illness,  and  also  for  a  tem- 
poral favor  granted. 

ODANAH,  Wis.,  DECEMBER  27. — Two  children  offer  thanks 
to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  return  to  the  Sacraments  of  their 
father  who  had  neglected  them  for  eighteen  years,  being  a  Free- 
mason and  a  constant  drinker  for  many  years.  The  children  recom- 
mended him  several  times  to  the  prayers  of  the  League,  and  since 
last  September  he  has  not  tasted  a  drop  of  liquor.  On  Christmas 
Day  he  received  holy  Communion  with  their  mother,  who  had  not 
lived  with  him  for  the  last  eleven  months. 

ST.  Louis,  Mo.,  DECEMBER  27. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  for  the  conversion  of  the  father  of  a  family  who  was 
addicted  to  intemperance ;  he  has  given  up  drink,  and  has  entirely 
reformed.  Also,  for  the  conversion  of  a  young  man,  who  had 
given  up  the  practice  of  his  religion,  and  was  leading  a  scandalous 
life.  His  case  seemed  desperate,  but  thanks  to  the  prayers  of  the 
League,  he  attended  the  mission  given  in  his  parish  and  took  the 
pledge. 

NEW  YORK,  DECEMBER  27. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for 
the  conversion  of  a  young  lady.  She  had  been  recommended  every 
month  for  nearly  two  years.  For  the  continued  good  feeling 
between  parties  who  were  at  variance.  For  the  success  of  a  class 
at  an  examination.  For  means  to  build  a  church. 

KANSAS  CITY,  Mo.,  DECEMBER  29. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  for  the  happy  death  of  my  husband,  who  was  converted  on 
his  death-bed. 

WEST  HOBOKEN,  DECEMBER  30. — A  religious  offers  special 
thanksgiving  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  speedy  recovery  of  a 
fellow-religious.  The  latter  had  received  the  last  Sacraments. 
A  brother-religious  recommended  him  to  the  Sacred  Heart, 


IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES  OBTAINED.  159 

promising  to  offer  public  thanks — through  the  MESSENGER — if 
he  should  be  restored.  In  a  few  days  the  crisis  had  passed  and 
he  is  now  able  to  go  about. 

NEW  YORK,  DECEMBER  31. — Thanks  for  the  conversion  of 
a  man  after  a  life  of  dissipation  lasting  forty  years. 

KANSAS  CITY,  Mo.,  JANUARY  1. — Most  fervent  thanks  to 
the  Sacred  Heart  for  an  almost  hopeless  favor  asked  through  the 
kind  intercession  of  Blessed  Margaret  Mary.  I  commenced  a 
novena  to  her,  and  on  the  eighth  day  my  prayers  were  granted. 

SOUTH  BEND,  IND.,  JANUARY  1. — Thanks  are  returned  for 
five  favors  granted  through  the  prayers  of  the  League. 

NEW  YORK,  JANUARY  5. — Thanks  are  returned  for  the  con- 
version of  a  man  who  had  not  been  to  confession  in  twenty  years. 
The  prayers  of  the  League  were  asked  one  month.  He  has 
received  the  Sacraments  and  is  very  attentive  to  all  his  religious 
duties,  particularly  in  attending  Mass.  Also  for  the  conversion  of 
a  friend  to  the  faith,  recommended  to  the  prayers  of  the  League  for 
fifteen  months ;  she  has  joined  the  League,  is  a  fervent  Catholic, 
and  owes  all  to  the  Sacred  Heart ;  for  many  spiritual  and  temporal 
blessings  received  through  the  prayers  of  the  League ;  for  an 
Associate  who  had  not  been  to  the  Sacraments  in  almost  three  years 
but  has  at  last  gone  to  confession. 

JEFFERSON,  S.  DAK.,  JANUARY  6. — A  young  lady  returns 
sincere  thanks  for  the  curing  of  her  eyes  which  were  seriously 
attacked. 

WILKES-BARRE,  PA.,  JANUARY  6. — I  beg  you  to  give 
sincere  thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  return  of  a  father  to 
temperance.  He  has  taken  the  pledge  and  is  now  a  sober  man. 

ST.  JOSEPH,  Mo.,  JANUARY  8. — Thanks  for  two  temporal 
favors  received  in  November.  I  had  to  meet  two  debts,  and  I 
asked  the  Sacred  Heart  to  lend  the  money  to  me  through  another 
party,  and  I  got  the  money  without  delay  and  met  the  debts  the 
day  they  came  due. 

PHILADELPHIA,  JANUARY  9. — Thanks  for  a  situation 
obtained ;  the  request  was  sent  but  two  weeks  ago  and  the  young 
man  procured  an  excellent  position  on  the  7th  inst. 


16O  IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES  OBTAINED. 

BOSTON,  JANUARY  10. — A  Promoter  returns  her  grateful 
thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  and  the  Immaculate  Heart  of 
His  divine  Mother  for  a  temporal  and  spiritual  favor  unexpectedly 
granted  her. 

FREDERICK,  MD.,  JANUARY  11. — Thanks  are  returned  for  a 
very  special  grace  obtained  eight  hours  after  it  was  placed  on  the 
Blank,  with  a  promise  to  insert  it  in  the  MESSENGER  if  granted. 

NEW  YORK,  JANUARY  11. — Thanks  are  most  gratefully 
returned  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  baptism  and  reception  into 
the  Church  of  a  lady  and  her  four  children.  Her  husband,  who 
abandoned  the  faith  when  he  married,  has  had  the  grace  to  repent 
and  return  to  the  practice  of  all  his  religious  duties.  Thanks  are 
returned  for  a  temporal  favor  recommended  since  last  June. 

NEW  YORK,  JANUARY  12. — Thanks  are  returned  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  for  a  special  fulfilment  of  the  promise :  "  I  will  give 
peace  in  their  families." 

WORCESTER,  MASS.,  JANUARY  12. — A  Promoter  returns 
thanks  for  a  sister  who  had  been  blind.  At  present  the  doctor 
has  every  hope  of  her  entire  recovery. 

FORDHAM,  N.  Y.,  JANUARY  12. — Please  return  thanks  to 
the  Sacred  Heart  for  a  remarkable  conversion  of  one  (recom- 
mended in  the  MESSENGER  some  time  last  August)  who  had  for 
the  space  of  seven  or  eight  years  given  up  all  the  practices  of 
religion,  even  doubting  the  articles  of  our  holy  faith,  but 
through  the  great  goodness  and  mercy  of  the  Sacred  Heart  is 
now  again  reconciled  to  God. 

VARIOUS  CENTRES. — Thanks  to  the  Divine  Heart  for  send- 
ing me  money  to  pay  some  pressing  debts. — Thanks  for  assistance 
in  a  business  matter. — Thanks  for  recovery  from  illness.  Also, 
for  the  return  of  my  mother  to  her  religious  duties  after  neglect- 
ing them  for  eight  years.  She  was  recommended  to  the  League 
two  months  ago. — A  poor  widow  returns  sincere  thanks  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  for  winning  a  lawsuit  which  would  have  deprived 
her  of  the  only  means  of  support. — A  Promoter  wishes  to  return 
thanks  for  a  temporal  favor  granted. 


(Design  from  the  Studio  of  Gajfliardi,  Rome.) 


THE  MESSENGER 


SACRED  HEART  OF  JESUS 

VOL.  VI  (xxvi).  MARCH,  1891.  No.  3 


AN  AUBADE  FOR  THE  ANNUNCIATION. 

By  Maurice  Francis  Egan. 


HE  crocus  waits  a  touch  of  sun, 

The  hyacinth  has  no  curled  bells, 
The  winds'  wild  races  are  not  done, 

And  no  spring  bird  his  story  tells  : 
The  violets  and  .the  dogwood  fair 

No  purple  cups  or  clusters  show — 
The  winter's  rime  is  in  the  air, 

And  see  there  is  a  gust  of  snow  ! 

And  yet,  wild  March,  we  love  thee  well, 

For  thou  art  first  of  all  the  year 
To  greet  our  Lady,  and  we  know 

Thy  message  casteth  out  all  fear  : 
No  cherry  blossom  in  the  May, 

No  crimson  rose  in  heart  of  June, 
No  woodbine  on  an  August  day 

Is  sweeter  than  the  March,  winds'  rune. 


Copyright,  1891,  by  Rev.  R.  S.  Dewey,  S.  J.    All  rights  reserved.] 


161 


162  THE  MONKS  AND    THE  ROMAN  FEVER. 

Upon  thy  winds  came  Gabriel, 

Beneath  thy  sky  our  Lady  heard 
The  Voice  that  on  her  rapt  heart  fell 

And  spoke  the  message  of  the  Word : 
Ah,  not  September's  tendriled  grape, 

Nor  sunsets  on  October  eves 
Compare  with  March's  gusts  that  make 

A  whirlwind  with  last  Autumn's  leaves. 

Like  sun  upon  the  crocus  bed 

Which  make  the  brown  bulbs  spring  to  it, 
Like  breezes  to  the  tulips  red 

Which  make  their  great  bells  ring  to  it, 
The  lilies,  in  our  Lady's  heart, 

Of  faith  and  love  and  purity 
From  tenderest  buds  to  sweet  blooms  dart : 

And  so,  dear  March,  good  morn  to  thee ! 


THE  MONKS  AND  THE  ROMAN  FEVER. 

IT  was  the  last  day  of  August,  and  the  sun  was  blaz- 
ing in  the  Roman  heavens.  In  fact,  this  and 
September  are  the  worst  months  for  the  Roman 
fever.  I  had  been  staying  through  the  hot  season 
in  the  city,  and  now  my  last  day  had  come.  I 
had  not  yet  seen  what  I  much  desired  to  visit — 
the  establishment  of  the  Trappist  monks  where  Pius  IX.,  so  public- 
spirited  in  all  his  works,  had  placed  them  to  combat  the  dreaded 
malaria  by  their  careful  cultivation  of  the  ground  and  the  planting 
of  the  eucalyptus  tree.  I  had  only  the  afternoon  left  for  my 
visit;  and  with  the  parting  words  of  my  friends  not  to  be  caught 
at  twilight,  when  men  and  beasts — everyone  except  the  poor — 
hasten  cityward  for  protection,  I  drove  out  through  the  Porta  San 
Paolo. 


THE  MONKS  AND    THE  ROMAN  FEVER. 


163 


Just  before  reaching  the  gate  there  is  the  curious  pyramid  of 
Cestius,  a  Roman  of  the  days  of  Cicero.  It  is  built  in  rubble  on  a 
square  foundation  of  travertine,  like  most  of  the  massive  Roman 
monuments,  with  a  casing  of  white  marble.  The  city  walls  of  the 
time  of  the  Empire  have  been  run  up  against  it ;  but  it  still  stands 
out  boldly  to  tell  the  vanity  of  the  rich  Roman  who  erected  it  for 
his  monument.  It  is  no  inconsiderable  gravestone,  for  it  measures 
97  feet  on  each  side  at  the  base  and  rises  to  the  height  of  120  feet. 


THE  PYRAMID  OF  CESTIUS. 


The  worn  and  rough  turrets  of  the  gate  shimmered  in  the  fiery 
sun.  Just  beyond,  there  is  a  more  curious  monument  still  by  the 
roadside.  It  is  a  high  hill  surmounted  by  a  cross.  What  is 
extraordinary  about  it  is  that  it  is  entirely  made  up  of  broken 
pieces  of  pottery.  No  one  knows  whether  this  was  the  result  of 
long  agglomeration  from  the  city,  where  pottery  must  have  been 
in  daily  breakage ;  or  whether  it  came  from  the  factories  near  at 
hand;  or,  as  some  have  suggested,  from  the  ruins  left  after  Nero 


164  THE  MONKS  AND   THE  ROMAN  FEVER. 

had  burned  Rome.  Books  have  been  written  about  this  Monte 
Testaccio ;  perhaps  it  is  no  more  trivial  a  subject  than  many  another 
on  which  wise-looking  books  are  published.  The  Catholic  will 
look  with  more  interest  to  the  vineyard  on  the  right.  There  the 
noble  St.  Frances  of  Rome  devoted  herself  to  the  poor.  That  she 
might  aid  them  the  better  she  used  to  come,  clad  in  a  coarse  woollen 
garment,  to  cut  fagots  which  she  brought  away  to  the  houses  of 
her  clients  on  her  head. 

The  road  now  leads  straight  onward  for  a  mile  and  more. 
A  low  range  of  hills  runs  off  toward  the  sea  on  the  eastern  side, 
and  to  the  west  the  meadows  gradually  widen  toward  the  Tiber. 
In  front  of  us  is  the  great  Basilica  of  St.  Paul-without-the- Walls. 
The  outside  is  rude  and  bare,  in  spite  of  its  mere  impressiveness 
of  size ;  but  every  visitor  to  Rome  must  remember  the  glory  of 
polished  marble  and  brilliant  mosaic  that  shines  upon  him  as  he 
enters  the  portal.  On  the  ordinary  traveller  I  doubt  if  St.  Peter's 
itself  makes  quite  so  strong  an  impression.  This  Basilica,  which 
was  restored  in  its  present  brilliant  state  after  the  great  fire  at  the 
beginning  of  the  century,  is  attached  to  the  old  monastery  dating 
from  the  early  Middle  Ages.  But  the  monks  here  do  not  remain 
through  this  dangerous  season,  when  the  chill  dews  of  night  bring 
up  from  the  ground  the  fatal  seeds  of  fever.  It  is  one  of  those 
places  of  which  the  Roman  says,  "  There  is  a  fever  in  every  drop 
of  water." 

The  great  Basilica  honors  the  first  burial-place  of  St.  Paul. 
But  the  exact  scene  of  the  martyrdom  is  at  the  Trappist  mona- 
stery to  which  I  was  going.  This  is  on  a  country  road,  narrower 
than  the  great  highway,  and  turning  off  from  it  toward  the  left 
some  little  distance  beyond  the  Basilica.  Good  Mrs.  Jameson  has 
left  a  gloomy  description  of  the  place,  as  she  saw  it  fifty  years  ago. 

In  all  the  melancholy  vicinity  of  Rome  there  is  not  a  more  melancholy 
spot  than  Tre  Fontane.  A  splendid  monastery,  rich  with  all  the  offerings  of 
Christendom,  once  existed  there  :  bnt  the  ravages  of  that  mysterious  scourge  of 
the  Campagna,  the  malaria,  have  rendered  it  a  desert.  Three  ancient  churches 
and  some  ruins  still  exist,  and  a  few  pale  monks  wander  about  the  swampy  con- 
fines of  the  hollow  in  which  they  stand.  In  winter  you  approach  them  through 
a  quagmire ;  in  summer  you  draw  in  the  breath  of  the  pestilential  vicinity. 


166  THE  MONKS  AND   THE  ROMAN  FEYER. 

And  yet  there  is  a  sort  of  dead  beauty  about  the  place,  something  hallowed  as 
well  as  sad,  which  seizes  on  the  fancy. 

As  I  approached,  I  dared  not  only  to  breathe  but  I  found 
that  the  beauty  of  the  place  had  become  alive.  It  is  certainly 
hallowed  ;  I  fear  it  is  still  sad.  I  will  describe  it  for  the  reader 
as  I  found  it. 

It  has  changed  much  since  the  day  of  Mrs.  Jameson,  who  was 
a  sympathetic  art  writer  but  unseeing,  after  the  fashion  of  those 
who  visit  Rome  without  a  knowledge  of  the  Roman  faith. 

It  is  a  modern  road  that  leads  from  the  great  Ostian  Way, 
on  which  the  Basilica  stands,  to  the  Tre  Fontane.  Before  arriving 
at  the  latter  place,  we  reach  an  old  road  with  black  lava  paving- 
stones  along  which  St.  Paul  himself  must  have  passed  to  his  mar- 
tyrdom. It  is  not  the  least  of  the  stirring  recollections  of  the 
place.  Passing  over  the  brow  of  a  hill  we  see  beyond  us  the  tall 
glistening  trunks  of  the  eucalyptus  trees,  planted  in  long  dense 
patches,  to  form  a  forest  safeguard  against  the  malaria.  Its  light 
green  leaves  have  a  dull  gummy  look  which  indicates  their  power 
of  sucking  up  moisture  from  the  earth,  and  there  is  a  faint  aro- 
matic perfume  wafted  from  them  which  is  supposed  to  counteract 
the  perilous  miasma. 

The  churches  and  the  monastery  are  inside  the  great  enclos- 
ure, out  from  the  hill.  The  time-worn  stone  portico  at  the 
entrance  dates  from  the  time  of  Charlemagne,  and  there  are  still 
fragments  of  the  old  frescoes  then  painted  on  its  walls.  It  is  a 
long  way  back  to  Charlemagne ;  but  from  an  inscription  dug  up 
here  a  few  years  since,  it  seems  that  this  was  made  the  property  of 
the  Basilica  by  no  less  ancient  a  Pope  than  St.  Gregory  the  Great. 

It  is  curious  how  few  works  of  recent  scholarship,  even  of 
those  specially  devoted  to  the  Roman  Campagna,  speak  of  this  place. 
It  is  only  De  Rossi  and  the  Christian  archaeologists  who  have 
investigated  it.  It  was  a  place  of  springs  and  known  as  the  Aquae 
Salvise  in  the  time  of  the  holy  matron  Lucina,  who  supplied  bury- 
ing places  for  the  earliest  Christian  martyrs  in  her  various  villas. 
I  have  already  had  occasion  to  say  that  she  has  been  identified  by 
some  with  the  Roman  lady  whose  austere  life  is  described  by  the 


THE  MONKS  AND    THE  ROMAN  FE^ER.  167 

historian  Tacitus.  Her  broad  fields  extended  to  this  part  of  the 
Carnpagna.  After  the  martyrdom  of  St.  Paul,  she  transported  his 
body  to  that  part  of  her  possessions  where  the  Basilica  now  is. 
Afterwards,  it  was  transported  to  the  catacombs  and  finally 
deposited,  with  his  companion  in  martyrdom,  St.  Peter,  in  the  cen- 
tral church  of  the  Christian  world. 

Some  distance  back  along  the  road  we  have  traversed,  a 
modest  chapel  commemorates  the  farewell  of  St.  Peter  and  St. 
Paul  on  their  way  to  martyrdom,  the  former  to  the  Janiculan  Hill 
across  the  Tiber,  the  latter  to  the  Aquse  Salvise.  The  inscriptions 
in  it,  even  if  not  authentic,  agree  with  writings  of  the  earliest  cen- 
turies and  tell  us  what  the  traditional  feeling  of  the  first  Christians 
was  concerning  the  two  great  Apostles : 

In  this  place  Saint  Peter  and  Paul  separated  on  their  way  to  martyrdom. 

And  Paul  said  to  Peter,  "  Peace  be  with  thee,  foundation  of  the  Church, 
Shepherd  of  the  flock  of  Christ." 

And  Peter  said  to  Paul,  "  Go  in  peace,  preacher  of  good  tidings,  and  guide 
of  the  salvation  of  the  just." 

At  the  door  of  the  monastery  the  Trappist  porter  stands 
before  you  like  an  apparition  from  another  world.  His  rough 
reddish-brown  gown,  his  bare  head,  his  complexion  like  transparent 
yellow  marble  telling  plainly  of  the  hardships  of  a  life  led  in 
these  malarious  swamps,  are  enough  to  impress  ffie  most  casual 
visitor.  He  was  like  some  figure  from  the  deserts  of  Egypt 
mummified  in  the  days  of  the  ancient  hermits  and  now  risen  to 
welcome  hither  the  modern  world. 

At  the  left  of  the  entrance  there  is  a  hall  where  visitors  can 
obtain  information,  or  rest  themselves,  or  drink  a  glass  of  the 
eucalyptus  liqueur.  Past  the  shrubbery  to  the  right  there  is  a 
mass  of  rock- work  in  the  form  of  a  grotto,  enclosing  a  representa- 
tion of  one  of  the  most  modern  devotions  of  the  Church.  This  is 
a  group  of  life-size  statues — the  apparition  of  our  Lord  to  the 
Blessed  Margaret  Mary  to  reveal  the  devotion  to  His  Sacred  Heart. 
So  the  new  meets  here  with  the  old,  the  religious  feeling  of  the 
present-day  followers  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  with  the  most 
ancient  Christian  memories.  In  fact,  memories  of  all  ages  from 
the  Apostles  down  may  here  be  gathered. 


THE  MONKS  AND   THE  ROMAN  FEVER.  169 

A  little  over  twenty  years  ago,  the  laborious  monks  desired 
to  improve  the  stone  aqueduct  which  supplies  them  with  water. 
Digging  along  the  hillside  they  found  the  remains  of  an  ancient 
church.  De  Rossi,  who  scents  from  afar  every  vestige  of  Christian 
antiquity,  at  once  began  his  investigations.  By  the  nature  of  the 
architecture  and  by  other  remains  found  here,  it  was  discovered 
that  this  church  dated  from  the  first  centuries.  The  learned 
German,  Tischendorff,  had  published  some  years  previously  one 
of  the  early  accounts  of  the  martyrdom  of  St.  Paul,  which  narrated 
that  his  head  had  been  stricken  from  his  shoulders  at  the  foot  of  a 
great  pine.  During  these  excavations  there  were  also  found  the 
calcined  remains  of  myriads  of  pine-needles. 

Present  travellers  know — and  it  is  about  the  only  thing  of 
which  they  generally  have  taken  pains  to  inform  themselves — that 
the  church  farthest  along  the  hillside  is  built  over  three  springs  of 
water  which  give  its  name  to  the  place — Tre  Fontane.  This 
church  follows  the  slope  of  the  hill,  and  the  springs  are  enclosed 
by  it.  The  principal  one  is  some  feet  higher  up  than  the  second, 
and  the  second  higher  than  the  third ;  and  there  is  a  corresponding 
difference  in  the  temperature  of  the  water.  Now,  it  has  always 
been  said  that  the  head  of  the  Apostle,  when  struck  off  by  the  axe 
of  the  executioner,  bounded  thrice  down  the  hillside ;  and  at  each 
place  where  it  struck  the  ground  there  sprang  up  a  stream  of 
water.  It  is  really  instructive  to  note  that,  in  building  the  earliest 
church  on  this  spot,  not  many  lifetimes  after  the  Apostle  himself, 
care  was  had  to  preserve  sacred  the  position  of  these  three 
springs  which  still  exist.  By  means  of  a  long-handled  dipper  the 
visitor  or  pilgrim  draws  up  through  the  marble  opening  water 
from  these  springs.  It  is  a  pity  that  those  who  are  not  Catholics 
should  see  in  all  this  only  an  amusing,  half-childish  custom,  with- 
out knowing  how  far  back  the  tradition  goes. 

As  I  entered  the  monastery  on  this  day  in  the  heart  of  the 
malarial  season,  three  travellers  came  up  at  the  same  time.  It  was 
very  easy  to  identify  their  nationality  from  the  bad  French  which 
they  were  speaking  to  the  porter,  who  was  himself  a  German. 
They  stared  at  me,  in  my  gown  with  the  mantle  and  broad  hat  of 


17O  THE  MONKS  AND    THE  ROMAN  FEl/ER. 

the  ordinary  Roman  priest,  as  a  part  of  the  curiosities  of  the  place. 
I  could  not  help  addressing  them  in  plain  English.  "  You  are 
Americans,  surely.  Are  you  not  afraid  of  the  malaria  ?  This  is 
considered  a  dangerous  time  to  visit  these  places."  But  fear  does 
not  seem  an  attribute  of  Americans  abroad.  After  assuring  me 
that  they  were  from  Albany,  New  York,  and  that  they  had  been 
"  doing  Rome  "  for  the  last  twelve  days  and  "  had  seen  everything 
worth  seeing,"  they  cheerfully  sipped  their  thimbleful  of  the 
aromatic  eucalyptus  liqueur,  went  hastily  through  the  paths, 
evidently  knowing  nothing  of  the  history  of  the  place  and  inquir- 
ing for  nothing ;  and  then  drove  off  to  reach  Rome  after  twilight ! 
Perhaps  their  manner  of  travelling  explains  the  great  number  of 
graves  with  English  names  to  be  found  in  the  Protestant  Cemetery 
which  we  passed  on  our  way  here. 

The  trees  and  tall  shining-leaved  shrubbery  mass  so  densely 
around  these  antique  buildings  that  you  must  look  back  from 
every  open  space  to  see  well  the  monastery.  On  the  way  back 
from  the  Church  of  Saint  Paul,  which  is  built  over  the  Three 
Springs,  there  is  a  good  view  of  the  long  side-wall.  It  is  the 
side  of  the  cells  of  the  monks,  with  narrow  windows  in  the  dingy 
stone  wall  opening  against  the  fierce  rays  of  the  sun.  By  day 
their  poor  rooms  must  be  like  ovens ;  and  there  must  be  a  sad 
contrast  when  the  dews  of  the  night  throw  a  sudden  chill  over 
the  atmosphere,  even  in  the  midst  of  the  dog-days.  It  is  no 
wonder  the  Roman  fever  abounds  here,  and  I  am  afraid  the  monks 
are  waging  a  losing  war  against  it. 

Theirs  is  a  curious  vocation.  They  are  here  first  of  all  for 
the  purposes  of  their  own  religious  life,  that  is,  for  prayer  and 
penance — for  they  are  purely  contemplative  monks — and  this 
manner  of  life  is  bound  up  with  all  the  holy  recollections  of  the 
spot  through  the  past  centuries.  In  such  a  vocation,  the  very 
keeping  together  of  such  holy  recollections  would  be  a  motive  for 
their  braving  these  dangers.  Their  life,  in  any  case,  can  never 
have  the  fulness  of  earthly  existence.  We  are  not  to  judge  any  of 
their  actions  by  the  ordinary  rules  of  hygiene  and  good  living. 

But  these  inonks  are  here  now  for  yet  another  object,  which 


THE  MONKS  AND    THE  ROMAN  FE1/ER.  171 

seems  scarcely  at  all  religious,  and  yet  is  for  the  greater  good  of 
many.  It  is  a  most  comforting  instance  of  how  the  "mighty 
Mother,"  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  bends  herself  to  the  least 
needs  of  her  children.  Successive  governments  had  given  up  all 
hope  of  reclaiming  this  region  from  its  unhealthy  condition.  Then 
the  last  Pope  who  was  allowed  to  rule  here  called  on  the  devoted- 
ness  of  the  monks.  They  were  to  come  in  numbers,  joining  the 
few  of  their  brethren  who  had  always  guarded  this  holy  place — 
at  least  during  the  winter  season,  for  they  migrated  mostly  to  some 
healthier  monastery  in  the  summer — and  they  were  to  plant  here 
forests  of  the  eucalyptus  tree. 

Devotedness  was  required;  for  it  was  necessary  that  they 
should  reside  here  at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  to  keep  their  fields  in 
cultivation.  Moreover,  it  was  certain  from  the  beginning  that  for 
many  years  little  advance  would  be  made  against  the  subtle 
malaria,  and  that  many  would  come  here  only  to  pray,  labor,  do 
penance,  and  die  prematurely.  It  is  not,  then,  a  vocation  of  direct 
charity  as  in  the  service  of  the  sick  in  hospitals,  nor  has  it  any- 
thing directly  to  do  with  the  evangelizing  of  souls  which  leads 
missionaries  into  the  deserts  of  the  torrid  zone.  But  simply 
because  these  monks  have  given  up  life  already,  they  are  content 
to  devote  whatever  remains  to  them  of  health  and  strength  to  the 
merely  material  well-being  of  the  Roman  peasants.  The  Govern- 
ment, which  has  usurped  the  place  of  the  Popes,  has  been  unwill- 
ing to  dispense  with  the  services  of  the  monks,  whom  elsewhere 
it  universally  persecutes ;  but  on  the  other  hand  it  has  not  had 
the  public  spirit  to  uphold  them  in  their  work.  The  great 
farmers,  who  own  the  neighboring  estates  and  live  far  enough 
away  from  any  influence  of  fever  not  to  suffer  from  it  themselves, 
have  simply  done  nothing  to  help  on  the  sanitary  work  which  was 
entrusted  to  these  monks.  It  is  difficult  to  see  how  work  done  in 
this  one  limited  spot  can  be  of  any  wide  benefit  to  the  country 
around. 

Meanwhile  the  monks  themselves  are  reaping  the  full  benefit 
of  their  devotedness.  They  are  simply  dying  off  in  numbers,  as 
they  were  sure  to  do  under  such  circumstances.  "  Five  died  the 


THE  MONKS  AND    THE  ROMAN  FEVER.  173 

summer  before  my  visit,  and  as  I  entered  the  monastery  the  death- 
bell  was  tolling  for  the  first  one  of  that  year. 

The  monks  are  of  different  nationalities.  A  German  wel- 
comed me  at  the  door,  and  the  majority  are  French ;  but  there  are 
some  from  Italy  and  other  countries.  With  all  the  burden  and 
heat  of  the  day  which  has  been  placed  upon  them  and  with  all  the 
burdens  which  they  have  taken  up  freely  in  their  vocation — 
silence  among  themselves,  seclusion  from  the  busy  world,  ceaseless 
manual  labor  in  the  fields,  the  many  hours  of  prayer  which  they 
snatch  from  the  night-time  or  noon-day  rest — they  have  ever 
before  them  the  grand  inspirations  of  the  place. 

To  go  back  to  the  entrance,  just  in  front  rises  the  first  church 
called  St.  Mary  of  the  Ladder  of  Heaven.  This  is  an  old  founda- 
tion, containing  what  is  perhaps  the  single  monument  left  of  the 
first  Pope  Nicholas  from  the  year  857.  He  had  restored  on  this 
spot  a  still  more  ancient  church,  which  was  then  called  the 
"  Dwelling-place  of  Mary  the  Holy  Mother  of  God."  Its  present 
name  came  to  it  from  the  great  St.  Bernard,  the  chief  propagator 
of  the  Cistercian  monks,  of  whom  the  Trappists  are  a  branch.  He 
was  brought  to  this  place  with  a  community  of  his  monks  of 
Clairvaux  by  Innocent  II.  Perhaps  the  malaria  at  that  time  was 
not  so  deadly.  His  monastery  flourished,  one  of  his  monks 
became  Pope  under  the  name  of  Eugenius  HI.,  and  here  St. 
Bernard — himself  one  of  the  greatest  preachers  since  the  Apostles 
— held  high  communication  with  Heaven.  One  day,  as  he  was 
saying  Mass  in  our  Lady's  church,  he  had  the  well-known  vision 
of  the  holy  souls  which  mount  up  from  purgatory  to  heaven  by 
the  prayers  of  the  faithful  as  by  so  many  steps.  In  memory  of 
this  the  name  "  Ladder  of  Heaven "  was  given  to  the  church 
itself.  The  visitor  may  descend  into  the  crypt  of  this  church 
where,  in  times  of  early  persecution,  St.  Zeno  and  many  other 
martyrs  were  buried. 

Still  further  along  the  hill  is  the  Church  of  Sts.  Vincent  and 
Anastasius.  This  is  not  without  architectural  pretensions.  It  is 
noted  by  Fergusson,  who  has  a  design  of  it  in  his  History  of 
Architecture,  as  being  one  of  the  earliest  deviations  from  the  old 


174 


THE  MONKS  AND   THE  ROMAN  FEl/ER. 


arrangement  of  the  basilica  toward  what  is  now  called  Gothic. 
This  was,  properly,  the  church  of  the  adjoining  monastery.  The 
interior  is  plain  to  excess.  It  may  interest  the  traveller  who  has 
artistic  tastes  to  know  that  the  great  cartoons  of  the  Apostles 
on  the  central  pillars  of  the  nave  are  of  Raphael,  although  his 
guide-books  will  simply  speak  of  them  as  "  common  work  done  in 
a  coarse  manner."  So  perhaps  they  are,  but  they  stand  out  well 
in  the  bare  and  somewhat  rigid  simplicity  of  the  church,  especially 
when  the  light  comes  streaming  through  the  windows  at  the  end. 
Saint  Anastasius,  who  is  buried  here,  was  a  monk  murdered 
in  the  year  626  by  Chosroes,  King  of  Persia.  Hither,  to  do  honor 
to  St.  Paul  and  the  religion  he  preached,  were  brought  monks  and 
martyrs  from  East  and  West.  And  here  their  lineal  successors — 
these  sallow-skinned,  rough-gowned,  haggard  shades  that  flit 
about,  with  lives  consecrated  to  good  in  despite  of  every  maxim 
of  worldly  common  sense,  ke*ep  up  the  tradition  of  the  religion 
of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul. 


FIRST  CHURCH  INSIDE  ENTRANCE. 


MARY'S  HUMILITY   IN  THE  ANNUNCIATION. 
By  Eleanor  C.  Donnelly. 

And  the  Angel  being  come  in,  said  to  her:  Hail  full  of  grace,  the  Lord  is  with  thee. 
Blessed  art  thou  among  women.    And  when  she  had  heard,  she  was  troubled  at  his  saying. 

St.  Luke,  i.  28,  29. 

ROUBLED  at  his  saying — the  deep  peace 

Of  her  pure  soul,  like  some  vast  shining  sea, 

Ruffled,  disturbed  ! — By  what  ? — An  Angel's  praise  ! 
O  rare  and  marvellous  humility  ! 

Ne'er  was  there  woman  like  this  Woman  blest, 
Nor  daughter  like  this  Daughter  of  delight ; 

Yet,  see  her,  by  an  Angel's  laud  distress' d, 
Trembling  upon  Annunciation-night ! 

Trembling  and  sinking  in  the  deep  abyss 

Of  her  own  nothingness — completely  blind 

To  her  own  merits  ! — Is  there  aught  like  this 
In  all  the  storied  lists  of  womankind  ? 

Up  from  the  soundless  depths,  wherein  she  lies, 

Lost  to  all  thought  of  Self — abyssed  in  love — 

Humility's  strong  guardian  ramparts  rise, 

Shutting  out  all  save  God  and  heaven  above  ! 

Come  to  this  gulf  profound,  daughters  of  Eve, 
And  hide  yourselves  in  true  Immility  ! 

Come,  and  from  Mary  troubled  learn  to  grieve 
At  every  breath  of  praise  or  flattery. 

For  he  who  with  such  fare  your  weakness  feeds 

Doth  but  deceive  you  and  destroy  your  way — 

The  way  that  from  the  lowly  valleys  leads 
Up  to  a  glory  that  can  ne'er  decay  ! 

175 


GREGORY'S   SISTER. 
By  L.  W.  Reilly. 

[VERY  one  that  knew  her  in  the  years  gone  by 
spoke  of  her  as  '  Gregory's  Sister.'  To  them  she 
had  no  other  name.  If  they  ever  heard  what  she 
had  been  called  when  she  was  christened,  they  for- 
got it  in  following  the  family  custom  that  identified 
her  by  means  of  her  relationship  to  her  only 

^  brother. 

And,  indeed,  her  life  was  strangely  bound  up  with  his. 

Their  father  was  a  doctor.  He  had  inherited  a  small  patri- 
mony that  consisted  of  a  stony  farm  adjacent  to  a  hamlet  in  Massa- 
chusetts and  a  half  interest  in  the  village  paper.  If  he  had  been 
contented  to  concentrate  his  energies  on  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion, or  on  his  land,  or  on  his  weekly,  he  might  have  had  a  fair 
measure  of  success.  But  often  when  he  was  attending  a  patient, 
his  mind  was  busy  with  his  fancy  fowl ;  and  sometimes  when  he 
should  have  been  tending  his  stock  he  was  composing  verses  for 
"The  Poet's  Corner." 

"  He  is  a  genius,"  said  the  priest  of  the  parish.  But  less 
considerate  critics  declared  :  "  He  is  daft." 

When  his  wife  died — and  she,  poor  thing,  was  a  gentle 
creature,  too  much  like  her  dreamer  of  a  husband  to  rouse  him 
from  his  rainbow  plans — Gregory  was  nine  months  old  and 
Gregory's  Sister  had  entered  her  eleventh  year.  There  were  two 
other  girls  in  the  family,  Stella  and  Agnes,  one  older  and  the  other 
younger  than  Gregory's  Sister,  but  to  her  the  child  clung  when  his 
mother  could  no  longer  care  for  him  and  from  her  no  one  could 
take  him  away. 

"  You  must  be  a  mother  to  him,  my  dear,"  said  the  doctor. 
And  Gregory's  Sister  accepted  the  trust  as  if  she  understood  its 
full  solemnity  and  foresaw  the  self-immolation  that  it  would 
entail. 


176 


GREGORY'S  SISTER.  177 

For  three  years  Gregory's  Sister  was  the  doctor's  housekeeper, 
for  his  eldest  daughter  inherited  his  poetic  temperament  and  had 
no  talent  for  administration.  It  must  have  been  during  that  period 
that  she  lost  her  name  and  had  her  identity  merged,  as  it  were,  into 
the  personality  of  her  brother,  for  it  was  then  that  he  asserted  an 
exclusive  ownership  and  had  his  claim  allowed.  Almost  as  soon 
as  he  could  talk,  he  spoke  of  her  continually  as  "  My  Sister."  The 
name  stuck  to  her.  The  other  members  of  the  family  gradually 
adopted  it,  so  far,  at  least,  as  to  call  her  "  Sister,"  and  their  neigh- 
bors followed  suit  by  referring  to  her  always  as  "  Gregory's  Sister.'* 

In  the  third  year  of  his  loneliness,  the  doctor  took  unto  him- 
self another  helpmate.  She  was  an  energetic  woman.  Almost 
before  the  honeymoon  was  over,  she  had  turned  the  house  upside 
down,  and  from  that  time  on  she  kept  it  full  of  her  presence. 
The  old  order  changed.  The  doctor  parted  with  his  interest  in 
The  Chronicle  six  months  after  his  second  marriage,  and  before  the 
year  was  out  he  sold  his  patrimonial  fields  in  order  to  purchase 
a  house  in  the  centre  of  the  town,  with  the 'intention  of  devoting  all 
his  energies  to  his  profession.  Thenceforward  for  five  years  he 
went  about  bewildered  at  his  own  activity  and  secretly  lamenting 
for  the  halcyon  days  of  old.  He  could  not  get  used,  however,  to 
the  bustle  and  the  uproar  of  his  new  life  and  it  was  a  dazed  worry 
more  than  sickness  that  brought  him  to  his  end. 

"  Good-bye,  Father  Mapes,"  he  said  to  his  pastor,  when  the 
latter  had  anointed  him.  "  Good-bye,  and  take  care  of  Gregory." 
And  with  one  hand  clasping  a  crucifix  and  the  other  around  his 
only  son,  the  weary  doctor  died. 

From  the  first  day  that  Gregory  was  introduced  to  his  new 
Mamma,  he  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  her.  He  did  not  dis- 
like her  nor  treat  her  disrespectfully,  but  he  avoided  her.  In  a 
childlike  way  he  shunned  her,  and  neither  caresses  nor  chidings 
could  draw  him  to  her  lap.  He  fastened  his  arms  around  his 
favorite  sister's  neck  and  nestled  his  head  on  her  shoulder,  and  from 
that  coigne  of  vantage,  laughing  or  crying,  he  resisted  all  attempts 
(to  coax  or  compel  him  away. 

The  step-mother  soon   quit   trying  to   wean    him  from  this 


178  GREGORY'S  SISTER. 

partiality — selfish  and  cruel  and  burdensome  as  it  was  at  times — 
and  left  his  sister  in  full  charge  of  him.  He  did  not  suffer  on  this 
account.  He  was  dressed  and  fed  and  sung  to  sleep,  nursed  in 
sickness  and  watched  at  play,  kissed  and  corrected  and  carried, 
taken  to  school  and  helped  with  his  lessons,  loved  and  worried  for 
and  cried  over,  with  the  affection  of  a  mother  and  the  devotion  of 
a  slave. 

Life  was  hard  for  the  family  after  the  father's  death.  The 
income  of  the  money  received  from  his  life  insurance  policy  and 
invested  in  mortgages  was  not  sufficient  to  support  them.  They 
were  getting  into  debt. 

"  Let  us  go  out  to  work,"  said  Gregory's  Sister  to  Stella.  So 
one  of  them  found  a  situation  as  assistant  teacher  in  the  district 
school  and  the  other  obtained  employment  in  a  store. 

The  step-mother  became  fretful  and  fault-finding  in  the  early 
days  of  her  widowhood  and  grew  more  severe  and  vexatious  as  the 
melancholy  months  went  by. 

"  Be  patient,"  was  the  advice  of  the  priest,  "  and  all  will  turn 
out  well." 

So  the  young  folk  never  resisted  their  step-mother  but  once, 
when  Gregory's  Sister  decided  that  he  should  go  to  college. 

"  He  shall  do  no  such  thing  !"  exclaimed  the  step-mother, 
when  the  project  was  broached  to  her. 

"  Oh,  yes,  he  will,"  his  sister  replied,  with  a  tremor  in  her 
voice.  "  Father  Mapes  says  that  he  ought  to.  Besides,  it  is  my 
money  that  will  pay  his  expenses  and  it  is  his  desire  to  go." 

So  go  he  did.  When  the  next  scholastic  year  began,  he  was 
a  pupil  at  a  well-known  Worcester  institution  conducted  by  the 
Jesuits. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Gregory's  Sister  received  her  first 
and  only  offer  of  marriage.  She  had  little  leisure  to  receive  atten- 
tions from  gentlemen,  but  one  good  man,  attracted  by  her  Madonna 
face  and  cheerful  disposition,  asked  her  to  be  his  wife.  The  high 
compliment — the  highest  that  a  man  can  pay  to  a  woman — was 
flattering  to  Gregory's  Sister  and  elated  her  during  the  week  that  t 
she  took  to  consider  it;  and  it  might  well  delight  her,  for  the 


GREGORY'S  SISTER.  179 

maker  of  it  was  a  gentleman,  refined,  honorable,  manly,  and  well- 
to-do.  Her  brother,  however,  had  lately  shown  an  inclination  to 
be  wild.  His  love  for  her  and  her  devotion  to  him  were  barriers 
that  kept  him  back.  She  must  be  free  to  serve  him.  So  the  offer 
was  kindly  refused.  Expostulation  was  vain.  "  I  cannot  leave 
Gregory,"  she  finally  said.  And  that  was  the  end  of  her  romance. 

In  the  middle  of  his  second  term  at  college  Gregory  was 
called  home  to  attend  the  funeral  of  his  step-mother,  who  had 
fallen  a  victim  to  paralysis.  Two  weeks  later  he  returned  to  his 
class.  There  he  remained  until  he  was  graduated,  an  event 
which  occurred  when  he  was  in  his  twentieth  year. 

On  his  return  home  Gregory  knew  not  what  to  do.  He  had 
shown  no  conspicuous  aptitude  for  any  special  pursuit,  unless  a 
love  for  literature  that  was  probably  inherited  from  his  visionary 
father  could  be  so  considered.  He  wrote  a  few  communications 
for  The  Chronicle,  but  they  brought  him  little  glory  and  no  pay. 
He  submitted  essays,  stories,  and  poems  to  the  magazines,  but  they 
were  returned  to  him  as  "  not  available."  He  thought  of  going 
to  New  York  to  look  for  work  as  a  reporter. 

Gregory's  Sister  comforted  him  in  this  time  of  trial  and 
stimulated  him  to  further  eifort.  She  believed  in  him.  To  her  his 
sketches  were  charming.  She  wondered  why  the  unappreciative 
editors  could  not  see  their  merits  while  they  published  articles 
that  in  her  biassed  judgment  were  much  less  worthy  of  praise. 

"Never  you  mind,  Gregory,"  she  chirruped,  "you'll  make 
your  mark  yet." 

"  If  I  had  no  education,"  he  replied,  jocosely,  "  I  should 
make  my  mark  now." 

She  thought  that  this  repartee  was  characteristically  witty, 
and  she  insisted  on  entering  it  in  his  note-book,  for  him  to  use  in 
his  next  short  story. 

When  Gregory  was  pretty  well  discouraged,  a  college  friend 
of  his,  who  had  gone  West  and  started  a  book-store  in  Kansas 
City,  invited  him  to  become  his  clerk.  After  careful  consideration 
the  invitation  was  accepted,  and  speedily  thereafter  Gregory  went 
out  to  Missouri. 


ISO  GREGORY'S  SISTER. 

But  his  favorite  sister  could  not  endure  to  be  separated  from 
Gregory,  nor  did  he  get  along  satisfactorily  apart  from  her, 
although  he  did  not  appear  to  suffer  in  his  affections  from  her 
absence  so  much  as  she  did  from  his.  So,  three  months  after  he 
went  from  home,  she  resigned  her  post  as  teacher  and  made  prepa- 
rations to  follow  him. 

By  this  time,  Stella  was  married  and  living  in  Boston,  and 
Agnes  was  a  novice  in  a  convent  in  Maryland.  The  old  home 
was  rented,  and  a  little  later  it  was  sold  and  the  proceeds  were 
divided  among  the  heirs. 

Just  when  Gregory  and  his  sister  began  to  feel  contented  in 
their  new  surroundings,  a  new  trouble  arose — the  young  man's 
employer  received  a  munificent  offer  from  a  publishing  house  in 
Chicago  and  decided  to  accept  it.  But  what  was  to  be  done  with 
the  store  ?  And  would  the  new  proprietor  keep  the  old  clerk  ? 

After  much  deliberation,  Gregory  resolved  to  buy  out  his 
friend.  He  gave  him  in  payment  his  own  and  his  sister's  share 
of  the  price  of  their  father's  house  and  the  savings  of  the 
latter  from  her  salary  as  teacher.  Then,  behold  !  the  sign  over 
the  store  was  changed.  Gregory's  name  was  substituted  for 
that  of  "  Harold  Kent,  bookseller,  printer,  and  stationer."  A  more 
accurate  name  for  the  proprietorship  would  have  been  "  Gregory's 
Sister  &  Co.",  for  it  was  her  money  chiefly  that  bought  the  busi- 
ness, it  was  her  energy  that  emboldened  her  brother  to  take  it, 
and  it  was  her  tact  that  was  to  make  it  a  success. 

Gregory  did  not  appreciate  all  that  his  sister  was  to  him. 
He  took  her  presence,  her  love  of  him,  her  fidelity  to  his  interests 
and  her  helpful  advice,  as  a  matter  of  course,  to  which  he  had 
been  used  all  his  life,  and  which  could  not  be  expected  to  falter  or 
to  fail  any  more  than  the  sunlight,  or  the  coming  of  evening  after 
day,  or  the  growth  of  the  flowers  in  the  spring.  He  did  not 
realize  the  extent  of  his  indebtedness  to  her.  He  gave  himself 
credit  for  ideas  that  originated  with  her,  he  congratulated  himself 
on  avoiding  mistakes  that  had  been  pointed  out  by  her,  and  he 
assumed  to  himself  all  the  honors  of  the  concern. 

Shortly  after  Gregory  purchased  the  store,  his  sister  went  to 


GREGORY'S  SISTER.  181 

his  assistance  while  his  salesman  and  book-keeper  was  off  on  vaca- 
tion ;  and,  when  at  the  end  of  a  fortnight  the  latter  wrote  from 
a  ranche  in  Colorado  that  he  had  become  a  cowboy  for  good,  she 
persuaded  her  brother  to  let  her  do  the  work.  Accordingly  she 
became  the  keeper  of  the  accounts  and  general  assistant. 

The  brother  and  sister  were  conspicuously  happy  during  the 
next  three  years.  They  rented  a  pretty  frame  dwelling  near  the 
suburbs  of  the  city,  and  with  the  aid  of  one  servant  began 
housekeeping.  Their  cottage,  with  its  beds  of  flowers  in  the 
front  yard,  reminded  them  of  their  home  in  Massachusetts  before 
their  mother  died. 

At  last,  Gregory's  fancy  turned  to  thoughts  of  love.  It  was 
somewhat  of  a  shock  to  his  sister  when  he  told  her  that  he  con- 
templated matrimony.  She  had  noticed  his  liking  for  the  young 
woman  whom  he  had  chosen  for  his  bride,  but  she  never  dreamed 
that  this  fondness  would  lead  to  marriage.  She  could  not  get  rid 
of  the  notion  that  he  was  still  a  child,  and  every  successive  stage 
in  his  manhood's  development  was  a  surprise  to  her.  But,  as  his 
happiness  was  her  passion,  she  seconded  his  plans  when  he  deter- 
mined to  take  a  wife.  There  was  a  pang  in  her  heart,  however, 
when  she  discovered  that  her  affection  was  not  sufficient  for  him, 
as  his  had  been  for  her ;  but,  when  she  considered  the  affair  that 
night  before  saying  her  prayers,  she  reproached  herself  for  wish- 
ing to  engross  his  love. 

"  May  God  forgive  me,"  she  said,  "  for  being  so  selfish  !" 

So.  she  stifled  all  repining  and  set  her  face  resolutely  toward 
the  new  conditions  that  were  about  to  confront  her. 

After  the  wedding,  life  in  the  cottage  went  on  pretty  much 
as  usual.  The  monotony  of  its  history  was  broken  only  by  the 
purchase  of  the  little  home  and  by  the  coming  of  five  children, 
who  in  the  course  of  a  dozen  years  made  their  appearance  and 
claimed  their  share  of  love. 

As  soon  as  each  babe  began  to  take  notice,  it  went  trustfully 
to  its  aunt ;  and,  as  it  grew  older,  this  fondness  increased.  It  was 
"Auntie  "  that  had  to  dress  them  in  the  morning,  give  them  their 
food  at  breakfast  and  tea,  and  put  them  to  bed  at  night.  Into 


182  GREGORY'S  SISTER. 

her  arms  too  they  cuddled  when  they  were  sick,  and  on  her  lap 
Rose,  the  lovely  darling,  died.  Mary  and  Gregory,  Jr.,  Leo,  and 
Grace,  she  loved  them  all,  but  if  she  had  a  favorite,  was  it  strange 
that  Gregory,  Jr.,  should  be  the  one? 

At  one  time,  Gregory  thought  that  his  sister  ought  to  stop 
working  in  the  store,  which  had  now  become  a  large  establishment, 
and — possibly  urged  thereto  by  his  wife,  who  was  somewhat 
jealous  of  her  sister-in-law's  influence  in  the  business — he  entreated 
her  to  stay  at  home.  She  consented  at  last,  reluctantly  but  not 
unpleasantly,  and  for  five  weeks  she  took  a  rest,  helping  in  the 
household,  visiting  the  shops  and  the  parks,  and  going  on  a  trip 
to  her  sisters  in  the  East. 

But  the  store  missed  her.  The  clerks  missed  her.  The 
customers  missed  her  and  inquired  for  her.  Worst  of  all,  the 
proprietor  missed  her  every  hour  in  the  day,  and  it  dawned  on 
him  that  he  had  deprived  himself  of  a  helpful  coadjutor.  Just 
then,  too,  everything  seemed  to  conspire  to  worry  him.  He 
became  exceedingly  abrupt  and  irritable,  and  many  a  joke  the 
facetious  porter  cracked  with  the  chipper  errand-boy  about  the 
amiable  temper  of  their  employer. 

"  Come  back  soon,"  Gregory  wrote  to  her,  "  the  store  cannot 
get  along  without  you." 

From  that  time  forward,  her  services  were  valued  at  their 
proper  worth,  even  if,  as  of  old,  she  drew  nothing  from  the  business 
but  her  board  and  clothes  and  these  of  the  plainest  sort,  for  she  was 
abstemious  at  table  and  her  gowns  were  neither  numerous  nor  rich. 

Sometimes  of  a  night,  when  the  work  had  been  trying  to  her 
nerves,  or  her  brother  had  been  more  than  usually  preoccupied 
with  his  own  happiness,  or  the  little  ones  had  been  exceptionally 
troublesome,  Gregory's  Sister  would  sit  in  her  room  alone,  ques- 
tioning her  own  heart  and  brooding  over  what  might  have  been. 

She  did  not  yield  often  or  long  to  these  wretched  feel- 
ings. The  remembrance  of  Gregory's  temporary  waywardness,  of 
his  docility  that  was  made  possible  by  her  devotion  to  him,  of  his 
return  from  the  downward  path,  and  of  their  peaceful  years 
together  comforted  her. 


GREGORY'S  SISTER.  183 

"  Our  Lord  knows  that  I  acted  for  what  I  thought  was  best," 
she  would  say,  "  and  I  will  accept  what  He  has  sent." 

It  was  hard  at  times  to  be  cheerful  and  resigned,  for  Gregory 
was  absorbed  in  the  future  of  his  children  and  Gregory's  wife 
was  not  always  considerate.  Once  she  said  something  about 
"  a  prim  old  maid,"  and  on  another  occasion  she  remarked  that 
"  somebody  was  not  worth  her  salt,"  words  which  fell  on  ears  for 
which  they  were  not  intended  and  cut  to  the  quick. 

"  Remain  where  you  are,"  was  Father  Mapes'  advice  in  the 
last  letter  he  ever  wrote,  "  for  Providence  placed  you-  there  and 
Gregory  will  yet  need  you  more  than  ever." 

No  one  but  the  priest  knew  the  sorrows  of  her  heart,  for  her 
face  was  always  placid  and  her  tones  were  low.  She  was  blithe 
by  nature  and  she  methodically  cultivated  cheerfulness  as  a  habit^ 
Only  those  who  observed  her  closely  could  notice  the  tightening 
of  the  lines  of  the  mouth  that  was  her  only  signal  of  distress. 

After  ten  years  of  married  life,  Gregory  fell  sick  with  typhoid 
fever.  In  spite  of  the  best  medical  attention  and  the  most  devoted 
nursing,  he  sank  under  the  malady.  Inside  of  a  week  he  was 
dead. 

After  the  interment,  a  fortnight  passed  before  the  bereaved 
family  could  resume  the  regular  order  of  their  life.  But  Gregory's 
Sister  had  to  return  to  the  store  two  days  after  the  funeral,  for  she 
could  not  spare  more  time  to  the  luxury  of  grief.  The  widow 
and  the  children  had  to  be  supported  and  they  depended  on  her. 
So  she  brushed  away  her  tears,  saying  to  herself:  "My  heart  can 
cry,  if  my  eyes  are  dry,"  and  she  went  back  to  the  drudgery  that 
brought  in  their  daily  bread. 

She  is  there  still.  She  has  consecrated  the  rest  of  her  life 
to  the  task  of  rearing  Gregory's  children.  Quiet,  unassuming, 
diffident,  she  does  not  realize  that  she  is  one  of  life's  heroines. 
"  I  am  of  little  use  in  the  world,"  she  said  yesterday,  "  and  soon 
I  shall  be  of  less."  But  the  Angels  of  God  have  a  different 
opinion  of  her  worth,  and  some  day  when  her  unselfish  work  is  all 
done,  they  will  throw  open  wide  the  gates  of  Heaven  to  welcome 
her  to  her  abiding  home. 


ISSDMPTIONlfNIVEflSITYLIBIUlRy 


THE   SOUL  OF  SAINT   PATRICK. 

The  soul  from  Patrick's  body  toil-worn  at  last  departed, 
God's  angels  all  the  night  sang  round  it  unceasing. 

Together  they  ascended  to  Jesus,  the  Son  of  Mary. 

Hymn  of  Fiacc. 

TV^OTHING   so   builds    up  the   interior   man   as   coming  in 

L^       contact  with  the  soul  of  a  Saint.     Men  change  through 

the   different   ages.     The    manners   of   the   time   of   St. 

Patrick  would   seem  to  us  as  grotesque  as  his   language  would 

be  difficult.     But  souls  are  always  much  the  same,  with  capacity 

for  love  and  sorrow,  for  desires  lofty  as  the  heavens  and  low  as 

the  nethermost  earth. 

Fortunately  something  has  remained  to  us  of  St.  Patrick 
which  lays  bare  the  working  and  aspiration  of  his  soul.  Con- 
cerning the  dates  and  events  of  his  life  there  has  been  much 
dispute  among  the  learned.  But  all  have  agreed  that  the  two 
curious  documents  called  the  Confession  and  the  Epistle  to  Coro- 
tivus  are  his  genuine  productions.1  They  resemble  each  other  too 
much  not  to  be  from  the  same  hand.  Full  of  sympathy  and  as 
poetic  as  they  are  mystical,  the  one  in  its  earnest  humility  and 
the  other  in  its  still  more  earnest  remonstrance'  against  wrong 
done  to  Christian  souls,  they  lay  open  to  us  the  inmost  heart  of 
the  Saint.  We  say  "  heart,"  because  it  is  not  merely  the  work- 
ings of  his  mind  that  are  set  down  before  us,  but  the  sincere 
affections  of  the  soul.  All  this  is  done  with  constant  reference 
to  the  religious  ideas  which  impelled  him  along  his  difficult  way 
of  life. 

1  The  recent  translation  of  Sir  Samuel  Ferguson,  in  his  posthumous  work 
The  Remains  of  St.  Patrick,  Apostle  of  Ireland,  is  here  followed  with  slight 
modifications. 

184 


THE  SOUL   OF  ST.  PATRICK.  185 

The  thought  which  seems  to  have  impressed  most  deeply 
the  soul  of  the  Saint  is  that  he  has  been  guided  to  his  present  life 
by  the  Spirit  of  God.  He  comes  back  again  and  again  on  this 
thought  as  did  St.  Paul.  "It  is  not  I,  but  the  Spirit  of  God 
that  worketh  in  me." 

Thus  he  says  of  himself  to  Coroticus,  who  was  doing  a  great 
wrong  to  Christian  converts  : 

Not  for  mine  own  delight :   'twas  God  that  stirred 
That  strong  solicitude  within  my  heart, 
That,  of  the  hunters  and  the  fishermen 
Whom  He  aforetime  for  these  latter  days 
Had  pre-appointed,  I  too  should  be  one. 

And  he  gives  as  the  reason  of  writing  his  Confession  that  it  is 
only  a  fit  return  for  the  favors  bestowed  on  him  by  God. 

.     .     .     And  therefore  now 

I  will  not  hide,  nor  could  I,  were  it  fit 

To  hide,  such  boons,  such  graces,  as  niy  Lord 

Has  deigned  me  here  in  my  captivity. 

And  this  my  poor  return  :  that  having  attained 

The  touch  and  apprehension  of  my  God, 

I  should  with  high  exalted  heart,  in  face 

Of  all  that  lives  below  all  skies,  confess 

That  other  God  nor  was,  nor  is  nor  shall  be  : 

One  God  in  Trinity  of  Holy  name. 

This  thought  overrules  him.  Telling  of  God's  Providence 
which  has  led  him  step  by  step  to  his  high  calling,  he  lets  drop 
precious  details  of  his  own  history.  In  this  leading  of  Provi- 
dence he  sees  the  clear  reason  and  justification  of  his  desertion  of 
his  own  race.  This  he  boldly  brings  up  to  Coroticus,  who  seems 
to  have  been  an  only  half-Christianized  kinglet  inclined  for  his 
own  selfish  purposes  to  leave  his  Christian  brethren  a  prey  to  the 
pagan  Picts  and  Scots. 

What !     Was  it  then  without  God's  promises 

Or  in  the  body  only  that  I  came 

To  Ireland?    Who  compelled  me?     Who  me  bound 

In  spirit  that  I  should  no  more  behold 

Kindred  or  early  friend  ?     Whence  came  the  sense 

Inspiring  me  with  pity  for  the  race 


186  THE  SOUL   OF  ST.  P /I TRICK. 

That  once  were  mine  own  captors?     I  was  born 

Noble  ;  my  father  a  Decurio  ; 

That  privilege  of  birth  I  have  exchanged 

(I  blush  not  for  it,  and  I  grudge  it  not)  • 

For  benefit  of  others,  bartered  so 

In  Christ  and  given  over  to  a  race 

Extern  to  mine,  all  for  the  glorious  hope 

Ineffable  of  that  perennial  life 

Which  is  in  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord. 

He  speaks  of  the  sorrows  of  his  early  captivity,  after  he 
was  carried  away  to  Ireland  as  a  slave,  with  patience  and 
thanksgiving;  for  by  this  way  of  sorrows  he  has  been  led  to 
his  present  calling  wherein  he  has  been  able  to  do  something  for 

his  Lord. 

.     .     .     Before  my  happy  humbling  came, 

I  was  as  is  a  stone  that,  in  deep  mire, 

Lies  on  the  highway :  and  He  came,  Who  can, 

And  in  His  pity  thence  did  lift  me  up 

And  set  me  on  the  wall-top.     ... 

.     .     .     Not,  indeed,  that  I 

Was  worthy  that  my  Lord  His  servant  poor 

Should  so  far  favor,  after  all  the  toils, 

The  hardships  heavy,  and  the  captive  years 

Borne  'mongst  this  people ; — should  bestow  such  grace 

As  till  I  came  to  Ireland  I  nor  knew 

Nor  ever  hoped. 

He  looks  back  over  the  commonplace  unending  toil  of  those 
youthful  days,  no  longer  with  a  sense  of  their  wretchedness,  but 
with  thankful  heart  because  of  what  God  then  wrought  in  him. 

.     .     Herding  daily  here, 
And  often  in  the  day  saying  my  prayers, 
Daily  there  more  and  more  did  grow  in  me 
The  fear  of  God.     And  holy  fear  and  faith 
Increased  in  me,  that  in  a  single  day 
I've  said  as  many  as  a  hundred  prayers, 
And  in  the  night  scarce  fewer  ;   so  that  oft 
In  woods  and  on  the  mountain  I've  remained, 
And  risen  to  prayer  before  daylight,  through  snow, 
Through  frost,  through  rain,  and  yet  I  took  no  ill, 
Nor  was  there  in  me  then  aught  slow  as  now, 
For  then  the  Spirit  of  God  within  me  burned. 

It  is  touching  to  note  the  humility  of  the  Saint  who,  at  the 


THE  SOUL   OF  ST.  PATRICK.  187 

very  end  of  his  glorious  career,  counts  himself  as  slow  in  com- 
parison with  the  devotion  of  the  days  when  he  was  a  boy,  a 
wretched  slave — 

For  then  the  Spirit  of  God  within  me  burned. 

The  special  call  which  came  to  him  from  the  Divine  Voice, 
after  he  had  escaped  from  slavery  and  returned  once  more  to  his 
family  and  the  comforts  of  a  Roman  military  post,  resembles  not  a 
little  the  voice  which  came  by  day  and  night  to  Saint  Paul — Come 
over  to  Macedonia  and  help  ws.  The  calling  of  St.  Patrick  has 
been  told  a  thousand  times,  but  never  more  impressively  than  in 
his  own  simple  words  : 

.     .     .     I  found  myself  at  home 

Amongst  the  Britons  with  my  family, 

Who  all  received  me  as  they  might  a  son, 

And  earnestly  besought  me  that  at  length, 

After  these  many  perils  I  had  borne, 

I  never  more  would  leave  them.     It  was  there 

In  a  night  vision  I  beheld  a  man 

Coming  as  'twere  from  Ireland.     Victor  he. 

Innumerable  letters  bore  he :   one 

He  gave  to  me  to  read.    I  read  one  line, 

"The  voices  of  the  Irish,"  so  it  ran. 

And  while  I  read,  methought  I  heard  the  cry 

Of  them  that  by  the  wood  of  Focluth  dwell, 

Beside  the  Western  Ocean,  saying  thus, 

"Come,  holy  youth,  and  walk  amongst  us,  come!" 

All  with  one  voice.     It  touched  me  to  the  heart, 

And  I  could  read  no  more  ;   and  so  awoke — 

Thank  God  at  last  Who,  after  many  years, 

Has  given  to  them  according  to  their  cry  ! 

Whenever  he  speaks  with  authority,  it  is  always  as  one  who 
has  this  authority  from  the  vocation  God  has  given  to  him.  Thus 
he  begins  to  Coroticus  : 

I,  Patrick — I,  a  sinner  and  unlearned, 

Here  in  Hibernia  constituted  Bishop, 

Believe  most  surely  that  it  is  from  God 

I  hold  commission  to  be  that  I  am, 

A  proselyte  and  pilgrim,  for  His  love, 

Here  amongst  savage  peoples.     He  Who  knows 

All  things,  knows  also  if  this  be  not  so. 


188  THE  SOUL   OF  ST.  PATRICK. 

This  special  call  seems  to  have  been  borne  in  upon  his  soul 
by  something  of  that  high  divine  action  which  was  used  in  the 
case  of  St.  Paul.  "  I  will  show  unto  him  what  great  things  he 
must  suffer  for  My  name's  sake."  The  story  of  the  voices  of  the 
Irish  calling  to  him  in  his  sleep  is  paralleled,  in  later  times,  in  the 
life  of  the  great  Apostle  of  the  Indies,  St.  Francis  Xavier.  In 
his  life  we  read  that,  whilst  at  the  University  of  Paris,  dreaming 
of  the  literary  distinction  to  which  his  family  and  his  undoubted 
talent  entitled  him,  in  sleep  he  bore  with  toil  and  suffering  an 
Indian  upon  his  shoulders  over  rock  and  torrent.  As  is  probably 
the  case  with  all  the  supernatural  vocations  which  somehow 
transcend  the  ordinary  call  to  help  in  the  saving  of  souls,  a  special 
grace  of  God  seems  to  have  wrought  a  peculiar  union  between  the 
destined  Apostle  and  his  Master  Christ.  St.  Patrick  is  every- 
where conscious  of  this  grace ;  and  he  gives  us  details  from  his 
own  life  as  wonderful  as  those  we  read  in  the  writings  of  the  most 
mystical  Saints.  It  will  be  noticed,  too,  that  his  uncertainty  con- 
cerning the  definite  manner  of  such  wonderful  action  of  the 
Divinity  on  his  soul  is  quite  like  that  of  St.  Paul  who,  when 
carried  to  the  third  heaven,  knew  not  "  whether  he  were  in  the 
body  or  out  of  the  body." 

And,  on  another  night,  I  know  not,  I, 
God  knows,  if  'twas  within  me  or  without, 
One  prayed  with  words  exceeding  exquisite 
I  could  not  understand,  till,  at  the  close, 
He  spoke  in  this  wise — "He  Who  gave  His  soul 
For  thee  is  He  "Who  speaks."     I  woke  with  joy. 
And  once  I  saw  Him — praying,  as  it  were 
Within  me,  and  I  saw  myself  as  though 
Within  myself,  and  over  me,  that  is 
Over  the  inner  man,  I  heard  Him  pray 
Strongly  with  urgent  groans,  myself  the  while 
Amazed,  and  wondering  who  should  pray  in  me, 
Till,  at  the  very  ending  of  His  prayer, 
He  showed,  a  Bishop.    I  awoke  and  called 
To  memory  what  His  Apostle  says : 

"The  Lord  our  Advocate  doth  plead  for  us." 
This  conscious  indwelling  of  his  Master  Christ  in  the  depths 


THE  SOUL   OF  ST.  PATRICK.  189 

of  his  soul  sustained  him  through  many  trials.  Doubtless  the 
personal  love  of  Jesus  Christ  is  necessary  to  the  most  ordinary 
practice  of  the  Christian  faith.  The  martyrs,  as  has  often  been 
said,  did  not  die  for  any  ideal  truth,  but  for  a  Person  in  Whom 
they  believed  and  hoped  and  Whom  they  loved  more  than  life 
itself. 

In  the  career  of  St.  Patrick  a  peculiarly  bitter  trial  seems 
to  have  come  upon  him,  concerning  which  he  says : 

.     .     .     Some  certain  of  my  seniors  came 
Against  my  toilsome,  hard  Episcopate, 
And  made  impeachment  of  me  for  my  sins. 
In  that  day  truly  I  was  tempted  sore 
To  fall  both  now  and  everlastingly. 

.     .     .     They  found  me,  after  thirty  years, 
To  charge  me  with  one  word  I  had  confessed 
Before  I  was  a  deacon.     In  my  grief 
And  pain  of  mind  I  to  my  dearest  friend 
Told  what  I  in  my  boyhood,  in  one  day, 
Yea,  in  one  hour  had  done : — because  as  yet 
I  had  not  strength  :   I  know  not,  Heaven  knows, 
If,  at  that  time,  I  yet  had  fifteen  years. 

With  the  strange  contrition  which  great  Saints  by  reason  of 
their  completer  light  conceive  concerning  the  slight  or  few  sins 
of  their  youth,  St.  Patrick  goes  on  humbly  to  attribute  the  suffer- 
ings of  his  slavery  to  this  sin,  whatever  it  may  have  been.  Then, 
with  a  surprising  burst  of  faith,  he  beholds  the  road  from  sin 
through  chastisement  to  his  present  glorious  calling : 

I  had  not  yet  believed  the  living  God 

Even  from  my  childhood  ;  but  remained  in  death 

And  unbelief  till  sore  chastised  I  was 

By  hunger,  nakedness,  and  enforced  toil 

Daily  in  Ireland — for  I  came  not  here 

Self-sent — until,  indeed,  I  almost  sank. 

Yet  these  were  rather  boons  to  me,  because, 

So  chastened  by  the  Lord,  I  now  am  made 

What  once  was  far  from  me,  that  I  should  care 

Or  labor  for  the  weal  of  others,  I 

Who  then  took  no  thought  even  for  myself. 

It  is  probable  that  those  he  calls  his  "  seniors  "  did  not  take 


190  THE  SOUL   OF  ST.  PATRICK. 

quite  the  same  view  of  the  case.  Even  estimable  men  may  be 
lacking  in  the  discretion  of  spirits,  which  is  after  all  a  free  gift 
of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  they  may  unconsciously  be  swayed  by 
natural  feelings  of  jealousy  which  prompt  them  to  exaggerate  the 
least  fault  in  men  who  are  most  nearly  faultless.  St.  Teresa 
quaintly  remarks  that  if  the  members  of  your  community  once  get 
the  idea  you  are  a  Saint,  they  will  expect  such  great  things  from 
you  that  in  the  end  they  will  make  you  a  martyr.  But  in  the 
midst  of  his  trouble  St.  Patrick  felt  again,  and  in  a  new  manner, 
the  abiding  presence  of  his  Master  with  him. 

On  that  same  day  when  these  niy  elder  ones 
Rebuked  me,  in  a  vision  of  the  night, 
I  saw  a  script  against  me,  and  no  name 
Of  honor  written  ;   and  the  while  I  heard 
That  voice  within  make  answer,  "We  are  here 
Ill-styled  by  men,  stripped  bare  of  dignity." 
It  was  not  "Thou  art  here  ill-styled",  it  said, 
But  "We,"  as  if  the  Speaker  joined  Himself 
Incorporately  with  me,  and  the  voice 
Were  His  Who  once  said,  Whoso  toucheth  thee, 
Toucheth  as  ''twere  the  apple  of  Mine  eye. 

This  sense  of  his  union  with  Christ  in  working  for~the  Irish 
people  crops  out  constantly. 

f    .     .    With  fear  and  reverence 
Faithful  in  heart  and  uncomplainingly 
I  serve  this  people,  to  whom  the  charity 
Of  Christ  assigns  me,  for  my  rest  of  life, 
If  I  be  worthy  ;   that,  with  humble  heart, 
And  truthful  lips,  I  teach  it,  in  the  faith 
And  measure  of  the  Holy  Trinity. 

With  the  faith  of  the  Holy  Trinity  St.  Patrick's  mission 
began  and  ended ;  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  faithful  people 
he  left  behind  him. 

A  last  thought,  to  show  how  his  spirit  has  remained  among 
the  Christians  he  formed,  may  be  taken  from  the  Confession. 
In  the  midst  of  their  wretchedness  and  poverty  and  forced 
ignorance,  the  Irish  people  have  become  known  throughout  the 
world  for  the  love  and  practice  of  purity.  How  beautiful  is  the 


THE  SOUL   OF  ST.  PATRICK. 


191 


chaste  generation  in  glory.     This,  too,  is  the  great  ideal  of  St. 
Patrick  for  his  people. 

Now  the  Irish,  who  in  former  days 


Had  but  their  idols  and  their  rites  unclean, 
Nor  aught  knew  of  the  Lord,  have  late  become 
The  Lord's  own  people.     And  the  sons  of  Scots 
And  daughters  of  their  kings,  now  sons  of  God 
Are  counted,  and  vowed  handmaidens  of  Christ. 
And  one  bless'd  Scotic  lady  nobly  born, 
A  most  fair  person  whom  myself  baptized, 
Came  soon  thereafter  making  her  report 
Of  intimation  by  a  messenger, 
Sent  her  from  God,  with  His  admonishment, 
That  virgin  she  should  live  and  nearer  Him.- 

The  violation  of  this  high  ideal  by  Coroticus,  who  had 
exposed  the  Christian  flock  to  the  lawless  violence  of  the  pagans, 
is  the  burden  of  St.  Patrick's  complaint. 

Lord,  ravening  wolves  have  eaten  up  Thy  flock, 
Which  here  in  Ireland  had  such  fair  increase, 
Sons  of  the  Scots  and  daughters  of  the  kings, 
Now  holy  monks  and  handmaidens  of  Christ, 
So  many,  past  my  counting. 

And  he  reproaches  the  faithless  chieftain  : 

Thou  slayest  and  sellest  into  extern  lands 
Which  know  not  God,  my  Christians,  and  dost  cast 
Christ's  baptized  virgin  members  into  shame. 
What  hope  canst  thou,  so  acting,  have  in  God? 

This  was  the  last  message  of  holy  love  for  God  and  man  of 
him  who  described  himself,  humbly — 

A  proselyte  and  pilgrim  for  His  love 
Here  amongst  savage  peoples. 


THE   HYMN   OF  THE  ANNUNCIATION. 

By  Adrian  W.  Smith. 

THE  dawn  arose  more  radiantly  grand 
Than  at  God's  first  command, 
Where  Juda  smiles  with  Jordan  to  the  sea; 
And  every  saintly  power 
Acclaimed  the  destined  hour 
When  Jesus  came  on  earth  to  make  men  free. 

They  brought  no  glittering  gift  of  gold  or  gems, 

Or  burnished  diadems ; 
But  all  men's  goodly  deeds  since  Adam's  wrong 

God's  angels  held  on  high 

And,  tender  as  the  sky, 
His  mercy  shone  resplendent  from  the  throng. 

The  host  came  trooping  from  the  flaming  East 

To  greet  the  bridal  feast ; 
And  Gabriel  his  wondrous  message  bare 

Where  sate  in  simple  state, 

Unwist  of  sacred  fate, 
The  temple's  royal  handmaid,  Mary  fair. 

Her  queenly  will  unto  the  Will  Divine 

She  hastens  to  incline ; 
For  comes  He  not  in  love,  when  she  has  heard 

In  all  her  dreams  of  night, 

At  eve  and  morning's  light, 
The  music  of  the  promise  of. the  Word? 

Incarnate  God  !  ye  angels  fold  your  wings, 

While  awful  Mystery  flings 
Her  glowing  veil  o'er  Hope's  ecstatic  face ; 

Supernal  incense  bring, 

And  let  each  living  thing 
Adore  the  Christ  upon  His  throne  of  grace. 

192     ' 


VILLAGE  IN  THE  CORDILLERAS. 


THE   NAMING   OF  THE  AMAZON. 

I. 
GONZALO  PIZARRO. 

1  TN  the  year  1539,  the  Marquis  Don  Francesco  Pizarro,  being 

in  the  city  of  Cuzco,  received  tidings  that  beyond  the 

city   of  Quito   and    beyond    the    limits   of    the   Empire 

formerly  ruled   by  the  Incas   there  was  a  wide   region  where 

cinnamon  grew ;  and  he  determined  to  send  his  brother  Gonzalo 

Pizarro,  that  he  might  conquer  such  another  land  as  the  Marquis 

himself  had  found  and  become  the  Governor  of  it." ' 

This  discovery  of  Canelos  or  the  Cinnamon  Land  had  been 
made  three  years  before,  in  1536,  by  Captain  Gonzalez  Diaz  de 
Pineda.  Beyond  the  fact  of  its  existence,  however,  little  was 
known  of  this  vast  tract  of  country,  the  Provincia  del  Oriente  of 
Ecuador ;  the  imagination  of  the  Spaniards  working  on  the  lying 
or  imperfectly  understood  relations  of  the  Indians  did  the  rest 
and  conjured  up  visions  of  vast  empires  and  of  wealth  untold 

1  The  Expedition  of  Gonzalo  Pizarro  to  the  Land  of  Cinnamon,  by  Garci- 
lasso  Inca  de  la  Vega,  Part  II.,  Book  iii,  of  the  Royal  Commentaries,  translated 
and  edited  by  Clement  R.  Markham,  F.R.G.S..  Hakluyt  Society  Publications. 


193 


194  THE  NAMING   OF  THE  AMAZON. 

hidden  behind  the  huge  ramparts  of  the  Cordilleras  which  rose 
above  them,  snow  capped  and  threatening,  "  grim  wardens  of  the 
passes"  into  the  regions  beyond.  The  lust  of  gold  and  of  empire 
has  always  been  a  potent  factor  in  the  affairs  of  men,  but  never 
perhaps  were  men  so  ready  to  brave  hardships  and  danger  for  the 
sake  of  gold  as  in  the  early  days  of  the  Spanish  conquest  of 
South  America.  The  chronicles  of  that  time  are  one  uninter- 
rupted tale  of  famine  and  privation,  of  cruel  physical  suffering,  of 
brutality  and  rapacity,  and  in  more  than  one  case  of  unparalleled 
treachery  ;  and  the  impelling  motive  of  every  recurring  expedition 
was  gold.  Such  a  tale  in  all  its  features  is  the  history  of  the 
expedition  of  Gonzalo  Pizarro  from  the  time  it  crossed  the  Cor- 
dilleras until  Pizarro  found  himself  basely  deserted  by  his  lieu- 
tenant Francesco  de  Orellana  and  was  forced  to  retrace  his  steps 
to  Quito,  a  broken  man  with  the  poor  remnants  of  the  brave 
little  army  with  which  he  had  set  out  nearly  two  years  before. 
It  is  true  the  expedition,  in  spite  of  all,  led  to  the  discovery  of 
the  Amazon ;  but  the  glory  of  this  achievement  is  more  than 
counterbalanced  by  the  act  of  disloyalty  and  of  pitiless  cruelty, 
which  led  to  the  great  discovery. 

Before  taking  up  the  tale  of  Pizarro's  expedition,  a  word  is 
needed  here  to  enable  our  readers  to  do  justice  to  these  expedi- 
tions and  to  the  men  who  took  part  in  them.  We  have  spoken 
of  cruelty  and  rapacity  and  treachery,  but  we  do  not  at  all  join 
in  a  too  common  wholesale  and  bitter  condemnation.  These 
were  men  of  faith  ;  and  though  their  conduct  too  often  belied  their 
belief  it  never  destroyed  it,  and  gave  consequently  to  the  brave  and 
generous  missionaries,  Dominicans  and  Franciscans  and  Jesuits,  who 
were  always  found  vvith  or  ahead  of  these  expeditions,  something 
to  work  on  in  their  efforts  to  restrain  or  hinder  the  excesses  of  the 
cavaliers  and  the  troopers.  Mr.  Markham,  to  whose  labors  we 
owe  very  much  and  whose  right  to  speak  no  one  questions,  assigns 
four  motives  that  led  men  into  these  wilds  of  the  Amazon  and, 
generously  enough,  he  puts  as  the  first  "  the  conversion  of  the 
Indians " ;  the  search  for  gold  he  puts  in  the  second  place.  It  is 
true  he  is  speaking  of  the  expeditions  subsequent  to  Father 


THE  NAMING  OF  THE  AMAZON.  195 

Acunha's,  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  in  1640  ;  but  even  before  this 
the  desire  to  plant  the  Cross  had  brought  more  than  one  intrepid 
missionary  into  the  valley  of  the  Amazon.  The  Franciscan  Saint 
Francis  Solano  who  reached  Peru  in  1589  and  whose  feast  the 
Church  celebrates  on  the  24th  of  July ;  Father  Juan  Fonte  who 
in  1589  with  only  a  boy  to  serve  his  Mass  ventured  among  the 
Lules ;  Father  Alonzo  de  Barzana  who  in  the  wilds  of  Eastern 
Bolivia  married  three  thousand  couples  'in  facie  ecclesice'  in  1591  ; 
Father  Gaspar  de  Monroy  who  in  1592  preached  to  the  Chiri- 
guanas,  and  Father  Rafael  Ferrer  who,  sometime  after  1608,  was 
murdered  by  the  Cofanes  of  the  Cinnamon  Land,  are  but  a  few  of 
the  glorious  names  in  the  Martyrology  of  these  regions.  In  this 
very  expedition  of  Gonzalo  Pizarro,  one  of  the  principal  figures 
that  appears  in  the  chronicle  is  that  of  the  Dominican  monk, 
Gaspar  de  Caravajal.  Through  all  the  hardships  and  sufferings 
of  the  expedition  his  courage  and  fortitude  and  his  generous  words 
were  employed  to  keep  up  the  sinking  hearts  of  the  soldiers. 

The  Spaniards  were  the  instrument  God  employed  to  bring 
to  innumerable  souls  the  grace  of  faith  ;  and,  though  we  cannot 
defend  many  features  of  their  government  of  the  conquered  races, 
we  must  not  hastily  condemn  either.  More  than  all  we  must 
not  forget  the  heroic  labors  of  the  missionaries,  who  also  were 
Spaniards  for  the  most  part  and  who  laid  down  their  lives  for  their 
savage  brethren. 

In  1539,  Gonzalo  Pizarro,  who  had  been  summoned  to  Cuzco 
by  his  brother,  set  out  for  Quito,  nearly  five  hundred  leagues  to 
the  north.  Francis  Pizarro  had  appointed  his  brother  Governor 
of  this  city  as  a  preliminary  step  to  assigning  to  him  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Cinnamon  Land  he  was  to  conquer.  After  a  long  and 
toilsome  march,  fighting  most  of  the  time,  and  on  one  occasion  so 
hard  pressed  that  reinforcements  were  sent  him  from  Cuzco,  he 
finally  reached  Quito.  On  his  arrival  he  found  the  government 
in  the  hands  of  Pedro  de  Puelles,  who  however  made  no  difficulty 
in  resigning  it.  With  absolute  control  of  the  city  and  its  resources 
and  the  good  will  of  everybody — for,  as  the  chronicler  tells  us,  "  he 
was  the  best  beloved  man  in  Peru  and  had  by  his  noble  qualities 


A  PASS  IN  THE  CORDILLERAS. 


THE  NAMING  OF  THE  AMAZON.  197 

endeared  himself  as  much  to  strangers  as  to  his  own  friends — " 
Gonzalo  found  little  trouble  in  fitting  out  his  expedition,  and  in  a 
very  short  time  was  ready  to  start  for  the  Cinnamon  Land. 

On  Christmas  Day,  1539,  though  there  is  some  dispute  about 
the  year,  the  march  was  begun.  There  were  in  the  party  one 
hundred  and  fifty  horsemen,  about  two  hundred  foot,  and  four 
thousand  Indians.  And  of  these  Indians  we  may  note  in  passing 
some  remarks  of  the  chronicler,  which  throw  light  on  the  relations 
of  the  Spaniards  to  the  Indians  in  these  countries  at  that  time. 
When,  after  the  desertion  of  Orellana,  the  party  began  to  retrace 
their  steps  to  Quito,  but  one  thousand  out  of  these  four  thousand 
Indians  were  alive  and  these  "  served  like  sons  to  their  masters,  in 
these  hardships  and  privations,  searching  for  herbs  and  roots 
and  wild  fruits,  frogs  and  serpents  and  other  wretched  food." 
Another  remark  is  made  a  little  further  on,  when  the  chronicler 
tells  how  finally  even  these  Indians  perished  from  hunger,  "  and 
among  them  was  an  Indian  beloved  by  Gonzalo  whose  death 
Gonzalo  mourned  as  if  he  had  been  his  own  brother."  Again 
the  chronicler  carefully  sets  down  the  fact  that  "many  Indians 
perished  from  hunger  and  Spaniards  also,  though  the  flesh  of  the 
horses  was  equally  divided."  Nearly  four  thousand  head  of  swine 
for  food  and  a  flock  of  llamas  to  carry  part  of  the  baggage  com- 
pleted the  equipment. 

During  the  first  few  days  of  their  march,  nothing  seems  to 
have  occurred  to  cloud  the  high  hopes  of  Pizarro  and  his  men. 
They  were  still  on  the  great  central  plateau  of  Ecuador  between 
the  eastern  and  western  ranges  of  the  Cordilleras,  and  the  climate 
here  is  most  agreeable  and  invigorating.  Food  was  plentiful  and 
easily  procured,  and  where  the  fame  of  the  Spaniards  had  not 
prepared  for  them  a  welcome,  their  mere  appearance  with  their 
horses  and  firearms  was  sufficient  to  drive  every  hostile  force 
from  their  path.  Soon  however  they  began  to  ascend  the  first 
slopes  of  the  Eastern  Cordilleras,  and  as  they  ascended  the  face 
of  nature  changed  very  rapidly.  The  trees  disappeared ;  the  cold 
became  severe ;  roads  there  had  been  none  up  to  this — there  are 
no  roads  in  Ecuador  even  yet — but  at  least  progress  was  easy. 


198  THE  NAMING   OF  THE  AMAZON. 

Now  rain  began  to  fall  in  huge  drops  mingled  with  hail  and 
snow,  the  wind  came  whirling  down  the  mountain  side  in  violent 
gusts  strong  enough  to  hurl  a  man  to  the  ground.  From  time  to 
time  the  clouds  would  part  and  the  sun  appear,  but  only  to  burn 
with  its  fierce  rays  the  exposed  features  of  the  soldiers  without 
giving  any  warmth.  Drenched  by  the  rain,  almost  breathless 
with  the  winds,  and  parched  by  the  sun,  it  is  little  wonder  that 
the  Spaniards  were  surprised  at  the  difference  between  that  land 
and  Peru. 

For  forty  or  fifty  days  they  were  exposed  to  these  hardships, 
to  which  were  added  the  terrors  of  a  violent  earthquake  accom- 
panied by  thunder  and  lightning,  which  destroyed  the  greater 
part  of  a  hamlet  in  which  they  had  encamped.  Snow  too  began 
to  fall  in  such  quantities  and  it  became  so  cold  that  many  Indians 
were  frozen  to  death,  being  so  lightly  clad.  To  escape  from  this 
region  was  imperative  and  that  speedily ;  so,  without  considering 
the  hardships  there  might  still  be  in  store  for  them  in  the  unex- 
plored tract  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  mountains,  they  left  the 
herd  of  swine  and  the  provisions  they  had  brought  behind  them, 
and  by  forced  marches  crossed  the  crests  of  the  Cordilleras  and 
descended  into  the  district  watered  by  the  Coca. 

Here  they  found  themselves  surrounded  by  vast  and  trackless 
forests,  but  without  any  signs  of  inhabitants.  They  had  cut 
themselves  off  from  their  stores  of  provisions,  counting  on  the 
natives  to  supply  their  wants ;  and  too  late  they  realized  their 
folly. 

With  much  difficulty,  they  forced  their  way  through  more 
than  one  hundred  leagues  of  this  dense  forest,  oftentimes  being 
obliged  to  open  a  way  with  axe  and  hatchet  and  living  on  herbs, 
roots,  and  wild  fruits,  and  finding  not  even  sufficient  of  these. 
At  length  they  reached  the  Coca,  which  rising  in  the  Cordilleras 
forms  a  great  curve  from  east  to  south  and  falls  into  the  Napo. 
They  had  consumed  two  months  in  this  march,  and  during  that 
time  the  rain  had  been  falling  constantly  so  that  their  clothes  had 
become  rotten. 

Near  the  great  river  they  came  upon  a  village,  Cuca,  the 


THE  NAMING    OF   THE  AMAZON. 


199 


chief  of  which  received  them  well  and  supplied  them  with 
provisions.  Here  they  remained  another  two  months  until  they 
had  been  rejoined  by  a  band  that  had  been  left  behind  at  the  foot 
of  the  Cordillera^  Then,  following  the  bank  of  the  stream,  they 
proceeded  another  fifty  leagues  without  meeting  a  bridge  or  even 
a  ford  by  which  to  cross,  so  swift  and  deep  was  the  volume 

of  water   this  stream     ^ 

carried  down  to  the 
Napo.  Many  were  the 
surprises  that  met 
them  on  their  march. 
The  great  Cascade  of 
the  Coca  and  the 
rapids  below ;  the  rain 
which  never  ceased ; 
the  oozy  soil  and 
matted  undergrowth 
and  the  strange  forms 
of  bird  and  beast  are 
mentioned  in  the  chron- 
icle, with  the  astonish- 
ment of  the  Spaniards 
to  see  a  thing  so  great 
and  so  strange. 

Forty  leagues 
further  down  they 
reached  a  point 
where  the  stream 
narrows  and  fl  o  w  s 
between  precipitous 
banks  nearly  two 

hundred  feet  high.  By  felling  trees  after  the  manner  of  the 
Indians  they  succeeded  in  bridging  the  stream ;  and,  after  scatter- 
ing some  Indians  who  ventured  to  oppose  them,  they  proceeded 
on  their  way  down  the  other  bank  of  the  stream.  But  the  same 
difficulties  met  them  here  and  finally,  having  passed  through  a 


BRIDGE  OVER  A  TRIBUTARY  OF  THE  NAPO. 


2OO  THE  NAMING   Of-'  THE  AMAZON. 

land  called  Guema,  where  many  Spaniards  and  Indians  fell  sick 
and  died  owing  to  hunger  and  fatigue  and  the  heavy  rains,  they 
reached  a  more  hospitable  country.  Here  it  was  determined  to 
build  a  brigantine,  to  transport  the  sick  and  the  baggage ;  and 
this  it  was  that  led  to  the  crowning  disaster  of  the  expedition  and 
to  its  great  glory  as  well.  When  this  brigantiue  was  built,  all 
their  gold  and  everything  of  value  was  put  on  board,  and  then 
the  weary  march  was  resumed.  Two  months  more  were  spent  in 
efforts  by  those  on  land  to  force  a  way  through  the  thick  and 
matted  brushwood  and  the  soft  spongy  soil,  into  which  they  sank 
at  every  step,  while  those  on  board  the  brigantine  had  all  they 
could  do  to  keep  their  bark  from  being  carried  down  the  stream 
and  separating  them  from  their  comrades. 

At  last  when  their  hopes  of  reaching  the  wonderful  land  they 
had  started  to  conquer  had  almost  died  out  in  their  breasts,  some 
Indians  appeared  and  by  signs  made  them  understand  that  ten 
days  march  down  the  Coca  they  would  reach  another  great  river, 
the  Napo,  on  the  shores  of  which  was  this  land  they  were  in  quest 
of,  a  land  well  provisioned  and  rich  in  gold. 

A  council  was  called  and  Gonzalo  Pizarro  gave  Francisco  de 
Orellana  command  of  the  brigantine  and  fifty  men,  and  sent  him 
on  to  this  land  with  orders  to  load  the  brigantine  with  provisions 
and  return  to  his  starving  comrades  as  quickly  as  possible. 
Pizarro  up  to  this  evidently  had  seen  no  reason  to  mistrust  Orel- 
lana, and  sore  indeed  must  have  been  the  temptation  or  cold  and 
cruel  the  heart  of  the  man  who  could  conceive  under  the  circum- 
stances the  act  of  treachery  which  Orellana  completed.  Over  two 
thousand  of  the  four  thousand  Indians  who  had  started  were 
already  dead,  and  many  of  tfie  Spaniards ;  and  the  only  hope  for  the 
survivors  was  the  speedy  return  of  the  brigantine. 

Three  days  sail  down  the  swift  stream  brought  Orellana  to  the 
Napo,  a  distance  of  eighty  leagues,  only  to  find  that  the  Indians 
had  deceived  them.  The  banks  of  the  river  were  deserted. 
There  were  neither  Indians  nor  gold  nor  provisions  to  be  found. 
What  was  to  be  done  ?  To  return  against  the  current  was  almost 
impracticable  ;  to  remain  where  they  were  and  await  Pizarro  was 


THE  NAMING  OF  THE  AMAZON. 


201 


the  only  honorable  course  left.  This  Orellaua  decided  not  to  do, 
and  without  opening  his  mind  to  anyone  he  ordered  his  men  to  sail 
on.  To  their  credit  be  it  said  that  many,  suspecting  his  design, 
opposed  him  strongly.  Chief  among  these  was  the  Dominican 
Father  Caravajal.  But  Orel  1  ana  gained  over  some  and,  abandoning 
the  head  of  the  opposition,  he  proceeded  down  the  Napo  till  he 
reached  the  Amazon  and  the  Ocean  and  finally  arrived  in  Spain. 
Gonzalo  Pizarro,  when  he  found  that  the  brigantine  did  not 
return,  slowly  and  painfully,  now  that  he  had  no  brigantine  to 
transport  the  sick,  made  his  way  down  to  the  Napo.  There  he  found 


THE  AMAZON  AT  THE  MOUTH  OF  THE  NAPO. 


Don  Hernan  and  learned  of  the  base  treachery  of  his  trusted  lieu- 
tenant. But  all  this  only  served  to  bring  out  the  greatness  of  the 
man.  Animating  his  followers  by  word  and  example,  he  continued 
his  march  three  hundred  miles  down  the  Napo  until  even  he  saw 
that  to  proceed  farther  would  only  result  in  the  destruction  of  his 
whole  band ;  so  reluctantly  and  despondently  he  turned  back.  The 
story  of  the  retreat  was  a  repetition  of  the  tale  we  have  just  been 
recalling.  The  dogs  and  the  horses  that  were  still  alive  were 
killed  and  eaten ;  the  bodies  of  their  dead  comrades  that  fell  by 
the  way  were,  horrible  to  relate,  greedily  devoured  and  when  these 


2O2  A  RONDEAU  FOR  ST.  JOSEPH. 

were  gone,  roots  and  herbs  and  the  few  animals  they  were  able  to 
snare,  with  frogs  and  snakes,  were  all  they  had  to  quiet  the  pangs 
of  hunger. 

Three  hundred  leagues  of  march  brought  them  to  Quito. 
The  four  thousand  Indians  had  perished  to  a  man ;  of  the  Span- 
iards, two  hundred  and  ten  had  died  out  of  the  three  hundred  and 
forty  had  started,  not  counting  the  fifty  who  followed  Orellana. 
Little  wonder  then  that  "  they  kissed  the  earth  when  they  reached 
the  borders  of  Quito,  giving  thanks  to  God  Who  had  delivered 
them  from  such  great  perils  and  hardships,"  or  that  the  citizens  of 
Quito  who  came  out  to  receive  them,  "  wept  for  grief  to  behold 
those  who  came  and  to  know  that  the  missing  had  died  of  hunger." 

Thus  ended  the  first  great  expedition  into  the  lands  watered 
by  the  Amazon  and  its  tributaries. 


A  RONDEAU   FOR  ST.  JOSEPH. 

'By  Marie  Louise  Sandrock. 

E  silvern  cup  that  rises  there, 
From  pillared  stalk  of  lily  fair, 
Ingathers  ev'ry  day,  I  ween, 
Hosts  of  petitions  all  unseen 
To  our  kind  Saint  and  debonair. 

The  largess  sought,  which  is  my  prayer, 
I  leave  within  the  lily's  care 

That  it  be  purer  made  through  sheen 
Of  silvern  cup. 

This  is  thy  treasury;  so  dare 

We  all,  St.  Joseph,  here  repair 

That  thou,  when  clam'rous  have  we  been 
In  loud  outcry  of  wants  most  keen, 

Mayst  give  to  us  some  helping  fare 
From  silvern  cup. 


THE  FATHER  OF   MANY  SOULS. 
JOHN  HENRY  NEWMAN, 

Priest  of  the  Oratory  of  St.  Philip  Neri  and  Cardinal  of  the  Holy  Eoman  Church  : 
born  in  London,  England,  21  February,  1801,  elected  Fellow  of  Oriel  College, 
Oxford  University,  in  1823,  sometime  University  preacher  (  Anglican  t,  received 
into  the  Catholic  Church,  October  9,  1845,  died  11  August,  1890. 

II. 

was  in  1833  that  what  is  now  known  as  the  Oxford 
Movement  was  finally  begun.  In  this  remarkable 
movement  of  minds  no  one  has  ever  doubted  that 
Newman  had  the  leading  part  —  not  that  held  by  the 
highest  drop  in  a  wave-crest,  pushed  up  by  the 
chance  work  of  the  forces  around  it,  but  a  true  leadership  of 
minds.  All  who  took  a  part  in  it  have  confessed  this.  The  late 
Protestant  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  said  :  "It  was  a  time  when 
Newman  reigned  supreme  in  the  University." 

Mr.  Gladstone  has  spoken  in  the  same  sense  in  well  known 
words.  One  who  himself  became  a  Catholic,  the  Jesuit  Father 
Coleridge,  son  of  the  biographer  of  Keble,  roused  himself  from 
illness  to  write  the  following  words  after  the  death  of  the  great 
Cardinal,  whom  he  aifectionately  calls  "  a  father  of  souls." 

Now  I  shall  speak  more  freely,  as  is  sometimes  allowed  to 
those  who  have  a  great  debt  to  pay,  of  one  whom,  as  I  said  in 
my  opening  words,  many  souls  (of  whom  I  am  one)  look  upon 
most  truly  as  the  father  of  their  spiritual  life.  .  .  .  What  St. 
Paul  claims  to  have  done  for  the  Corinthians,  that  I  most  humbly 
and  gratefully  acknowledge  to  have  been  done  to  myself  by  John 
Henry  Newman.  God  might  have  used  many  other  instruments, 
many  other  means,  but  what  I  know  of  our  past  tells  me  that  the 
instrument  and  the  means  He  has  used  for  my  conversion  was 
Cardinal  Newman. 

This  second  period  of  Newman's  life  has  been  told  in  its 
inmost  detail  in  his  own  Apologia.  For  those  who  desire  a 
complete  and  thoroughly  trustworthy  history  of  the  Movement,  the 


203 


204  THE  FATHER   OF  M4NY  SOULS. 

son  of  one  of  its  chief  men,  who  followed  Newman  into  the 
Church  and  was  long  editor  of  the  Dublin  Review,  has  written 
fully  in  a  book  on  that  period  of  his  father's  life —  William  George 
Ward  and  the  Oxford  Movement.  To  these  volumes  we  must 
refer  our  readers  for  the  details.  We  will  content  ourselves  here, 
in  accordance  with  our  design,  with  quoting,  mainly  from  New- 
man's own  words,  passages  that  show  how  the  sincere  dispositions 
of  soul  which  he  had  shown  when  comparatively  unknown  still 
led  him  on,  through  all  the  temptations  of  a  brilliant  public 
career,  up  to  the  great  act  by  which,  as  an  Anglican  newspaper 
has  not  hesitated  to  say,  "  Protestantism  lost  the  founder  of  the 
present  Anglican  Church  !" 

These  were  years  of  mental  difficulties ;  but  through  them 
all  Newman  preserved  his  balance  of  mind  unshaken.  Little  by 
little  the  whole  ground  of  the  convictions  he  had  been  advocating 
so  earnestly  was  changed  beneath  him.  He  could  not  see  whither 
he  was  tending ;  and  the  distrust,  even  of  his  friends,  must  sorely 
have  grieved  a  heart  so  sensitive. 

Yet  to  one  thing  he  was  always  true.  Christ,  the  Son  of 
God,  had  taught  truth  to  the  world,  and  to  Him  alone  would  he 
go.  All  the  difficulties  of  the  world  and  unbelief,  all  the  uncer- 
tainties of  a  State  religion  patched  together  by  the  private  judg- 
ment of  individuals,  could  not  make  him  swerve  in  his  faith  that 
what  Christ  had  taught  and  all  that  He  had  taught  is  to  be 
believed.  This  is  simply  the  Catholic  faith ;  for  our  reason  for 
believing  what  the  Church  teaches  is  that  we  know  that  the 
Church  teaches  what  Christ  has  taught.  She  continues  His  work 
and,  like  Him,  is  the  living  mouthpiece  of  God  among  men. 

In  the  year  1838,  he  spoke  these  stern  words  to  the  men  of 
the  University  who  flocked  around  him  : 

Oh,  miserable  we,  then,  if  we  are  of  the  number  of  those  who 
prefer  sight  to  faith !  Oh,  miserable,  if  when  our  Saviour,  the 
very  Word  of  God  and  the  True  Witness,  speaks  plainly  one  way, 
we  listen  to  the  serpent's  voice,  saying,  l  Ye  shall  not  surely  die.' 
We  have  no  right,  indeed,  surely  not,  to  say  absolutely  that  this 
or  that  man,  whom  we  see  and  can  point  out,  is  destined  to  future 
punishment ;  God  forbid,  for  we  can  but  judge  by  outward 


THE  FATHER   OF  M^NY  SOULS.  2O5 

appearance,  and  God  alone  seeth  the  hearts  of  men.  But  we  are 
expressly  told  that  there  are  persons  so  destined ;  we  are  told  that 
the  finally  impenitent,  whoever  they  shall  be,  are  so  destined  : 
whatever  the  sight  of  things  may  tell  us,  however  the  weaknesses 
and  waywardnesses  of  our  hearts  may  plead  against  such  awful 
truths,  however  our  feelings  and  imaginations  and  reason  may  be 
assailed,  yet  'Let  God  be  true  and  every  man  a  liar.'  Let  us 
believe  Him,  though  the  whole  world  rise  up  and  with  one  voice 
deny  His  words. 

His  intense  devotion  to  the  Person  of  our  Lord,  and  his  clear 
appreciation  of  the  fact  that  mere  intellectual  conviction  is  insuf- 
ficient to  Christian  Faith,  come  out  in  a  remarkable  sermon 
preached  at  Oxford  in  the  year  1841.  His  discourse  was  designed 
to  defend  the  position  in  which  he  then  was.  He  did  not  as  yet 
look  forward  to  anything  further.  He  asks  : 

Would  you  know  why  holy  men  believe,  even  in  an  age  of 
miracles  ?  Hear  St.  Poly  carp's  words  when  the  heathen  magis- 
trate asked  him  to  blaspheme  Christ :  ( Eighty  and  six  years/ 
said  he,  '  have  I  served  Him  and  He  hath  never  wronged  me,  and 
how  can  I  blaspheme  my  King  Who  hath  saved  me  ?'  Or,  as  St. 
Paul  said,  '  I  know  Whom  I  have  believed.' 

Already  he  had  recognized  the  "  Offices  of  the  Church." 

This  is  the  glory  of  the  Church,  to  speak,  to  do,  and  to  suffer 
with  that  grace  which  Christ  brought  and  diffused  abroad.  .  .  . 
This  was  that  new  thing  that  Christ  brought  into  the  world,  a 
heavenly  Doctrine,  a  system  of  holy  and  spiritual  truths,  which  are 
to  be  received  and  transmitted,  for  He  is  our  Prophet ;  maintained 
even  unto  suffering,  after  His  pattern,  Who  is  our  Priest ;  and 
obeyed,  for  He  is  our  King. 

This,  indeed,  is  the  immovable  foundation  of  Catholic  faith. 
We  believe  what  the  Church  teaches,  because  Christ — God, 
Who  can  neither  deceive  nor  be  deceived — teaches  through  her. 
On  this  the  Faith  of  Peter  is  built  up,  according  to  the  words  of 
that  Apostle  when  his  Master  in  a  time  of  sore  trial  asked  of  His 
disciples  :  Will  you  too  go  away  f — to  which  Peter,  the  Rock  on 
which  Christ  was  to  build  His  Church,  made  answer,  To  whom, 
Lord,  shall  we  go  ?  Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life,  and  we 


2O6  THE  FATHER   OF  MANY  SOULS. 

have  believed  and  know  that  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God. 
(St.  John,  vi.  68). 

At  last  his  confidence  in  the  teuableness  of  the  views  he  had 
hitherto  advocated  was  seriously  shaken.  In  the  two  volumes  of 
letters  of  this  period  of  his  life,  published  only  in  the  last  few 
weeks,  we  have  striking  marks,  in  this  supreme  trial,  of  the  good 
dispositions  of  his  soul  for  welcoming  the  truth  wherever  it  was  to 
be  found. 

Of  course,  one  of  the  sorest  trials  to  one  of  his  sensitive 
nature  was  the  necessary  discomfort  and  unsettling  of  conscience 
which  he  would  have  to  inflict  on  those  over  whom  he  had  so 
much  influence.  To  this  he  alludes  in  the  Apologia;  and  it 
brought  considerable  criticism  upon  him  both  at  the  time  and  later 
on.  He  could  not  give  a  sharp,  abrupt  decision  to  those  who  were 
in  distress  of  mind,  for  the  simple  reason  that  his  own  mind  had 
been  unsettled.  On  the  other  hand,  he  could  not  in  conscience 
lead  men  on  with  himself  in  his  own  doubts,  the  end  of  which  he 
could  not  foresee.  This  made  him  miserable  whenever  he  was 
consulted  in  regard  to  matters  of  belief.  In  1842  he  thus  answered 
Dr.  Pusey,  who  had  asked  him  concerning  one  of  the  more 
advanced  of  his  followers : 

As  to  my  being  entirely  with  Ward,  I  do  not  know  the 
limits  of  my  own  opinions.  If  Ward  says  that  this  or  that  is 
the  development  of  what  I  have  said,  I  cannot  say  yes  or  no. 
It  is  plausible,  it  may  be  true.  ...  I  cannot  assert  that  it 
is  not  true ;  but  I  cannot,  with  that  keen  perception  that  some 
have,  appropriate  it.  It  is  a  nuisance  for  me  to  be  forced  beyond 
what  I  can  fairly  accept. 

In  the  recently  published  letters  there  is  a  private  comment 
on  this  state  of  mind,  addressed  to  his  sister  in  1844,  the  year 
previous  to  his  final  conversion  to  the  Church. 

I  am  not  unwilling  to  be  in  trouble  now  and  for  others  to 
be — for  it  is  what  must  be — and  the  more  of  it  the  sooner  over. 
It  is  like  drinking  a  cup  out.  I  am  far  from  unmindful  of  what 
you  say  about  unsettlement  of  others  being  a  providential  intima- 
tion ;  but  there  must  be  a  limit  to  its  force,  else  the  Jews  could 
never  have  become  Christians  in  early  times,  or  Nestorians  or 


THE  FATHER.   OF  MANY  SOULS.  2O7 

Monophy sites  Catholics  in  more  recent.  How  St.  Paul  must  have 
unsettled  quiet  Jews,  who  were  serving  God  and  heard  nothing  of 
our  Lord  but  as  a  Samaritan  and  a  '  deceiver.'  And  this  suggests 
what  has  ever  been  said  against  the  Church  at  all  times,  namely, 
that  it  was  corrupt,  anti-Christian,  &c.  This  has  ever  been  a 
note  of  the  Church.  And  I  do  believe  the  Church  of  Rome  has 
the  imputation  only  in  this  sense  (allowing  for  our  Lord's  parable 
of  the  Net).  It  is  no  new  thing  that  the  Church  has  been  under 
odium  and  disgrace,  and  I  confess  the  atrocious  lies — I  can  call 
them  nothing  else — which  are  circulated  against  myself  have  led 
me  to  feel  how  very  false  the  popular  impression  may  be  about 
the  Jesuits,  &c.  I  say  this  because  one  of  the  most  plausible 
arguments  against  the  Church  of  Rome  is, { We  do  not  understand 
these  things,  but  we  are  quite  sure  that  there  could  not  be  so 
much  suspicion,  so  much  imputation,  without  cause  for  it  at 
bottom,  in  spite  of  prejudice,  exaggeration,  &c.' ;  just  what  people 
may  say,  or  do  say,  about  myself. 

In  this  correspondence  there  are  a  few  very  touching  words, 
showing  his  utter  unworldliness  : 

Nothing  you  say  about  my  loss  of  influence  has  any  tendency 
to  hurt  me,  as  you  kindly  fear  it  should.  I  never  have  thought 
about  any  influence  I  have  had.  I  never  have  mastered  what  it 
was.  It  is  simply  no  effort  whatever  to  give  it  up.  The  pain, 
indeed,  which  I  knew  I  was  giving  to  individuals  has  affected  me 
much ;  but  as  to  influence,  the  whole  world  is  one  great  vanity, 
and  I  trust  I  am  not  set  on  anything  in  it — I  trust  not.  Nor 
have  I  thrown  influence  away  if  I  have  acted  at  the  call  of 
duty. 

The  time  had  come  when  Newman  felt  that  he  could  not  in 
conscience  retain  the  place  which  he  held  in  the  Anglican  Estab- 
lishment. On  the  other  hand,  he  could  not  yet  see  whither  his 
steps  were  leading.  He  accordingly  resigned  his  position  and 
retired  into  the  lay  communion  of  the  Church  whose  great  light 
he  had  been.  His  last  sermon — "The  Parting  of  Friends" — 
winds  up  with  one  of  the  most  pathetic  passages  in  the  whole 
field  of  English  oratory.  Touchingly  enough,  he  had  chosen  for 
his  text  the  same  verse  of  the  Psalms  from  which  he  had  preached 
his  first  sermon  nineteen  years  before  to  the  University  of  Oxford. 
Man  goeth  forth  to  his  work  and  to  his  labor  until  the  evening. 


2O8  THE  FATHER  OF  MANY  SOULS. 

This  was  his  final  farewell  to  all  that  had  hitherto  made  up  his 
life  and  influence.  His  face  was  now  set  whither  he  did  not  see, 
but  faithfully  to  follow  the  kindly  Light,  step  by  step. 

O  my  brethren,  O  kind  and  aifectionate  hearts,  O  loving 
friends,  should  you  know  any  one  whose  lot  it  has  been,  by 
writing  or  by  word  of  mouth,  in  some  degree  to  help  you  thus  to 
act ;  if  he  has  ever  told  you  what  you  knew  about  yourselves,  or 
what  you  did  not  know ;  has  read  to  you  your  wants  or  feelings, 
and  comforted  you  by  the  very  reading ;  has  made  you  feel  that 
there  was  a  higher  life  than  this  daily  one,  and  a  brighter  world 
than  that  you  see ;  or  encouraged  you,  or  sobered  you,  or  opened 
a  way  to  the  inquiring,  or  soothed  the  perplexed ;  if  what  he  has 
said  or  done  has  ever  made  you  take  interest  in  him,  and  feel  well 
inclined  towards  him ;  remember  such  a  one  in  time  to  come, 
though  you  hear  him  not,  and  pray  for  him,  that  in  all  things 
he  may  know  God's  will,  and  at  all  times  he  may  be  ready  to 
fulfil  it. 

This,  as  we  have  seen,  had  been  the  one  burden  of  his 
spiritual  life — "  in  all  things  to  know  God's  will,  and  at  all  times 
to  be  ready  to  fulfil  it." 

The  two  following  years  he  spent  in  his  retirement  at  Little- 
more,  where  he  had  already  gathered  together  a  little  community. 
Father  Lockhart,  who  was  its  inmate  for  a  time,  describes  it : 

This  was  a  kind  of  monastic  life,  of  prayer,  fasting,  and 
study.  We  rose  at  midnight  to  say  the  Divine  Office.  We 
fasted  always  till  twelve  o'clock,  except  on  Sundays  and  great 
festivals ;  till  five  o'clock  during  Advent  and  Lent.  The  rest  of 
the  time  we  passed  in  study. 

Naturally,  this  was  a  time  of  great  mental  struggle.  That 
misunderstanding  of  Newman's  position  which  was  to  endure 
among  his  countrymen  for  twenty  years  longer,  was  making  itself 
heard  in  loud  outcries.  Mr.  Hutton,  who  is  not  a  Catholic,  fully 
appreciates  this. 

It  was  a  great  wrench  for  him  to  separate  himself  from  the 
University  to  which  he  had  always  been  warmly  attached,  and 
where  he  had  pleased  himself  by  thinking  that  he  should  live  and 
die ;  and  it  was  all  the  greater  wrench  that  his  course  was  at  this 
time  so  gravely  misunderstood  and  so  widely  misrepresented 


THE  FATHER  OF  M4NY  SOULS.  2O9 

amongst  his  own  friends  and  former  colleagues.  Indeed,  it  was 
twenty  years  after  his  conversion  before  he  got  the  opportunity  of 
persuading  the  world  that  he  had  acted  only  on  conviction,  and 
on  conviction  very  slowly  formed,  very  anxiously  reviewed,  and, 
indeed,  for  a  considerable  time,  deliberately  suspended,  in  order 
that  he  might  adequately  test  its  force.  For  many  years  after  his 
conversion  l  the  Protestant  tradition/  as  he  called  it  in  his  lectures 
on  Catholicism  in  England,  treated  his  conversion  as  a  sort  of 
conspiracy,  deliberately  devised  for  the  subversion  of  the  truth. 

The  great  convert  has  himself  said  words  of  the  conversion 
of  a  dear  friend  of  his  which  may  be  fairly  applied  to  himself. 
It  was  at  the  funeral  of  Henry  Wilberforce,  described  in  the  letter 
of  one  who  was  present : 

During  the  office  a  venerable  figure  came  quietly  up  the  aisle, 
and  was  going  meekly  to  take  a  place  on  chairs  at  the  side ;  but 

H saw  and  took  him  into  the  sacristy,  whence  he  soon  made 

his  appearance  in  cassock  and  cotta  in  the  choir,  and  was  con- 
ducted to  the  Prior's  stall  which  was  vacated  for  him.  This  was 
dear  Dr.  Newman.  He  followed  the  office  with  them,  but  after 
a  while  he  could  contain  his  tears.no  longer,  and  buried  his  face 
in  his  handkerchief.  At  the  end  of  Mass,  Father  Bertrand  said 
something  to  Dr.  Newman,  and,  after  a  little  whispering,  the 
venerable  man  was  conducted  to  the  pulpit.  For  some  minutes, 
however,  he  was  utterly  incapable  of  speaking,  and  stood,  his  face 
covered  with  his  hands,  making  vain  efforts  to  master  his  emotion. 
I  was  quite  afraid  he  would  have  to  give  it  up.  At  last,  how- 
ever, after  two  or  three  attempts,  he  managed  to  steady  his  voice, 
and  to  tell  us  '  that  he  knew  him  so  intimately  and  loved  him  so 
much,  that  it  was  almost  impossible  for  him  to  command  himself 
sufficiently  to  do  what  he  had  been  so  unexpectedly  asked  to  do, 
viz.,  to  bid  his  dear  friend  farewell.  He  had  known  him  for 
fifty  years,  and  though,  no  doubt,  there  were  some  there  who 
knew  his  goodness  better  than  he  did,  yet  it  seemed  to  him  that 
no  one  could  mourn  him  more.'  Then  he  drew  a  little  outline  of 
his  life — of  the  position  of  comfort  and  all  l  that  this  world  calls 
good,'  in  which  he  found  himself,  and  of  the  prospect  of  advance- 
ment, '  if  he  had  been  an  ambitious  man.'  '  Then  the  word  of  the 
Lord  came  to  him,  as  it  did  to  Abraham  of  old,  to  go  forth  from 
that  pleasant  home,  and  from  his  friends,  and  all  he  held  dear, 
and  to  become,'  here  he  fairly  broke  down  again,  but  at  last,  lift- 
ing up  his  head,  finished  his  sentence — '  a  fool  for  Christ's  sake.* 


THE  CHASUBLE.     - 

"By  the  Secretary  of  a  Tabernacle  Society. 
III.     SHAPE  AND  COLOR. 

[We  insert  under  this  head,  in  addition  to  the  article  of  our  contributor 
and  in  connection  with  the  illustrations  given,  a  few  notes  of  Father  Lockhart 
from  the  Irish  Ecclesiastical  Record  for  December,  1890.  The  three  small  designs 
here  given,  and  named  respectively  Gothic,  Bernardine,  and  Roman,  are  from  the 
factory  of  the  well-known  European  and  American  house  of  Benziger  Brothers. 
The  designs  of  a  correct  chasuble,  and  those  of  the  priest  fully  vested  in  the 
incorrect  sale-chasuble,  are  from  Miss  Dolby's  work,  now  out  of  print. — EDITOE.] 

r  I  ^HE  vestments,  vulgarly 
called  Gothic,  were  first 
introduced  into  England 
about  fifty  .years  ago,  after 
designs  made  by  that  man  of 
eminent  genius,  the  late  Augus- 
tus Welby  Pugin,  the  father  of 
the  revival  of  mediaeval  archi- 
tecture and  of  Christian  Art 
in  England  and  Ireland.  It 
had  always  seemed  to  me, 
though  I  have  an  unbounded 
admiration  for  everything  else 
that  Pugin  did,  that  this  form 
of  vestment  was  not  a  true 
return  to  that  of  the  ancient 
mediaeval  chasuble.  These 
modern  Gothic  vestments  were, 

for  the  most  part,  cut  into  a  pointed  form  behind  and  in  front. 
They  had  not  the  ample  folds  of  the  ancient  examples,  which  we 
see  figured  in  the  old  stained  glass,  and  on  the  recumbent  effigies 
of  bishops  and  priests,  on  monumental  tombs  and  sepulchral 
brasses. 

These  vestments,  as  they  are  represented,  come  to  a  point  in 
front.  There  is  no  evidence  that  they  came  to  a  point  behind,  for 
we  never  see  more  than  the  front  of  a  vestment  on  these  ancient 
figures.  But  they  fall  in  front  into  a  point  naturally,  because, 
being  lifted  up  over  the  arms,  and  being  made  of  rich  but  pliable 


GOTHIC  CHASUBLE,  RECENT. 


210 


THE  CHASUBLE. 


211 


silk  or  cloth  of  gold,  they  must  necessarily  assume  this  form,  at 
least  in  front ;  for  the  ancient  vestment,  being  circular,  that  part 
in  front  that  fell  between  the  arms 
would  fall  in  ample  folds  into  a 
somewhat  pointed  outline.  .  .  . 
These  so-called  Gothic  vestments, 
used  in  many  churches  in  England, 
though  rather  tolerated  than  per- 
mitted by  the  ecclesiastical  author- 
ities, and  forbidden  by  some 
Bishops,  are  of  all  sizes  and  shapes, 
according  to  the  fancy  of  the 
priest,  or  of  some  pious  benefac- 
tress, or  they  are  made  according 
to  some  traditionary  Pugin  pattern 
of  this  or  that  convent  of  nuns  or 
secular  vestment-maker.  This 
false  departure  has,  as  I  believe, 
been  the  cause  of  stopping  the 
restoration  of  the  really  majestic 
and  authoritative  chasuble  of  the 
Roman  Pontifical. 

BERNARDINE  CHASUBLE,  RECENT. 

The  Roman  chasuble,  and 
that  used  throughout  the  whole 
Latin  rite,  at  the  time  of  the 
Council  of  Trent,  had  gradu- 
ally, by  cutting  at  the  sides, 
assumed  the  form  of  an  oval, 
instead  of  the  circular  form  of 
antiquity.  Yet  it  never  inno- 
vated on  the  broad  square  form 
behind  which  is  still  distinctive 
of  the  Roman  vestment.  .  .  . 
The  clipping  and  shaping 
has  gone  on,  depending  on  no 
ecclesiastical  tradition  or 
authority,  in  spite  of  the 
measurements  prescribed  as  the 
minimum  to  which  vestments 
might  be  reduced,  solely  on  the 
authority  of  vestment-makers,  or  because  of  the  poverty,  bad 
taste,  or  penuriousness  of  the  clergy  or  benefactors. 


ROMAN  CHASUBLE,   RECENT. 


212 


THE  CHASUBLE. 


Who  can  describe  the  abortion  of  the  chasuble  which  pervades 
France  at  the  present  day.  Fiddle-shaped  in  front,  not  coming 
down  to  the  knees,  stiff  with  buckram  or  paper  pasted  on  the 
poverty-stricken,  half-cotton,  half-silk  materia'l  of  Lyons  manu- 
facture. They  are  as  stiff  as  tea-boards  and  crack  if  they  are  bent. 

I  was  told  a  story  lately  in  Belgium  of  a  priest  who  objected 
to  the  stiff  paper  pasted  between  the  flimsy  silk  and  cheap  cotton 
lining.  The  manufacturer — very  likely  a  Jew,  for  the  Jews  are 


RECENT  CLIPPED  CHASUBLE. 


the  great  vendors  of  these  shabby  articles — misunderstanding  the 
objection  of  the  priest,  replied :  '  Yes,  M.  PAbb6,  we  always  use 
paper,  in  order  that  they  may  wear  better  and  to  add  to  the  sub- 
stantial appearance  of  our  vestments.  But  I  assure  you  on  this 
point  I  have  a  delicate  conscience,  and  I  never  put  into  vestments 
anything  but  des  bons  journaux  oatholiques  (good  Catholic  news- 
papers) P 

It  is  probable  that  until  the  ninth  century  white,  purple, 
and  gold  were  the  only  colors  used  in  the  ritual  of  the  Church. 
In  the  eleventh  century  the  five  colors  of  the  present  day  were 
chosen,  viz.,  white,  purple,  green,  red,  and  black.  The  Greek 
Church  adopted  these  colors  about  the  same  time,  with  this 


THE  CHASUBLE. 


213 


difference,  that  they  used  red  only  on  fast-days  and  in  remem- 
brance of  the  dead.  According  to  the  old  Sarum  rite,  not  only 
were  sky-blue  and  yellow  recognized  colors  for  the  sacred  vest- 
ments, but  red  was  used  in  Lent  and  on  Good  Friday. 

In  many  places    the  spirit  of  ecclesiastical  decoration  has 
greatly  degenerated.     But  there  appears  to  be  at  the  present  time 


FRONT  OF  FULL  CHASUBLE. 

Mediaeval. 


a  decided  revival  of  taste  for  the  fitting  and  the  beautiful, 
evidenced  by  the  devotion  with  which  many  women  work  for  it. 
In  America,  still  a  missionary  country,  many  things  are 
tolerated,  which  are  not  of  the  true  rubrical  order,  such  as  double- 
face  vestments — white  and  red — purple  and  black— which  are 
necessary  for  the  missionary,  but  should  be  dispensed  with  as 
soon  as  possible. 


214 


THE  CHASUBLE. 


The  usual  length  of  the  chasuble,  as  we  see  it  here,  is  44 
inches  back,  and  39  inches  front,  and  its  width  about  27  inches. 
Buckram  or  canvas  is  used  on  account  of  the.  thin  silk ;  but  as 
the  vestment  should  be  pliant,  a  stout  calico  between  the  material 


BACK  OF  FULL  CHASUBLE. 

Mediaeval. 


and  the  lining  would  be  better.  The  lining  should  be  of  silk. 
Satin  is  permissible,  but  the  glazed  calico  that  we  find  in  some  of 
the  vestments  is  hideous  and  certainly  not  seemly  for  the  Eucha- 
ristic  robe  which  is  '  for  beauty  and  for  glory.'  Velvet,  satin,  or 


THE  CHASUBLE.  215 

silk,  the  best  that  may  be,  are  the  materials  which  should  be  used 
for  vestments. 

In  France,  Ireland,  and  the  United  States,  the  Latin  Cross 
has  always  been  used  on  the  back  of  the  chasuble.  In  Italy, 
when  used  at  all,  it  is  in  front.  A  cross  of  velvet  is  effective  on 
a  satin  or  silk  vestment,  and  the  needlework  or  ornamentation 
may  follow  its  lines.  We  need  not  place  any  limit  to  the  adorn- 
ment ;  there  is  no  immediate  danger  of  our  vestments  resembling 
one  of  the  chasubles  we  read  of  belonging  to  the  Cathedral  at 
Mentz  in  the  twelfth  century — "which  was  so  weighted  with 
splendor  that  the  celebrant  was  obliged  to  change  it  at  the  Offer- 
tory for  a  lighter  vestment !" 

IV.     SYMBOLISM. 

In  reference  to  our  Divine  Lord,  the  chasuble  represents  the 
purple  garment  worn  before  Pilate.  It  is  usually  considered  to 
be  symbolical  of  charity,  which  Rabanus  Maurus  says  "  is  eminent 
above  all  the  other  virtues."  The  Bishop,  when  giving  the 
chasuble  to  the  priest  in  ordination,  tells  him  it  is  the  "  robe  of  the 
innocence "  which  should  cover  us  entirely ;  of  that  charity  which 
should  be  spread  over  all  our  works  and  make  the  glory  of  our 
other  virtues,  even  as  this  vestment  covers  all  others ;  of  that 
charity  which  makes  us  compassionate  the  miseries  of  others  and 
teaches  us  to  cover  them  with  a  mantle  of  mercy  that  may  conceal 
them  from  the  eyes  of  men,  and  with  a  cloak  of  pardon  which  will 
efface  them  from  the  eyes  of  God. 

We  find  it  considered  typical  of  good  works ;  ancient  sacra- 
mentaries  and  missals  regard  it  as  the  figure  of  sacerdotal  justice, 
or  of  humility,  charity  and  peace,  which  are  to  cover  and  adorn 
the  priest  on  every  side ;  while  the  prayer  of  the  Roman  Missal 
connects  the  chasuble  with  the  yoke  of  Christ  which  the  priest 
and  the  faithful  must  carry  every  day — "O  Lord,  Who  hast  said 
— My  yoke  is  sweet  and  My  burden  light — grant  that  I  may  so 
carry  it  as  to  merit  Thy  grace." 


THE   MORNING  OFFERING. 
A  THIRD  DIALOGUE. 

DlSCIPLE.  I  should  very  much  like  to  know  what  the 
practice  of  a  simple  devotion  like  the  Morning  Offering  does  to 
the  will  of  an  ordinary  man.  I  can  understand  that  his  prom- 
ising to  practise  it  along  with  others,  in  order  to  have  the  benefit 
of  their  prayers,  will  help  his  memory.  But  what  about  his 
will  ? 

Teacher.  There  is  some  little  act  of  the  will  required  to 
remember  and  say  the  prayer  in  question.  That  is  worth  some- 
thing, surely.  Men  do  not  make  so  many  religious  acts  of  the 
will  that  we  can  afford  to  despise  the  little  Morning  Offering. 

Disciple.  Yes,  that  is  true.  But  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer 
professes  to  do  something  more  by  means  of  its  Morning  Offering. 
If  I  mistake  not,  it  claims  that  some  effect  is  produced  by  it  on 
the  life  of  the  man  during  the  whole  day.  It  is  this  I  should 
like  to  understand. 

Teacher.  I  see,  you  want  the  plain  theology  of  it  all. 
Now  I  can  tell  you  from  the  start  that  it  is  not  too  easy  to  make 
plain  the  working  of  a  man's  will,  let  alone  the  theology  of  a 
man's  will  working  under  the  influence  of  God's  grace.  But 
with  a  little  patience  we  may  find  out  something.  And  I  have 
often  thought  myself  that  people  would  use  their  wills  better  if 
they  reflected  a  little  on  how  the  will  works. 

Disciple.  Most  people,  I  am  afraid,  would  feel  like  the 
grand  French  lady  who  had  been  brought  up  in  the  country ; 
when  she  came  to  Court,  she  found  that  she  had  first  of  all  to 
learn  to  walk. 

Teacher.  It  is  about  the  same  thing.  People  know,  in  a 
general  way,  that  they  are  responsible  for  certain  of  their  actions ; 
but  very  many  reflect  little  or  not  at  all  on  what  this  responsi- 
bility is  and  in  what  actions  it  is  found.  And  they  seem  never  to 
reflect  on  how  they  can  use  their  wills  to  the  best  advantage. 

216 


THE  MORNING   OFFERING.  217 

Yet  it  is  all  very  simple,  if  one  wishes  to  act  reasonably.  Even 
the  commonest  man  knows  that  the  good  or  evil  of , his  actions 
depends  on  the  will's  intention  in  doing  them. 

Disciple.  Yes,  it  is  there  the  trouble  lies — to  know  what 
the  intention  of  the  will  is  and  how  it  influences  our  actions. 
For  example,  here  is  the  Morning  Offering  which  professes  to 
deal  with  "all  the  prayers,  works  and  sufferings  of  this  day." 
What  possible  influence  can  a  prayer,  however  fervently  said  in 
the  morning,  exercise  over  an  action  performed  at  noon? 

Teacher.  You  will  let  me  say,  to  begin  with,  that  such  a 
question  presents  vastly  more  difficulty  to  the  man  who  speculates 
on  theology  than  to  the  common  Christian.  The  latter  easily 
takes  up  with  such  a  practice  of  devotion,  without  troubling 
himself  how  it  is  to  be  explained  in  so  many  words.  All  have 
heard  that  one  of  the  most  solid  principles  of  Christian  piety 
consists  precisely  in  this — that  an  offering  to  God  of  works  long 
before  they  are  done  may  have  a  great  influence  in  rendering  them 
acceptable  to  Him. 

Disciple.  Of  course,  I  am  familiar  with  its  application  in 
the  gaining  of  Indulgences.  When  I  was  at  school,  a  prayer  was 
read  out  every  day  at  the  beginning  of  Mass,  in  which  we  were 
told  to  form  our  intention  in  order  to  gain  whatever  spiritual 
advantages  might  be  attached  to  our  devotions ;  and  I  hear 
something  of  the  same  kind  announced  before  the  Way  of  the 
Cross  in  our  Lenten  services. 

Teacher.  Yes,  that  is  one  very  common  instance.  But  the 
consecration  of  a  man's  life  to  God  in  the  priesthood  or  the  relig- 
ious state  is  another  and,  perhaps,  better  example.  A  man  may 
live  as  a  priest  sixty  years ;  now  all  this  time  he  had  already  con- 
secrated to  God  when  he  first  offered  himself  for  the  priesthood. 
It  would  be  discouraging  if  God  could  not  take  what  we  offer 
Him  with  such  good  will. 

Disciple.  It  seems  to  me  there  is  some  fallacy  there.  The 
young  priest  could  not  foresee  that  he  was  to  live  sixty  years.  He 
simply  meant  to  offer  all  of  life  that  was  given  him. 

Teacher.     Well,  does   not  that  amount  to  the  same  thing? 


218  THE  MORNING   OFFERING. 

You  say  he  meant  to  offer:  now  the  meaning  of  the  will  is  about 
what  we  call  its  intention.  The  will  intends  to  work  out  a  certain 
end  by  certain  acts.  And  it  chooses  these  acts,  in  virtue  of  this 
intention  which  governs  it.  The  young  man  chooses  to  live  any 
number  of  years  as  a  priest,  because  he  intends  to  offer  and  con- 
secrate himself  to  God  in  that  holy  state.  Just  so  in  the  Morning 
Offering.  When  he  makes  it  in  the  morning,  the  man  intends  to 
perform  at  least  some  good  act  during  the  day  in  fulfilment  of  it. 

Disciple.  You  mean,  then,  that  the  intention  made  in  the 
Morning  Offering  helps  a  man's  will  to  choose  to  perform  good 
actions  during  the  day  ? 

leacher.  Exactly.  It  is,  first  of  all,  a  help;  and  we  must 
not  ask  more  of  it  than  to  help  a  man's  will,  under  grace.  Then, 
it  helps  a  man  to  choose  at  noon,  as  you  said,  some  good  action 
which  he  might  not  have  chosen  to  do  had  he  not  formed  this 
intention  in  the  morning. 

Disciple.  Surely,  you  never  imagine  that  all  the  many 
millions  who  make  the  Morning  Offering  go  on  all  the  day  long 
thinking  about  it? 

Teacher.  Surely  not.  And  I  suspect  it  is  here  your  fallacy 
comes  in.  Some  think  of  it  frequently,  some  seldom,  a  great 
many  of  course  not  at  all.  Probably  more  think  of  it  than  you 
might  suspect.  A  man  told  me  recently  that  in  passing  along  the 
street  he  often  meets  with  others  whom  he  has  seen  at  the  League 
meetings.  This  invariably  brings  to  his  mind  the  thought — 
"  That  man  has  made  the  daily  Offering  for  me  this  morning.  I 
must  say  a  little  prayer  for  him." 

Disciple.  That  is  very  nice.  But  is  the  influence  of  the 
Morning  Offering  only  in  proportion  to  the  thinking  of  it  which  a 
man  does  during  the  day  ? 

Teacher.  No,  and  this  is  a  point  not  enough  understood. 
The  intention  of  the  will  can  have  an  influence  over  a  man's 
action  long  after  it  is  made,  and  when  he  is  not  reflecting  on  it  at 
all.  This  is  as  much  the  case  with  evil  intentions  as  with  good. 

Disciple.  You  surely  do  not  mean  that  a  man  who  formed 
his  intention  sometime  back  now  goes  on  acting  in  virtue  of  that 
intention  withoilt  thinking  at  all  about  it  ? 


THE  MORNING   OFFERING. 


Teacher.  Yes  and  no.  Of  course,  the  intention  must  have 
something  to  do  with  the  action  ;  and,  if  you  wish,  this  influence 
of  the  intention  has  something  to  do  with  a  thought  more  or  less 
present  to  the  mind.  But  he  need  not  be  actually  adverting  to 
the  very  thought  which  guides  his  steps  ;  perhaps,  if  pulled  up 
short,  he  would  scarcely  be  conscious  of  the  presence  of  this 
thought.  When  a  man  acts  freely,  and  pays  attention  to  the 
motive  of  his  action,  he  is  said  to  have  an  actual  intention.  But 
it  often  happens  that  actions  for  which  we  are  perfectly  responsible 
are  performed  with  only  a  virtual  intention. 

Disciple.  Could  you  give  me  some  examples  to  hold  on  to 
in  trying  to  understand  this?  You  see,  we  are  so  little  accus- 
tomed to  reflecting  on  the  action  of  our  own  will,  that  I  am  quite 
like  my  grand  French  lady  who  found  it  very  hard  to  learn  to 
walk  in  Paris,  though  she  had  scampered  through  her  native 
fields  for  years. 

Teacher.  Here  is  an  every-day  example,  and  not  religious 
either.  A  man  has  to  go  one  morning  to  some  other  than  his 
usual  place  of  business.  He  arises  with  this  thought  in  his  mind, 
he  remembers  the  streets  he  must  take  and  whatever  other 
unusual  circumstances  there  may  be  before  he  can  reach  the  place 
to  which  he  wishes  to  go.  His  mind  is  made  up,  there  is  no 
particular  difficulty  in  the  way,  and  he  starts  out.  Meanwhile, 
his  attention  is  strongly  taken  up  with  the  business  of  the  day. 
He  walks  on,  turning  to  right  and  to  left  precisely  as  he  had 
planned,  but  without  once  thinking  of  the  place  for  which  he  is 
bound  until  he  reaches  it. 

Now,  he  has  not  followed  the  ordinary  path  to  his  day's 
business.  That  he  might  go  over  unthinkingly  from  mere  habit ; 
even  this  morning,  quite  against  his  will  and  from  the  force  of 
this  habit,  he  might  have  gone  his  usual  way  until  something 
occurred  to  remind  him  that  he  wished  to  go  elsewhere.  Then 
we  should  have  said  that  he  was  acting  from  an  habitual  intention. 
This  is  something  quite  mechanical,  and  not  sufficient  to  make  an 
act  good  or  evil.  It  is  not  deliberate  at  all ;  and  such  an  habitual 
intention  might  guide  the  footsteps  of  one  who  is  asleep.  In 


22O  THE  MORNING   OFFERING. 

such  a  case,  our  business  man  would  have  to  turn  on  his  steps 
with  an  actual  intention.  But  in  the  case  we  have  supposed, 
which  is  common  enough,  he  went  unthinkingly  -along  an  unusual 
way,  in  virtue  of  the  plan  he  had  formed  in  the  morning.  This  is 
what  is  called  a  virtual  intention.  It  has  a  real  force  or  virtue 
on  the  act  that  is  performed,  and  this  virtue  is  freely  willed. 
It  is  therefore  regularly  sufficient  for  making  a  man  responsible 
for  his  action. 

This  is  the  kind  of  intention  to  which  the  Morning  Offering 
chiefly  helps ;  for  it  is  evident  that  even  fervent  Christians  will 
not  go  mooning  about  all  the  day  perplexing  their  head  with  the 
actual  thought  of  the  Morning  Offering.  It  is  this  intention, 
also,  which  the  faithful  are  recommended  to  form  in  the  morning 
in  order  that  they  may  gain  any  Indulgences  or  spiritual  advan- 
tages which  may  be  attached  to  their  good  works. 

Disciple.  I  see  there  is  some  reality  in  these  distinctions  you 
are  making  about  the  acts  of  the  will.  But  I  should  like  a  little 
more  light  as  to  the  deliberate  character  of  those  acts  which  are 
performed  under  the  influence  of  a  virtual  intention.  You  know 
we  are  taught  very  carefully  that  we  cannot  commit  a  sin  with- 
out knowing  it  and  willing  it  deliberately.  It  must  be  the  same 
for  a  good  work. 

Teacher.  Yes,  no  work  is  good  in  the  Christian  sense,  that  is, 
supernatural  and  meritorious,  unless  a  supernatural  motive  is  pres- 
ent to  the  mind.  In  other  words,  we  must  act  from  some  motive 
taught  us  by  the  Christian  faith — because  God  wishes  us  to  act  so, 
or  it  is  pleasing  to  Him,  or  it  is  according  to  what  He  teaches  us 
concerning  the  love  of  our  neighbor,  and  so  on.  And  it  is  only 
such  actions  that  the  Morning  Offering  is  supposed  to  influence. 

Disciple.  Really,  you  are  doubling  me  on  my  tracks. 
First,  the  Morning  Offering  must  be  somehow  present  to  the  man's 
mind,  though  he  does  not  think  of  it  expressly ;  and  now  you  tell 
me  that  the  very  action  which  he  is  supposed  to  offer  must  be 
prompted  by  a  Christian  motive  also  present  to  his  mind.  May  I 
ask  if  this  motive  can  work  on  him  in  the  same  way  without 
his  thinking  expressly  of  it? 


THE  MORNING   OFFERING.  221 

Teacher.  Believe  me,  it  is  all  very  simple  in  practice,  just 
as  a  man's  breathing  is  simple.  If  he  should  study  out  the 
mechanical  theory  of  the  action  of  chest  and  lungs,  and  then  try  to 
breathe  consciously  according  to  this  theory,  he  would  soon  find 
himself  in  a  predicament.  Just  so  a  Christian  who  has  any  prac- 
tice of  his  religion  does  a  thousand  things  in  virtue  of  it  without 
all  this  roundabout  reflection,  just  as  he  breathes  the  air. 

Without  going  too  much  into  the  details,  the  commonest 
examples  of  life  will  show  you  this.  If  a  child  stumbles,  it  is 
very  apt  to  stamp  upon  the  ground,  as  if  Mother  Earth  were  to 
blame.  A  boy  is  likely  to  become  angry,  especially  if  his  mates 
laugh  at  him.  What  we  call  a  swearing  man  will  probably  curse. 
Now,  why  is  it  a  common  idea  that  an  ordinary  Christian  should 
be  simply  patient  under  the  circumstances  ?  I  think  it  is  because 
everyone  supposes  that  in  virtue  of  his  religion  he  keeps  a  certain 
control  over  his  temper.  Here  is  another  example  of  virtual  inten- 
tion. He  may  not  actually  stop  and  think  that  he  must  be  patient 
because  of  the  patience  of  Christ's  sufferings,  though  a  pious  man 
would  do  this  easily.  But  simply  he  intends,  all  through  the 
regular  course  of  his  life,  to  check  the  natural  outbursts  of  temper 
which  otherwise  might  lead  him  into  sin.  Would  you  not  say 
that  this  was  a  Christian  motive  present  to  his  mind,  even  though 
he  does  not  advert  to  it  expressly  ? 

Disciple.  I  should  be  ashamed  not  to  admit  that  this  does 
occur  in  my  own  experience.  And  it  is  such  acts  as  these,  religious 
but  half-spontaneous  and  not  much  reflected  on,  which  the  Morn- 
ing Offering  is  to  consecrate  to  God  for  a  special  purpose  ? 

Teacher.  Yes,  and  the  connection  of  the  action  with  the 
subtle  virtue  of  that  Morning  Intention,  which  remains  about  a 
man  like  the  perfume  that  scents  his  handkerchief,  will  be  more 
easily  grasped  if  you  keep  in  mind  this  very  certain  principle  : 
Every  Christian  knows  in  his  heart  that  he  desires  to  get  out  of 
every  good  action  he  performs  as  much  grace  as  he  can,  for  him- 
self and  others,  for  the  living  and  the  dead.  Now,  the  good  which 
the  Morning  Offering  tries  to  get  from  actions  is  their  power  of 
pleading  before  God. 


THE    READER. 


A  very  little  religious  magazine  like  the  MESSENGER  cannot 
expect  to  bring  home  to  a  very  great  worldly  magazine  like  the 
Century  any  proper  sense  of  the  grave  indecorum  with  which  it 
has  recently  treated  its  Catholic  readers.  It  is  sufficient  for  our 
purpose  if  we  can  bring  home  to  our  own  readers  a  strong  feeling 
of  the  gross  ignorance  which  exists  concerning  things  nearest  and 
dearest  to  them  among  apparently  well-intentioned  people  round 
about  them.  It  is  true,  they  have  long  been  accustomed  to  a 
total  disregard  of  their  religious  feelings.  It  may  be  well  for 
them  to  reflect  on  the  reason  of  it. 


*  * 


The  offence  we  refer  to  is  contained  in  a  serial  story,  written 
by  an  author  who  has  lately  come  into  favor  and  who  has  been 
praised  for  his  "deep  poetic  vein  of  thought,  just  touched  with 
mysticism."  If  by  "mysticism"  is  meant  his  dealing  with  the 
supposed  interior  life  of  monks  and  nuns,  we  may  as  well  say  at 
once  that  it  is  in  reality  puling  drivel,  the  result  of  an  unsound 
heart  and  soft  brain.  Unconsciously  perhaps,  but  very  effectively, 
he  blasphemes  what  he  knows  not. 

This  last  work  of  his  "deep  poetic  vein"  treats  of  something 
which  it  seems  almost  sacrilege  to  mention  in  Catholic  families. 
It  is  the  story  of  a  Sister,  placed  so  definitely  that  no  one  can 
mistake  the  convent  of  which  she  is  supposed  to  have  been  an 
inmate.  This  convent  is  of  purely  American  foundation.  From 
the  beginning  of  the  century  it  has  numbered  among  its  members 
daughters  of  the  most  respectable  families  of  the  State  in  which 
it  is  situated.  They  have  gone  forth  unto  their  work  and  their 
labor  until  the  evening  :  they  have  spent  their  lives  in  instructing 
the  ignorant  and  serving  humanity  far  more  efficiently  than  if 
they  had  dreamed  away  their  time  with  this  writer  of  "deep 
poetic  vein,  just  touched  with  mysticism."  In  point  of  fact, 
mysticism  has  had  little  to  do  with  their  career  of  devotedness. 

222 


THE  READER.  223 

For  God,  in  the  Catholic  Church,  has  opened  the  most  practical 
of  all  careers  in  a  hundred  different  lines  to  the  activity  of 
women,  and  has  sanctified  them  with  special  blessings. 

Undoubtedly,  there  may  be  Sisters  of  many  kinds :  the  holy 
and  fervent  who  relent  not  in  their  first  purpose ;  the  ordinary 
good,  but  not  altogether  saintly,  who  go  along  in  a  prosaic  way, 
yet  finally  work  out  their  salvation  in  fear  and  trembling  as  do 
other  ordinary  Christians,  adding  thereto  a  good  bit  of  work  in 
their  vocation ;  the  half-worldly  who  suffer  themselves  to  look 
back  regretfully  to  what  they  have  left,  and  of  these  many  will 
in  the  end  go  back,  for  the  convent  doors  stand  easily  open 
whatever  the  Century  magazinist  may  think.  And  there  might 
be,  though  it  is  not  easily  to  be  imagined,  downright  wicked 
Sisters. 

But  the  Sister  whom  this  writer  has  represented  is  none  of 
these.  She  is  simply  silly,  with  the  mawkish  love-sickness  of 
this  sentimental  man  who  writes  unreally  of  a  life  which  in 
reality  has  no  existence,  except  as  it  floats  about  in  his  own 
watery  brain.  It  has  certainly  floated  far  enough,  for  he  brings 
his  sentimental  "  Sister "  back  to  religion  by  way  of  the  lepers 
of  Molokai.  The  heroism  of  Father  Damien  has  had  a  certain 
reward  in  this  world ;  but,  from  the  Century's  pages,  this  fame 
would  seem  to  be  not  without  its  drawbacks. 

*  *  * 

But  we  are  speaking  to  our  own  Catholic  families.  Who 
are  these  Sisters  that  go  forth  from  their  ranks,  year  after  year, 
to  fill  our  convents  and,  when  their  work  is  done,  to  lay  away 
their  mortal  remains  .under  the  plain  cross  of  the  convent  ceme- 
tery, there  to  stay  until  all  shall  be  summoned  forth  to  be  judged 
for  the  deeds  they  have  done  in  the  flesh  ?  To  us  Catholics,  the 
quiet  resting-place  in  the  convent  burying-ground  brings  with  it 
a  consolation  which  we  know  not  for  those  who  remain  in  the 
busy  world.  It  seems  to  us  a  warrant  that  all  is  well,  and  more 
than  well,  with  our  loved  ones. 

In  the  first  place,  it  was  invariably  the  best  girl  of  the  little 
circle  at  home  that  went  forth  in  the  flower  of  youth  to  consecrate 
herself  to  the  King  of  Virgins.  There  was  something  holy  about 
her  even  then,  and  once  we  had  known  her  high  call  she  became 


224  THE  READER. 

a  thing  of  reverence.  Any  breath  of  unfaithfulness  to  God  in 
her  would  come  back  upon  us  as  a  blow.  Sometimes  it  was  the 
one  best  fitted  to  shine  in  the  world;  and. yet  she  cheerfully 
turned  away  from  it  to  follow  the  beckoning  hand  of  the  Lover 
of  souls.  After  the  convent  life  was  entered  on,  with  how  great 
interest  did  the  family  follow  the  career  of  one  in  whom  their 
own  love  and  pride  were  centred  and  consecrated  by  the  deepest 
sentiments  of  their  faith  ! 

Who  is  it  that  shall  now  come,  with  unclean  hand,  to  cast 
scorn  upon  these  pure  souls  who  sacrificed  this  world  so  cheerfully 
that  they  might  live  to  something  higher  ?  There  is  no  Catholic 
family  in  the  land  that  is  not  deeply  wounded  in  its  most  sacred 
feelings. 


Leaving  aside  the  author  of  this  grievous  indecorum — for 
of  one  of  his  profession  we  may  say,  "  Probably  he  knows  no 
better !" — we  find  it  profoundly  discouraging  that  the  editor  of 
one  of  the  chief  periodicals  of  our  country  should  have,  appar- 
ently, no  proper  sense  of  the  religious  bearing  of  what  he 
publishes  in  his  magazine.  We  cannot  reasonably  suppose  any 
evil  intention  :  it  is  too  evident  that  the  offence  arises  from  utter 
ignorance  of  the  serious  feelings  and  the  intimate  life  of  a  large 
part  of  the  population  to  which  he  appeals.  It  is  not  probable 
that  he  cares  little,  or  not  at  all,  for  the  good  opinion  of  Catholics. 
This  was  once  the  case,  and  it  often  led  to  all  manner  of  exhibi- 
tion of  under-breeding :  though  the  audacity  of  the  present 
instance  was  seldom  surpassed.  The  present  case,  in  fact,  seems 
rather  to  be  a  fault  of  narrow  breeding,  that  is,  of  a  man  holding 
a  high  and  responsible  position  before  the  world  without  being 
educated  to  a  proper  knowledge  of  his  public. 

It  might  be  different  if  the  numerous  convents  of  our  country 
were  peopled  by  vocations  from  families  of  a  single  race,  sharply 
separated  from  the  other  inhabitants  of  the  country.  An  attempt 
has  often  been  made  to  force  our  Catholic  Americans  into  this 
false  position.  But  the  advance  of  years  has  rendered  this 
attempt  impossible.  We  may  safely  say  that  there  is  not  a  single 
"old  family"  of  New  England  or  New  York  which  has  not 
Catholics  among  its  members,  and  few  which  have  not  Sisters 


THE  READER.  225 

that  went  forth  to  the  convents  from  their  midst.  This  is  true, 
in  its  measure,  of  other  parts  of  the  country,  and  nowhere  more 
true  than  in  the  Southwestern  State  where  the  Century  Magazine 
has  permitted  its  contributor  to  disport  his  foolish  fancy. 

But  we  have  said  enough.  It  remains  for  Catholics  sadly  to 
demand  of  themselves — Why  is  it  that,  among  those  who  live 
with  them  in  such  apparent  friendship,  their  more  serious  and 
sacred  feelings  are  disregarded,  ill-understood,  or — to  stretch  our 
charity  to  the  utmost — utterly  unknown  ? 

We  turn  gratefully  from  so  unpleasant  a  subject  to  a  book 
which  is  sent  us,  by  the  way,  from  one  bearing  the  name  of  one  of 
the  best-known  families  of  Massachusetts.  There,  more  perhaps 
than  in  any  other  part  of  the  country,  are  found  honored  Catholic 
members  of  the  old  historic  families,  and  not  ashamed  of  the  Faith 
more  ancient  than  England,  old  or  new. 

It  is  the  Little  Manual  of  the  Work  of  Expiation,  which  has 
found  a  centre  in  London,  that  great  Babylon  of  modern  times,  so 
in  need  of  expiation.  This  work,  which  at  its  beginning  was 
recommended  by  the  Third  Plenary  Council  of  Baltimore,  is  now 
fairly  under  way.  It  is  composed  of  priests  leading  a  contempla- 
tive and  penitential  life  and  directing  associations  of  the  pious 
faithful  who  desire  to  unite  in  works  of  expiation  for  all  the  evils 
that  go  on  around  them.  There  are  evils  enough,  God  knows,  and 
God's  grace  will  see  that  there  are  Christians  enough  to  offer  their 
works  and  sufferings  in  expiation  for  these  evils  ;  and  it  is  to  such 
Christians,  uniting  together,  that  God  has  promised  that  He  will 
be  with  them  and  will  hear  them.  It  is  curious  to  notice  in  this 
little  book  the  devout  office  to  be  recited  by  the  associates,  taken 
almost  entirely  from  the  Lamentations  of  the  Prophet  Jeremias, 
who  is  the  chief  Patron  of  the  work.  It  is  like  a  spiritual  bridge 
of  union  across  all  the  centuries,  since  evil  exists  in  all  the  cen- 
turies, and  in  every  time  there  are  holy  souls  drawn  to  prayer  and 
penance  for  the  sake  of  their  brother-men.  Who  shall  say  that 
they  have  not  saved  to  the  world  the  good  that  is  in  it  ?  Who 
shall  know,  until  the  last  Accounting  Day,  what  graces  they  have 
drawn  down  on  souls,  silently  in  the  hidden  work  of  God's  Spirit, 
which  cannot  be  perceived  by  the  animal  man. 


GENERAL  INTENTION 

FOR  MARCH,    1891. 

Designated  by  His  Holiness,  Leo  XIII.,  with  his  special  blessing,  and  given  to  His 
Eminence  the  Cardinal  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda — the  Protector  of  the 
League  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  called  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer— for  recom- 
mendation to  the  prayers  of  the  Associates. 

HOLINESS  OF  CHRISTIAN  MORALS. 

IT  seems  to  be  somewhat  of  a  paradox  to  pray  that  Christian 
morals  may  be  holy !     They  are  so  by  their  very  essence, 
inasmuch  as  Christian  morals  signify  deliberate  human  acts 
based  upon  and  guided  by  Christian  principles.     But  the  mist  of 
the  paradox  fades  away  when  we  learn  that  the  aim  of  our  prayer 
is  to  be,  that  those  who  are  Christians  may  tread  without  blame 
the  way  of  duty  and,  showing  forth  amid  all  their  surroundings 
the  works  of  faith,  may  thus  lead  a  life  more  in  keeping  with  the 
essential  holiness  of  Christian  Morals. 

I. 

When  we  prayed  last  month  for  firmness  of  faith,  we  did  so 
because  we  were  aware  that  faith  is  the  foundation  which  must  be 
laid  before  man  can  do  anything  pleasing  to  God  or  deserving  of 
an  eternal  reward.  At  the  same  time,  we  were  not  unmindful 
that  faith  alone  is  not  all  that  is  required  of  us :  for  we  have  the 
very  distinct  and  pressing  duty  of  building  upon  the  sure  founda- 
tion. This  is  a  truth  borne  home  to  us  in  very  many  of  the  teach- 
ings and  warnings  of  our  Blessed  Saviour,  and  repeated  over  and 
over  again  in  the  writings  of  the  Apostles.  The  followers  of 
Christ  are  bound  to  pursue  holiness  themselves  and  to  edify  the 
world  around  them.  Not  alone  the  Apostles  but  all  His  followers 
were  addressed  by  our  Lord,  when  He  told  them  that  they  were 
to  be  "  the  salt  of  the  earth  "  and  "  the  light  of  the  world  " ;  and 
that  they  were  to  let  their  light  shine  before  men,  "  so  that  they 

226 


GENERAL  INTENTION.  227 

may  see  your  good  works,  and  glorify  your  Father  Who  is  in 
heaven."  (St.  Matthew,  v.  16.)  In  this  manner,  the  higher 
apostleship  which  the  twelve  were  to  exercise,  in  dispensing  the 
mysteries  of  God  for  the  salvation  of  souls,  was  to  have  its  imitator 
and  ally  in  the  general  and  potent  apostleship  of  holy  lives  among 
the  Christian  flock.  And  the  force  of  such  example  is  so  great 
that  St.  Paul,  in  his  letter  to  the  Ephesians,  seems  to  accord  to  it 
almost  a  sacramental  efficacy.  For,  besides  the  many  persuasive 
and  beautiful  things  he  says  to  them  about  the  necessity  and  the 
advantages  of  holiness,  he  adds :  "  Let  no  evil  speech  proceed 
from  your  mouth  :  but  that  which  is  good  to  the  edification  of 
faith,  that  it  may  administer  grace  to  the  hearers."  (iv.  29.) 

Regarding,  therefore,  Christian  faith  as  the  foundation  upon 
which  we  are  to  build,  and  Christian  truths  and  maxims  as  the 
theories  and  principles  which  are  to  guide  us  in  our  work,  the 
result  of  our  labor  will  be  not  only  Christian  holiness  of  morals 
for  ourselves,  but  also  the  genial  influence  of  Christian  example 
upon  others.  Thus  shall  we  carry  out  the  command  :  "  Be  ye 
holy  as  your  Father  in  heaven  is  holy,"  and  thus,  too,  escape  the 
doom  overhanging  those  who  disedify  or  scandalize  others  by  their 
behavior. 

II. 

It  is  a  threadbare  truth  that  a  barren  faith  is  useless,  or,  as 
the  Apostle  expresses  it,  that  "  faith  without  works  is  dead."  (St. 
James,  ii.  20.)  Nor  is  it  less  true  that  charity  may  have  been  cast 
out  and  hope  abandoned,  whilst  faith,  through  the  long-suffering 
patience  of  God,  may  still  remain.  Hence  the  grotesque  anomaly, 
so  befitting  our  fallen  nature,  of  boasting  of  our  faith  and  pro- 
claiming our  loyalty  to  it,  although  we  leave  it  like  the  base  of  a 
tower  which  a  man  had  begun  to  build  and  then  left  unfinished, 
either  because  he  was  ashamed  to  complete  it  or  unable !  Hence 
the  ever-widening  ranks  of  those  who  profess  themselves  so  ready 
to  "  stand  up  "  for  their  religion  ;  though  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  lead  them  to  kneel  down  in  sorrow  for  their  sins,  and  receive 
the  Sacraments  at  the  seasons  prescribed  by  the  teachings  of  their 


228  GENERAL  INTENTION. 

faith  !  The  grand  gift  of  faith  which  the  mercy  of  God  bestows 
is  such  an  enlightenment  of  the  mind  that  no  man  apostatizes  from 
it  for  the  purpose  of  attaining  something  purer  or  holier  or  more 
useful  for  eternal  life.  It  is  not  the  faith  they  are  eager  to 
eschew  :  but  the  flesh  shrinks  from  the  bitter  strife  and  the  con- 
flict so  needful  to  make  conduct  harmonize  with  creed.  This  is 
the  real  explanation  of  a  low  order  of  moral  behavior  among  those 
who  even  glory  in  their  Christian  profession. 

No  wonder,  then,  that  our  Holy  Father  Leo  XIII.  writes, 
in  his  recent  Encyclical  to  Italy  :  "faith  is  in  less  jeopardy  than 
morals."  It  is  not  from  a  scarcity  of  those  who  are  willing  to 
say,  "Lord,  Lord,"  that  our  age  is  suffering,  but  rather  from  a 
great  neglect  of  "  doing  the  will  of  the  Father  Who  is  in  heaven." 
Our  century  seems  to  have  taken  up  a  new  form  of  paganism, 
just  as  absurd  in  its  tenets  and  as  disastrous  in  its  results  as  the 
old  paganism,  which  dishonored  man  and  made  the  whole  earth 
disgusting  as  the  "  reek  of  the  rotten  fens  "  to  the  All-holy  God. 
Morality  is  a  mere  matter  of  convenience.  Good  and  bad  have 
no  higher  standard  than  the  merely  natural  usefulness  of  the  one 
and  the  harm  of  the  other.  Honesty  is  admitted  to  be  a  "  good 
policy,"  and  dishonesty's  chief  ugliness  is  in  the  risk  of  its  being 
found  out.  God  is  unknowable  and  His  right  to  make  laws 
a  debatable  question !  Progress,  education,  culture,  "  health, 
wealth,  and  prosperity  " — "  these  be  thy  gods,"  O  great  century 
of  the  Christian  (?)  era ! 

Our  schools,  our  clubs,  our  social  gatherings,  our  amusements, 
our  arts,  sciences,  literature,  public  opinion,  politics,  statesman- 
ship— in  a  word,  almost  everything  belonging  to  this  boastful 
century  is  tinged  or  thoroughly  imbued  with  that  amount  of 
paganism  which  either  excludes  entirely  God's  management  of 
the  affairs  of  men,  or,  by  a  sort  of  concession,  allows  Him  a  few 
minutes  of  supremacy  on  Sunday.  Even  then  there  is  an  immense 
amount  of  discordant  wrangling  as  to  what  it  is,  precisely,  that 
He  demands  of  us,  and  how  much,  precisely,  we  can  allow  to 
Him  consistently  with  the  dignity  and  the  rights  of  our  intel- 
ligence. In  this  way  the  principles  of  Christian  morality  are 


GENERAL   INTENTION.  229 

dislodged  from  their  base,  and  the  shreds  of  good  moral  behavior 
which  survive  the  catastrophe  are  no  more  evidence  of  vigorous 
moral  life  than  the  gasping  and  writhing  of  an  animal's  head 
severed  from  the  body  are  a  proof  of  its  individual  existence. 

III. 

The  Associates  of  the  Holy  League  of  the  Sacred  Heart  have 
a  very  sublime  work  to  perform.  They  are  to  aim,  first  of  all, 
at  a  more  thorough  following  of  Christian  principles.  Offering 
up  every  day  their  prayers,  works,  and  sufferings  in  union 
with  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus,  they  will  obtain  special  graces 
for  the  better  ordering  of  their  own  lives.  Their  example  will 
wield  its  influence  and  their  special  prayer  now  will  add  to  its 
force  for  the  benefit  of  others.  Pray  that  in  public  and  in  private, 
in  our  homes  and  in  our  places  of  work,  in  our  eating,  drinking, 
resting  and  recreating,  in  all  thirigs,  at  all  times  and  everywhere, 
we  may  be  really  Christian  in  our  behavior.  Thus  it  will  come 
to  pass  that,  just  as  the  grand  triumph  of  the  early  Christians  was 
in  the  fact  that,  in  spite  of  all  disgrace  and  torture,  they  purified 
the  atmosphere  of  paganism  by  the  sweet  fragrance  of  Christian 
virtue;  so  the  League  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  by  fidelity,  piety, 
zeal,  and  perseverance,  may  help  to  establish  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ  in  the  hearts  of  men. 

OFFERING  FOE  THE  INTENTIONS  OF  THE  MONTH. 

O  Jesus,  through  the  Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary,  I  offer 
Thee  all  the  prayers,  work,  and  sufferings  of  this  day  for  all  the 
intentions  of  Thy  Divine  Heart,  in  union  with  the  Holy  Sacrifice 
of  the  Mass,  in  reparation  for  all  sin,  and  for  all  requests  pre- 
sented through  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer :  and  in  particular, 
that  the  morals  of  Christians  may  be  made  holy  through  the 
benign  influence  of  the  strong  love  of  Thy  Divine  Heart.  Amen. 


THE   LEAGUE   IN   PARISHES. 

A?  the  late  Catholic  Congress  held  in  Lille,  France,  at  the  end 
of  November,  1890,  the  following  report  was  presented 
by  a  parish  priest  and  Director  of  the  Apostleship  in  the 
Diocese   of  Arras.     It  is   noteworthy  and    suggestive  of  many 
things  which  our  own  pages  have  often  endeavored  to  bring  before 
the  Reverend  clergy. 

I  purpose  considering  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  sanctification  of  parishes. 

Allow  me  to  begin  by  citing  the  judgment  of  the  highest 
authority — of  Leo  XIII. — in  regard  to  this  work.  It  was  given 
only  twenty-six  days  after  his  coronation.  The  Director  General 
of  the  Apostleship  having  had  tne  happiness  of  being  introduced 
into  the  apartments  of  the  Holy  Father,  oifered  him  the  respectful 
homage  of  the  Associates.  Scarcely  had  Leo  XIII.  heard  the 
name  of  the  Apostleship,  of  Prayer,  when  his  face  lighted  up. 
"  I  am  acquainted  with  this  work,"  he  said  at  once ;  "  it  does  great 
good,  and  I  bless  it  with  my  whole  heart  that  it  may  do  more." 

What  could  have  been  the  reason  that  drew  from  the  Pope 
a  eulogy  so  spontaneous  and  so  glorious  t  It  is  because  the  high 
understanding  of  Leo  XIII.  comprehended  all  the  importance 
and  the  entire  bearing  at  the  present  time  of  such  a  work — a  true 
League  of  all  Christian  hearts  united  under  the  banner  of  the 
Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus.  A§  far  back  as  1867,  when  he  was  still 
Archbishop  of  Perugia,  two  notable  characters  are  assigned  by 
him  to  the  work  in  a  letter  to  the  Director  of  the  Apostleship  : 
"  This  work  is  so  beautiful,  uniting  the  utmost  fruitfulness  with 
such  simplicity,  that  most  assuredly  it  deserves  all  protection  on 
the  part  of  ecclesiastical  authority." 

Extreme  simplicity  joined  to  extreme  fruitfulness.  This,  indeed, 
is  the  character  of  all  the  works  which  God  wills ;  and  in  this  is 
well  summed  up  the  merit  of  our  work,  its  superiority  and  its 
results. 

230 


THE  LEAGUE  IN  PARISHES.  231 

The  few  remarks  I  am  going  to  put  before  you  will  be  but 
a  modest  commentary  on  these  two  expressions,  with  the  view  of 
making  an  urgent  appeal  to  my  brethren  in  the  priesthood  and  to 
all  Christian  souls,  in  favor  of  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer. 

I.  Extreme  simplicity  in  what  it  demands  and  in  its  organ- 
ization. 

1st.  In  the  conditions  it  demands — what  is  necessary  to 
have  a  share  in  the  work  of  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer  ?  To  have 
one's  name  enrolled  in  the  Association,  and  to  promise  to  offer 
every  m&rning  the  actions  of  the  day  for  the  intentions  of  the  Heart 
of  Jesus.  This  practice  of  devotion,  which  alone  is  demanded  of 
the  Associates,  forms  the  First  Degree  of  the  Association. 

If  any  one  wishes  to  have  a  larger  share  in  the  prayers, 
privileges,  and  Indulgences,  besides  the  Morning  Offering  of  the 
actions  of  the  day,  he  promises  to  recite  every  day  one  Decade  of 
the  Beads.  This  promise  places  him  in  the  Second  Degree  of  the 
work. 

Last  of  all,  if  over  and  above  the  Morning  Offering  and  the 
Decade  of  the  Beads  he  promises  to  make,  at  least  once  a  month, 
the  Communion  of  Reparation  in  honor  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  he 
thereby  practises  the  Third  Degree. 

None  of  these  promises  obliges  under  pain  of  sin,  even 
venial. 

What  is  simpler  and  easier  than  these  practices  of  devotion  ? 
To  offer  every  morning  the  whole  day  to  God,  is  not  this  the  very 
foundation  of  a  reasonable  and  Christian  life  ?  To  recite  daily  a 
decade  of  the  beads,  is  it  not  the  slightest  of  the  observances  of 
serious  piety  ?  To  receive  Communion  once  a  month,  is  it  not,  in 
our  day,  the  necessary  condition  of  perseverance  for  a  great  num- 
ber of  the  faithful  ? 

Nothing,  then,  is  easier  than  to  take  part  in  the  work  of  the 
Apostleship,  since  absolutely  it  demands  nothing  more  than  a 
very  simple  act — the  Morning  Offering  of  the  day  in  union  with 
the  Sacred  Heart.  The  other  practices,  the  Decade  of  the  Beads 
and  the  Communion  of  Reparation,  are  simply  counselled. 


232  THE  LEAGUE  IN  PARISHES. 

2d.     As  to  the  organization,  it  is  also  of  great  simplicity. 

This  is  what  is  essential  to  establish  the  work  in  a  parish  : 
The  parish  priest  asks  from  the  Central  Director  a  Diploma  of 
Aggregation  for  his  parish,  and  another  of  Local  Director  for 
himself.  He  has  a  Register  kept  where  the  names  of  the  Asso- 
ciates are  inscribed  at  the  same  time  that  he  gives  them  the 
Certificate  of  Admission  which  he  has  received  from  the  Central 
Director.  He  appoints  one  or  two  monthly  meetings,  either  at 
Mass  or  at  Benediction,  which  he  may  fix  for  the  first  Friday  of 
the  month  or  on  a  Sunday  at  his  choice.  He  chooses  among  the 
best  Associates  Promoters  of  both  sexes  who  are  commissioned  to 
recruit  new  members,  and  to  give  out  the  monthly  Tickets  (of 
Rosary  and  Intentions)  to  the  fifteen  or  more  Associates  that  are 
entrusted  to  each  of  them. 

Consequently,  there  is  no  work  easier  to  establish  in  a 
parish. 

H.  The  Apostleship  of  Prayer,  then,  possesses  the  sim- 
plicity so  recommended  by  our  Lord.  But  what  proves  how  far 
it  has  been  blessed  of  God,  is  the  extreme  fruitfulness  which  it 
joins  with  this  simplicity. 

1st.  Its  activity  reaches  throughout  the  world,  and  its  first 
fruit  is  to  sanctify  the  world. 

The  Apostleship  is  an  immense  Association  which  has 
extended  through  the  two  hemispheres,  bringing  the  whole  Christ- 
ian people  to  their  knees  before  the  Sacred  Heart,  to  obtain  the 
application  of  the  Precious  Blood  of  Christ  to  the  Christian  world 
by  the  preservation  of  faith,  and  to  the  unbelieving  world  by  the 
propagation  of  the  faith.  It  has  deserved  to  receive  from  Leo 
XIH.  the  most  glorious  name  in  our  religion,  that  it  is  Catholic  : 
"  Spread  not  alone  in  France,"  he  writes,  "  but  in  Germany,  in 
Spain,  in  Switzerland,  in  the  two  Americas,  in  the  Indies,  in 
China  and  even  in  Oceanica,  the  Apostleship  may  well  be  called,  in 
the  true  sense  of  the  word,  Catholic."  This  is  the  first  result. 

2d.     The  second  fruit  is  to  sanctify  each  of  its  members. 

The  Apostleship  of  Prayer  makes  the  Christian  life  more 
real,  more  pious,  more  easy : 


THE  LEAGUE  IN  PARISHES.  233 

More  real,  by  nourishing  the  true  spirit  of  Christianity 
which  is  the  spirit  of  union  with  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

More  pious,  by  inspiring  an  utter  devotedness  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  of  Jesus  Whose  great  interests  the  Apostleship  has  taken 
in  hand. 

More  easy,  by  giving  the  noblest  incitement  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  duty,  namely,  the  thought  of  God's  Kingdom  to  be 
established  on  earth,  and  the  sight  of  souls  in  danger  which  our 
generosity  may  help  to  save. 

3d.  By  sanctifying  souls  it  sanctifies  (and  this  is  the  third 
of  its  fruits)  the  parishes,  communities  and  houses  of  education, 
where  it  is  established. 

To  work  out  the  general  sanctification  of  a  parish  or  a  house 
of  education,  it  is  a  great  art  to  know  how  to  group  together  all 
the  different  souls  according  to  the  degree  of  their  fervor.  Now, 
from  this  point  of  view,  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer  furnishes  us 
with  wonderful  resources.  By  its  three  gradually  ascending 
Degrees,  by  its  Communion  of  Reparation,  which  may  be  weekly 
or  monthly,  by  its  Bands  of  Fifteen  and  its  Council  of  Promoters, 
the  Apostleship  furnishes  an  organization  as  easy  as  it  is  powerful 
for  good.  It  allows  the  enrolment  under  the  banner  of  the 
Sacred  Heart  of  the  entire  parish  ;  and,  when  guided  by  a  skilful 
and  zealous  Director,  the  faithful  make  progress  in  the  ways  of 
the  Lord,  and  form  a  true  army  which  goes  forward  to  the  combat 
full  of  ardor  and  in  good  order. 

And,  in  truth,  wherever  the  work  of  the  Apostleship  has 
been  solidly  established,  what  fruits  of  '  sanctification,  what 
consoling  results  for  good  have  there  not  been  ! 

4th.  To  this  threefold  fruit  let  us  add  :  the  special  claim  to 
the  Promises  made  by  our  Lord  to  Blessed  Margaret  Mary,  in 
favor  of  those  who  work  to  glorify  His  Divine  Heart ;  the  198 
Plenary  Indulgences  belonging  to  this  Association,  and  a  great 
number  of  partial  Indulgences ;  finally,  and  most  of  all,  the 
special  share  which  the  Associates  have  in  the  prayers,  penances, 
Masses,  Communions,  of  all  the  great  Religious  Orders,  of  more 
than  120  Religious  Congregations,  of  45,000  parishes,  of  seven- 


234  THE  LEAGUE  IN  PARISHES. 

teen  millions  of  Associates.  What  a  help  is  this  during  life,  and 
more  still,  at  the  moment  of  death  and  in  Purgatory  ! 

This  is  the  twofold  character  of  the  Apostleship  :  by  its 
simplicity  it  is  open  to  all;  by  its  fruitfulness  its  activity  reaches 
out  to  all. 

It  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  remark  that  numerous  facts  day 
by  day  show  us  the  fruitfulness  of  the  Apostle.ship,  when  well 
organized  and  well  directed  for  the  sanctification  of  parishes. 
I  cannot  conclude  better  than  I  began — with  the  words 
of  Leo  XIII.  This  is  what  he  said  in  a  Pastoral  Letter  to  the 
priests  and  faithful  of  his  Archdiocese  of  Perugia  :  "  We  greatly 
desire  to  see  the  clergy  and  people  of  our  diocese  acquainted  with, 
appreciating  and  embracing  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer  and  its 
practices.  Our  wish  is  that  all  our  parish  priests  and  all  direct- 
ors of  pious  associations  should  devote  themselves  to  introducing 
and  fostering  this  work  in  the  parishes  and  confraternities  under 
their  charge. 

"  At  all  times,  prayer  has  been  the  weapon  and  divine  instru- 
ment which  the  true  children  of  Jesus  Christ  have  used  in  order 
to  triumph  over  the  enemy  of  souls.  But  in  the  midst  of  the 
present  calamities,  when  the  adversary  of  all  good  is  making  his 
last  effort  to  extinguish  the  faith,  to  disseminate  error  and  ruin 
society,  it  is  more  indispensable  than  ever  to  awaken  in  the  heart 
of  Christians  the  love  and  the  desire  of  prayer.  In  this  way, 
united  closely  in  the  very  Heart  of  Jesus,  we  may  be  able  to  repair 
the  harm  which  is  daily  being  done  to  religion  and  the  Church  by 
the  hateful  sects  of  impiety." 


[The  Director  General,  named  by  Leo  XIII.,  20  January,  1884,  wrote  to 
the  American  Head  Director  on  the  29th  of  April,  1887  : 

We  approve  all  your  publications,  whether  periodical  or  not  (Handbook, 
pamphlets,  leaflets,  &c.),  as  expressing  the  true  spirit  of  our  Holy  League,  and 
we  earnestly  desire  that  they  should  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  all  our  dear 
Associates  of  the  United  States. 

The  Head  Director  willingly  corresponds  with  the  Reverend  clergy  and 
Superiors  of  communities  on  subjects  connected  with  the  League  (address,  office 
of  MESSENGER).  EDITOR.] 


1 


APOSTLESH1PI     MttmH  1    NOTICES 


RECENT  AGGREGATIONS. — To  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer, 
League  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  (January  12  to  February 
12,  1891). 

(Name  of  diocese  in  italics,  before  parish  or  community  aggregated.) 

Cincinnati,  Ohio :  St.  Mary's  Church,  Greenville. 

Chicago,  Illinois :  St.  Ann's  Church,  Chicago. 

Columbus,  Ohio  :  Sacred  Heart  Church,  Pomeroy. 

Davenport,  Iowa:  St.  Joseph's  School  (Sisters  of  Charity 
B.  V.  M.),  Davenport. 

Denver,  Colorado :  Annunciation  Chapel,  Denver. 

Grand  Rapids,  Michigan:  St.  Alphonsus'  Church,  Grand 
Rapids ;  St.  Patrick's  Church,  Grand  Haven. 

Green  Bay,  Wisconsin :  St.  Stephen's  Church,  Stevens 
Point. 

Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania :  Holy  Trinity  Church,  McSherrys- 
town. 

Indian  Territory,  Indian  Territory :  Sacred  Heart  Mission 
(Benedictine  Fathers),  Sacred  Heart. 

Lincoln,  Nebraska :  St.  Joseph's  Church,  York. 

Mobile,  Alabama :  Sacred  Heart  Church,  Anniston. 

Newark,  New  Jersey :  St.  Bernard's  Church,  Mount  Hope ; 
St.  Joseph's  Academy  (Sisters  of  Charity),  Newton. 

New  Orleans,  Louisiana :  Ursuline  Convent,  New  Orleans. 

New  York,  Neiv  York :  St.  James'  Church,  New  York ; 
Sacred  Heart  Church,  Dobbs  Ferry. 

Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania :  Holy  Cross  Church,  Mt.  Airy. 

235 


236  APOSTLESHIP  NOTICES. 

Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania:  Immaculate  Conception  Church, 
Dudley. 

Portland,  Maine:  Institute  of  the  Little  Brothers  of  Mary, 
Lewiston. 

Providence,  Rhode  Island  :  Church  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament, 
Providence. 

Richmond,  Virginia :  St.  Mary's  Church,  Norfolk ;  Stella 
Maris  Church,  Fortress  Monroe. 

San  Antonio,  Texas :  St.  Mary's  Church,  San  Antonio. 

Scranton,  Pennsylvania :  St.  Peter's  Cathedral,  Scranton. 

Springfield,  Massachusetts:  St.  Joseph's  Convent  (Sisters  of 
St.  Joseph),  Springfield. 

St.  Louis,  Missouri:  St.  Genevieve's  Church,  St.  Genevieve. 

St.  Paul,  Minnesota :  Ascension  Church,  Minneapolis ;  St. 
Joseph's  Church,  Eed  Wing;  St.  Michael's  Church,  West  St. 
Paul. 

Sault  Ste.  Marie,  Michigan:  St.  Ann's  Church,  Sault  Ste. 
Marie. 

Fmceunes,  Indiana:  St.  Pins'  Church,  Troy. 

THE  TREASURY  OF  THE  SACRED  HEART. 

Associates  can  gain  100  days'  Indulgence  for  each  action  offered  for  the 
Intentions  of  the  League. 

Offerings  for  the  Intentions  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  received  from  January  12  to 

February  12,  1891. 

No.  or  TIMES.  No.  or  TIKIS. 

1.  Acts  of  Charity  .            .  614,887  11.  Masses  Heard     ....       303,594 

2.  Beads 571,120  12.  Mortifications    ....       636,882 

3.  Stations  of  the  Cross     .  135,418  13.  Works  of  Charity     .    .       332,797 

4.  Holy  Communions    .    .  144,729  14.  Works  of  Zeal  ....       668,250 

5.  Spiritual  Communions  .  407,401  15.  Prayers 7,072,536 

6.  Examens  of  Conscience  240,550  16.  Charitable  Conversation     587,664 

7.  Hours  of  Labor  .    .    .    .  1,335,674  17.  Sufferings  or  Afflictions     168,621 

8.  Hours  of  Silence    .    .    .  909,616  18.  Self-Conquest     ....       201,643 

9.  Pious  Reading    ....  216,423  19.  Visits  to  B.  Sacrament      393,530 
10.  Masses  Celebrated     .    .  836  20.  Various  Good  Works   .    1,409,147 

Total 16,351,318 

The  above  returns  represent  five  hundred  and  ninety-three  Centres. 


ALL  YOU  THAT  IABOUMND  ARE  BURDENED 


IN  THANKSGIVING   FOR  GRACES   OBTAINED. 

TOTAL  NUMBER  OF  THANKSGIVINTGS  FOR  LAST  MONTH,  109,796. 
This  is  the  victory  which  overcometh  the  world,  our  faith  (I.  St.  John,  v.  4). — 

SCRANTON,  PA.,  JANUARY  15. — I  wish  to  thank  the  Sacred 
Heart  for  a  special  favor  received. 

,  NEVADA,  JANUARY  16. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart 

of  Jesus,  my  petition  for  a  little  home  and  other  favors  has  been 
granted. 

SHUQUALAK,  Miss.,  JANUARY  18. — Thanks  to  the  most 
loving  and  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  for  the  grace  granted  to  my 
husband,  to  overcome  his  dissipated,  reckless  life  and  to  return 
to  the  practice  of  his  holy  religious  duties. 

BAKERSFIELD,  CAL.,  JANUARY  18. — Some  months  ago,  I 
begged  the  prayers  of  the  League  for  means  to  pay  debts  which 
had  accumulated  enormously.  These  debts  have  been  paid. 

OLIVER'S  MILLS,  PA.,  JANUARY  19. — Thanks  for  a  father 
of  a  family  who  went  to  Mass  about  Christmas.  He  had  not 
assisted  at  the  Holy  Sacrifice  for  twenty-two  years. 

NORFOLK,  VA.,  JANUARY  19. — I  return  thanks  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  for  the  happy  death  of  an  uncle  who  had  not  been 
to  his  duties  for  years,  and  whom  I  recommended  to  the  prayers 
of  the  Associates  about  a  month  before  his  death ;  also  for  the 
favor  of  having  the  League  established  in  our  parish. 

LEWISTON,  ME.,  JANUARY  21. — Kindly  mention  in  your 
"Thanksgiving"  column  two  favors  received  through  the  Sacred 
Heart. 

237 


238  IN    THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES   OBTAINED. 

SHERMAN,  WASHINGTON,  JANUARY  21. — Please  thank  the 
loving  Heart  of  Jesus  through  the  MESSENGER  for  a  change  in 
my  business  and  for  the  recovery  of  my  boy. 

MOBILE,  ALA.,  JANUARY  23. — We  wish  to  return  special 
thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  sending  us  means  to  renovate  the 
interior  of  our  convent — a  favor  we  believe  to  have  been 
granted  through  the  prayers  of  the  Holy  League.  And  thanks 
are  also  returned  for  the  many  special  graces  and  blessings 
bestowed  on  our  little  community. 

,  N.  Y.,  JANUARY  23. — Please  thank  the  Sacred 

Heart  for  news  received  from  a  brother  long  lost  to  us.  Also  for 
extraordinary  conversions  during  a  mission  given  here.  Five 
received  the  Sacraments  who  had  not  done  so  in  from  twenty-five 
to  twenty-seven  years. 

ST.  IGNATIUS  MISSION,  MONT.,  JANUARY  23. — I  was  pre- 
vented for  several  months  from  working  by  erysipelas.  I  began 
a  novena  to  obtain  my  cure,  putting  on  the  Badge  and  promising  to 
give  thanks  in  the  MESSENGER.  I  also  promised  if  I  was  cured 
to  go  to  Holy  Communion  every  Friday.  Since  I  began  my  novena, 
I  have  had  no  further  trouble  and  have  improved  steadily. 

CANTON,  N.  Y.,  JANUARY  24. — During  the  month  of 
November  I  asked  the  prayers  of  the  League  for  my  two  brothers 
that  they  might  be  enabled  to  abstain  from  drink.  In  that  month 
my  oldest  brother  took  the  pledge. 

GALLITZIN,  PA.,  JANUARY  24. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart 
of  Jesus  for  three  special  favors. 

SEYMOUR,  IND.,  JANUARY  25. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart 
of  Jesus  for  the  restoration  of  my  sister's  mind. 

PHILADELPHIA,  JANUARY  26. — Heartfelt  thanks  for  a  posi- 
tion as  governess  obtained  for  one  who  greatly  needed  it,  and  the 
return  of  a  friend  to  her  duties  after  eight  years. 

DENVER,  COL.,  JANUARY  26. — Special  thanks  to  the  Divine 
Heart  for  a  person  who,  after  three  Masses  said  in  honor  of  the 
Sacred  Heart,  has  made  a  general  confession  of  her  whole  life  and 
recovered  an  admirable  peace  of  conscience,  unknown  to  her  for 
many  years. 


IN    THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES  OBTAINED.  239 

DEL  XORTE,  COLO.,  JANUARY  27. — Please  return  thanks  to 
the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  choice  of  a  state  in  life  and  for  the  grace 
of  overcoming  a  temptation. 

ST.  Louis,  Mo.,  JANUARY  27. — Please  thank  the  League  of 
the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  conversion  of  a  person  recommended  to 
it  some  time  ago ;  his  life  was  one  of  dissipation  and  reckless- 
ness, with  the  total  neglect  of  his  religion.  His  way  of  living 
had  brought  him  to  the  brink  of  despair — his  friends  had  grown 
so  tired  and  discouraged,  they  were  about  to  cast  him  off  altogether. 
A  last  appeal  to  the  Sacred  Heart  was  made  in  his  behalf,  when 
all  at  once  he  went  to  a  priest  and  made  his  peace  with  God. 

HUNTER,  N.  Y.,  JANUARY  27. — I  owed  a  person  some 
money  for  a  long  time,  and  it  seemed  impossible  for  me  to  get 
money  to  pay  it,  but,  thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart,  I  received  abun- 
dantly more  than  I  needed  to  pay  up  the  debt. 

NEW  YORK,  JANUARY  27. — We  return  thanks  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  for  the  conversion  of  a  Protestant  gentleman  who  was 
received  into  the  Church  before  he  died,  and  for  the  reconciliation 
of  two  families. 

WILMINGTON,  N.  C.,  JANUARY  26. — We  have  to  thank  the 
Sacred  Heart  for  the  conversion  of  a  careless  Catholic.  For 
three  months  he  was  prayed  for.  During  the  octave  of  Christmas 
he  made  his  peace  with  God,  received  Holy  Communion,  and  is 
well-disposed. 

SEATTLE,  WASH.,  JANUARY  27.  —  In  fulfilment  of  my 
promise  I  wish  through  the  MESSENGER  to  return  thanks  to  the 
most  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  for  the  improvement  in  health  of  one 
who  was  recommended  to  the  prayers  of  the  League  a  short  time 
ago. 

WICHITA,  KAS.,  JANUARY  30.  —  Fervent  thanks  to  the 
Sacred  Heart,  through  the  MESSENGER,  for  a  favor  obtained. 

LOUISVILLE,  O.,  JANUARY  30. — We  wish  to  return  sincere 
and  grateful  thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  enabling  us  to  meet 
some  heavy  financial  calls. 

TIFFIN,  O.,  JANUARY  30. — Sincere  thanks  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  of  Jesus,  through  the  MESSENGER,  for  four  special  favors, 


240  IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES  OBTAINED. 

and  six  others,  which  we  received  almost  immediately  after  having 
asked  for  them. 

HIGH  BRIDGE,  N.  Y.,  JANUARY  30. — Most  grateful  thanks 
are  returned  to  the  Divine  Heart  for  favors  received  during  the 
past  two  months. 

OMAHA,  NEB.,  JANUARY  30. — I  wish  to  return  thanks  for 
a  position -received  by  my  husband  through  the  Sacred  Heart; 
also  for  a  lawsuit  gained. 

CAPE  GIRARDEAU,  Mo.,  FEBRUARY  1. — Thank  the  dear 
Sacred  Heart  for  many,  many  favors  received. 

BOSTON,  FEBRUARY  3. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of 
Jesus  and  to  the  Immaculate  Heart  of  His  divine  Mother,  for 
three  temporal  favors,  all  granted  within  two  weeks  after  being 
presented. 

CHICAGO,  FEBRUARY  7. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of 
Jesus  for  one  great  temporal  favor  and  many  spiritual  graces 
obtained  during  the  past  month. 

NEW  YORK,  FEBRUARY  10. — Last  month  we  recommended 
a  soldier  at  the  Pine  Ridge  agency,  South  Dakota,  who  was 
engaged  in  the  recent  trouble  with  the  Indians.  One  of  the 
bullets  struck  his  breast-plate  and  glanced  off  leaving  an  indenta- 
tion. All  believe  his  Badge  of  the  Sacred  Heart  saved  him,  as 
he  is  an  Associate,  saying  also  the  Decade  of  the  Rosary. 

VARIOUS  CENTRES. — For  a  very  great  spiritual  favor  granted 
a  community  through  the  prayers  of  the  League. — A  confirmed 
inebriate  for  upward  of  fifteen  years  has  been  doing  well  continu- 
ously for  an  appreciable  length  of  time.  Encouraged  by  success 
he  is  still  determined  to  conquer  the  enemy,  relying  solely  on 
prayer.  He  was  recommended  to  the  League  several  months 
ago. — For  many  cures  wrought  on  the  afflicted  by  use  of  the 
Promoter's  Cross  of  the  League. — For  a  girl  who  was  out  of 
work  three  months  and  had  the  intention  in  about  three  days 
when  she  got  work. — For  twenty  favors  obtained,  and  several 
persons  return  thanks  to  the  most  loving  Heart  for  bless- 
ings bestowed  on  themselves  and  their  families  during  the  past 
year. 


THE  MESSENGER 


OF    THE 


SACRED  HEART 


A   MAGAZINE   OF  THE 
LITERATURE   OF   CATHOLIC  DEVOTION 

Official  Organ  of  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer — League  of  the  Sacred  Heart. 


EDITED  BY  THE  AMERICAN  HEAD  DIRECTOR 

PUBLISHED   MONTHLY — WITH   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


TWENTY-SIXTH   YEAR. 

Vol.  VI — New  Series. 
JA.NUA.RY—  DECEMBER,  1891. 


PUBLISHED    AT   THE   OFFICE   OF 

THE  MESSENGER  OF  THE  SACRED  HEART, 

114  SOUTH  THIRD  STREET, 
PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


COPYRIGHT,  1891, 
BY  REV.  R.  S.  DEWEY,  S.J. 


(Design  from  the  Studio  ol  Gagliardi,  Rome.) 


THE  MESSENGER 

OF   THE  . 

SACRED  HEART  OF  JESUS 

VOL.  VI  (xxvi).  APRIL,  1891.  No.  4 


THE  EASTER  CRUCIFIX. 
By  Helen  Grace  Smith. 


SEE  Thee  weeping,  Jesus,  for  my  sin, 

I  see  Thee  bleeding,  dying,  just  for  me  :    . 

In  tears  and  blood,  my  Saviour,  must  I  win 

The  perfect  rest  Thou  hast  prepared  for  me. 


See  how  I  kiss  Thy  wounded  hands  and  feet — 

Those  crimson  wounds  that  for  my  fault  have  bled  ! 

Forgiven  ?    Ah  !  that  word  divine  falls  sweet 
Like  dew  upon  my  aching  heart  and  head. 

What  have  I  done  that  Thou  shouldst  love  me  so  ? 

I  have  no  merit  but  from  Thy  sweet  grace. 
Stricken  with  shame,  dear  Lord,  to  Thee  I  go, 

And  at  Thy  feet  I  hide  my  tear-stained  face.f 


Copyright,  1891,  by  Rev.  R.  S.  Dewey,  S.  J.    All  rights  reserved.]  241 


242 


THE  EASTER   CRUCIFIX. 
II. 


HEY  mourned  Him  .  sorrowing  ;  and  all 

the  earth 

Was  still,  ah  !  still  like  death. 
Yet    silently    the    tender    spring    gave 

birth 
To  all  her  sweetness,  and  the  first 

faint  breath 

Of  flowers  filled  the  places  far  and  near 
Where   late   the   Lord  had    walked,  the 

Saviour  dear. 


The 


still     like 


saddened    earth  —  still, 

death  it  lay  ; 

For  death  had  passed,  and  now 
No  joyous  thing  had  being  ;  and  the  day 

Was  lost  in  night,  upon  whose  stricken  brow 
The  stars  wept  sadly,  softly,  through  the  gloom 
Where  sate  the  watch  about  the  Saviour's  tomb. 

Poor  earth  !     The  fainting  flowers  only  knew 

His  face,  the  Saviour's  face  : 
They,  only,  kissed  His  feet,  while  all  the  blue 

Bent  down  in  ecstasy,  and  all  the  place 
Was  glorious  with  heaven,  —  only  these 
Their  incense  offered  on  the  raptured  breeze. 

Dear  Lord  !    They  tell  the  story  to  us  still 

How  "  Love  is  strong  as  death," 
And  evermore  with  gladness  do  they  fill 

The  gladsome  earth,  where  each  that  sorroweth 
May  breathe  their  sweetness,  sweet  as  on  the  morn 
When  rose  the  Lord,  and  joy  again  was  born. 


A  STUDY  OF  FRIARS. 


HE  bright  sun  of  Rome  when  it  shines — and  there 
are  few  days  in  the  year  when  it  does  not  look 
forth  in  splendor — inspires  nothing  but  fulness  of 
life  and  rejoicing,  as  it  were,  a  perpetual  Easter. 
Its  rays  are  nowhere  more  dazzling  than  when, 
mounting  up  the  long  steps  of  the  Quirinal,  you 
wander  along  into  the  Piazza  Barberini. 

To  the  right  arises  the  noble  palace  which  is  a  memorial  ot 
this  family's  magnificence  when  Urban  VIII.,  their  greatest  mem- 
ber, was  Pope.  With  all  their  magnificence  and  greatness,  he 
used  to  say — at  least  so  it  is  said,  and  not  disedifyingly — that  he 
"  had  four  relations  who  were  fit  for  nothing :  first,  Cardinal 
Francis,  who  was  a  saint  and  worked  no  miracles ;  secondly, 
Cardinal  Anthony,  who  was  a  monk  and  had  no  patience ;  thirdly, 
Cardinal  Anthony  the  Younger,  who  was  an  orator  and  did  not 
know  how  to  speak ;  while  the  fourth  was  a  General  who  did  not 
know  how  to  draw  the  sword  !" 

Perhaps  the  stranger  who  admires  the  immense  building, 
screened  from  the  street  by  the  beautiful  railing  between  its  lofty 
columns,  does  not  know  that  near  at  hand  there  is  a  far  more 
notable  memorial  of  Cardinal  Francis,  the  "Saint-Brother"  of 
Pope  Urban.  His  guide-book,  indeed,  will  tell  him  that  the  little 
Piazza  opening  to  the  left  leads  to  the  Capuchin  church  founded 
by  Cardinal  Barberini  the  monk.  But  the.  Capuchins  are  prop- 
erly not  monks,  but  friars ;  and  it  was  not  Cardinal  Anthony, 
"the  monk  who  had  no  patience,"  but  Francis,  who  did  better 
than  work  miracles,  that  founded  this  church  in  the  year  1624. 
Entering  into  the  church,  where  the  cool  shadows  are 
refreshing  after  the  hot  sun  of  the  Piazza,  you  may  see  his 
epitaph  on  the  pavement  in  front  of  the  high  altar. 

Here  lies  dust,  ashes,  nothingness. 
This  great  Cardinal  of  princely  family  was  known  in  many 


A  STUDY  OF  FRIARS.  245 

lines.  He  received  the  English  poet  Milton,  when  he  came  to 
Rome  and  accredited  himself  with  his  carefully  written  Latin  verses. 
Even  the  enemies  of  the  Popes  acknowledge  that  the  only  advan- 
tage he  took  of  his  brother's  elevation  was  to  endow  this  church 
and  convent  for  the  friars.  He  was  himself  one  of  the  despised 
friars,  whom  the  guide-books  persist  in  calling  "  snuffy."  Perhaps 
their  authors  would  stimulate  their  senses  with  snuff  if  they  had 
the  short  sleep  and  scant  fare  of  these  bare-footed,  coarse-gowned, 
shaven-headed  Capuchins,  whose  prayers  and  unremitting  good 
works  are  doing  so  much  to  keep  the  Faith  among  the  Roman 
populace. 

Looking  around  the  church,  you  may  see  a  few  really  fine 
pictures.  Here  is  Guido's  "St.  Michael,"  where  the  Archangel, 
at  once  majestic  and  beautiful,  tramples  upon  the  fiend  whom  he 
is  thrusting  down  to  his  own  place.  The  design  of  many  pictures 
of  the  great  Archangel  has  been  taken  from  this  admired  painting. 
At  the  left  of  the  high  altar  is  the  tomb  of  the  princely  son  of  the 
great  Sobieski,  who  delivered  Europe  from  the  advance  of  the 
Turks. 

But  it  is  not  the  tombs,  or  the  paintings  of  Saints  and  Angels 
in  the  church,  which  stir  most  to  Easter  thoughts.  It  is  some- 
thing that  is  most  curious  in  all  Rome,  and  which  the  traveller 
should  not  leave  unseen. 

You  will  find  one  of  the  friars  in  the  sacristy,  who  with  his 
key  will  let  you  pass  through  a  narrow  door  to  the  right,  from 
which  a  staircase  descends  into  a  corridor  that  runs  the  whole 
length  of  the  crypt  below.  This  crypt  is  not  subterranean,  but 
has  the  real  light  of  day  coming  into  it  from  what  was  once  the 
convent  courtyard.  The  latter  is  now  cut  in  two  by  the  new 
street,  opened  by  the  new  Government,  apparently  because  the 
opening  of  it  would  sweep  away  the  greater  part  of  the  historic 
convent.  It  is  a  great  consideration  in  the  planning  of  this  new 
Rome,  to  broaden  the  ways  and  narrow  the  lives  of  friars  and  their 
kind.  Still,  it  is  the  narrow  way  that  in  the  end  leads  to  the 
better  place,  as  we  are  assured  on  good  authority. 

On    descending  the  stairs,  visitors  who   come  in  groups  are 


A  STUDY  OF  FRIARS.  247 

apt  to  be  disturbed  for  a  moment  by  the  involuntary  cries  or  even 
the  sudden  retreat  and  escape  of  some  one  of  the  party,  more 
nervous  than  the  rest :  and  yet  there  is  nothing  fearful  here,  for 
it  is  simply  the  cemetery  where  the  friars  are  resting  their  weary 
bones  until  the  last  trump  shall  summon  them  again  to  life  and 
motion.  All  that  is  strange  is  that  the  bones  are  here  before  you. 
Some  are  separated  and  neatly  classified,  skulls  with  skulls, 
shoulder-blades  with  shoulder-blades,  Others  are  in  full  skele- 
tons, with  the  friar's  gown  still  wrapping  them  round.  Those  who 
were  last  buried,  you  are  told,  are  at  your  feet  beneath  the  little 
cross-topped  mounds  made  with  earth  brought  from  Jerusalem. 
On  the  whole,  making  the  widest  allowance  for  man's  vagaries  in 
dealing  with  his  dead,  this  is  the  unique  cemetery  of  the  world. 

The  crypt  is  partitioned  off  into  four  chapels  opening  a  full 
side  on  the  little  corridor,  across  which  the  light  streams.  Evi- 
dently there  must  be  considerable  similarity  in  these  chapels,  for 
the  bones  of  the  human  frame  are  limited  in  kind  and  number. 
Yet  an  astonishing  variety  has  been  invented  in  the  decorations 
made. 

The  second  chapel  from  the  stairs  is  perhaps  the  best 
example.  Over  the  altar,  just  across  from  where  you  stand  in  the 
corridor,  is  the  usual  symbol  of  all  the  Orders  of  St.  Francis.  It 
is  the  crossed  arms  with  the  wounded  palms — in  memory  of  the 
Stigmata  given  to  the  great  Saint  who  so  faithfully  imitated  his 
crucified  Lord.  In  the  bones  which  make  up  the  side  walls  of 
this  chapel,  four  skeletons  in  their  friars'  gowns  stand  in  niches  on 
each  side.  Overhead,  bones  are  arranged  in  various  imitations  of 
stucco  ornament ;  and  from  the  centre  hangs  a  chandelier  of  long 
thigh-bones,  with  a  lamp  shining  from  the  midst  of  a  pendent 
skull. 

In  another  chapel  the  centre  piece  of  the  ceiling  is  grim 
Death  with  a  long  scythe,  himself  reduced  to  a  skeleton.  In 
the  altar  tomb  below  is  buried  a  friend  of  St.  Philip  Neri,  the 
gentle  Apostle  of  Rome.  On  either  side,  in  the  gown  of  the  friars 
whose  benefactors  they  were  and  still  faithful  to  them  in  death, 
stands  a  Prince  Barberini ;  for  they  are  not  all  friars  that  have 


248 


A  STUDY  OF  FRIARS. 


been  buried  here.     Under  the  retreating  arch,  in  the  skulls  which 
are  here  massed  together  to  form  a  side  wall,  lies  a  recumbent 


TOMB  OF  ST.  PHILIP'S  FRIEND. 


figure,  also  in  the  friars'  gown,  pressing  the  cross  in  his  bony 
hands  to  his  breast. 


A  STUDY  OF  FRIARS.  249 

One  of  the  other  chapels  is  more  curious  still  in  its  ghastly, 
yet  holy  mockery  of  death.  The  background  of  the  wall  is  built 
up  with  shoulder-blades  and  similar  plate-like  bones.  In  three 
retreating  niches  stand  three  gowned  skeletons.  One  of  them  still 
has  the  fragments  of  his  friar's  beard  on  his  chin.  The  empty 
eye-sockets  of  another  stare  startlingly  at  the  dazed  observer,  as 
if  to  say  to  him — "  lo-day  to  me,  to-morrow  to  thee."  There  is, 
indeed,  no  better  place  than  this  for  meditating  on  the  uncertain- 
ties of  human  life  and,  more  still,  on  the  certainty  of  death  which 
shall  bring  all  indiscriminately  to  dust  and  ashes.  Not  all,  how- 
ever, can  expect  to  have  their  bones  so  carefully  put  in  order, 
classified,  and  turned  to  pious,  if  somewhat  lugubrious  decoration. 
In  yet  another  chapel  three  similar  gowned  figures  are  embedded 
in  skulls,  and  the  symbol  of  the  hour  glass — of  Time  that  is  ever 
fleeting — is  wrought  on  the  ceiling  above  in  bones. 

Whatever  we  may  think  of  the  good  taste  shown  in  all  this 
playing  with  death,  we  must  agree  that  there  was  no  idle  fear  of 
his  horrors  in  those  who  builded  so  strangely.  This  work,  essen- 
tially as  it  is  now,  dates  from  two  centuries  ago.  Since  that  time, 
when  the  ghastly  grinning  skeleton  at  last  yielded  to  the  gnaw- 
ing tooth  of  time,  and  skull  fell  from  trunk  while  listless  hands 
dropped  to  the  ground,  a  new  skeleton  would  be  taken  up  from 
some  of  these  graves  in  the  holy  soil  of  Jerusalem  and  be  carefully 
stationed  in  place  of  the  other.  But  there  has  been  little  improv- 
ing on  the  first  fancy ;  and  now,  with  the  new  system  in  Italy,  the 
friars  themselves  can  no  longer  be  buried  here,  but  must  be  taken 
out  to  sleep  in  the  cold  ground  of  the  common  cemetery.  This 
strange  crypt,  however,  where  their  brethren  and  benefactors  lie, 
will  remain  for  the  sake  of  its  very  curiousness. 

But  it  also  tells  the  lesson  of  Easter.  0  Grave,  where  is  thy 
victory  ?  if  these  servants  of  the  Risen  Lord  can  thus  sport  with 
thee?  It  would  be  a  quaint  fancy  to  imagine  all  these  bones 
starting  forth  from  their  classified  groups  to  unite  each  with  its 
fellow  at  the  general  Resurrection.  But  beyond  all  is  the  truth, 
not  at  all  fantastic,  that  buried  deep  or  exposed  above  the  ground 
the  body  can  work  neither  good  nor  ill  to  the  soul  which  is  freed 
from  it  in  glory. 


"TO-DAY  TO  ME— TO-MOKROW  TO  THEE.' 


A  STUDY  OF  FRIARS. 


251 


Mounting  up  into  the  church  again,  we  may  now  look  at  the 
fourth  chapel  from  the  entrance  on  the  right.  Here  is  the  Blessed 
Crispin  of  Viterbo,  whose  body  has  lain  here  in  veneration  since  all 
the  many  years  he  lived  as  a  "  snuffy  friar"  in  the  exercise  of  heroic 
patience  and  charity  toward  God  and  man.  The  incorruption  of 
a  Saint's  body,  though  a  rare  phenomenon,  is  not  regularly 
accepted  by  the  Church — at  least,  not  without  further  reason — as 
an  evident  miracle.  Yet  the  most  scientific  traveller  would  find 
the  Blessed  Crispin  rather  startling  to  any  theory  which  should 
not  recognize  a  special  action  of  Providence.  There  is  here  noth- 
ing of  the  dried,  leathery  appearance  of  certain  bodies  which  are 
thus  found.  The  flesh  seems  to  stand  out  firmly  still  on  the 
cheeks :  and  ther,e  is  the  red  hue  of  life  after  one  hundred  and 
more  years.  A  German  professor  who  was  with  me,  like  many  of 
his  kind  without  faith,  could  not  believe  that  it  was  a  human  body 
at  all,  so  real  and  lifelike  was  it  in  death.  The  Christian,  without 
any  great  speculation,  will  see  in  it  a  sign  of  the  mysterious  resur- 
rection which  consecrates  our  earthly  body  with  the  seed  and  hope 
of  another  and  glorious  state  where  death  shall  be  unknown. 


CENTRE-PIECE  IN  CHAPEL  CEILING  OF  CRYPT. 


HARRY'S  FAMILY'S  EASTER. 
'By  B.  A. 

ARRY !" 

"All  right." 

"  Mother's  awful  busy.     She  wants  you  to  go 
to  the  store  and  get  some  things  for  tea." 
"All  right," 

"  Don't  think  there's  any  bread  in  the  house,  either.  Better 
get  a  loaf  while  you're  at  it.  Oh,  yes,  and  ask  Mother  if  we 
can't  have  some  cake  for  supper." 

Silence. 

"  You  provoking  boy,  I  don't  believe  you've  heard  a  word. 
Please  stop  reading  and  listen.  Harry  /" 

"WHAT!" 

"  Of  course.     You  haven't  been  listening." 

"  Well,  they've  all  got  shipwrecked  and  I  had  to  see  how  it 
turned  out.  It's  a  dandy  book.  What  do  you  want?  I  heard 
something  about  cake,  anyway.  Got  any  ?" 

Kitty  produced  a  paper  and  a  basket  which  she  delivered  to 
Harry  with  all  the  superiority  of  an  elder  sister. 

"No,  but  Mother  wants  you  to  go  to  the  store  for  her. 
This  is  the  list,  and  here's  the  basket  for  the  things." 

"That  big  thing !  People' 11  think  Pm  bringing  home  the 
wash  !" 

"  It  wouldn't  be  any  disgrace  if  you  were.  Now  do  hurry, 
for  Mother's  waiting." 

Harry  grumbled,  but  he  went,  closing  the  house-door  after 
him  with  a  bang.  Kitty  went  down  to  the  kitchen  where  Mrs. 
Randall  was  getting  supper,  assisted  (?)  by  her  two  remaining 
sons,  aged  respectively  seven  and  five.  Jamie  had  essayed  to  beat 
the  omelet  and  had  succeeded  in  adorning  the  front  of  his  white 
apron  with  the  entire  contents  of  the  dish.  Kitty  having  scrubbed 
the  young  delinquent,  he  now  was  sitting  in  remorseful  silence 

252 


HARRY'S  FAMILY'S  EASTER.  253 

upon  the  settle  where  his  mother  in  despair  had  commanded  him 
to  remain  for  fear  of  further  accidents. 

Joe  was  a  bright  boy  of  an  inquiring  turn  of  mind.  He  had 
conceived  an  ungovernable  curiosity  in  regard  to  the  contents  of 
the  pantry,  but  having  discovered  a  piece  of  pie,  he  lost  interest 
in  the  pursuit  and  devoted  himself  to  the  spoils,  the  pantry  door 
proving  a  suitable  concealment  to  his  labors. 

"That  must  be  the  'Angelus'  ringing,"  said  Mrs.  Randall, 
glancing  at  the  clock.  "  Kitty,  I  hope  your  father  won't  be  late." 

Just  as  she  spoke,  Harry  and  his  father  came  in  together. 

The  presence  of  Mr.  Randall  seemed  to  have  a  peculiar  effect 
upon  the  family.  Kitty  stopped  singing  in  the  middle  of  a  bar, 
Joe  appeared  suddenly  at  the  kitchen  door,  unconscious  of  the 
fact  that  his  face  gave  ample  testimony  of  his  previous  occupation, 
while  Mrs.  Randall  made  an  evident  effort  at  conversation. 

Randall  was  short  and  thickset  with  a  somewhat  florid  com- 
plexion. Occasionally  his  expression  reminded  one  of  Harry's 
frank,  open  face ;  but  his  habitual  air  was  rather  sullen  and  for- 
bidding. During  supper  he  appeared  even  more  quiet  than  usual, 
and  his  wife  confined  her  attentions  to  the  children's  wants  and 
Joe's  frequent  excursions  to  the  jam-pot. 

After  the  tea-things  were  cleared  away  Kitty  whispered  wist- 
fully in  her  mother's  ear,  "  if  she  were  going  to  church  ?" 

"Not  to-night,  dear,"  replied  Mrs.  Randall,  "for  I  think 
perhaps  Papa  will  stay  home.  Harry  will  take  you  if  you  want 
to  go." 

Kitty  thereupon  went  upstairs,  and  shortly  after  her  mother 
heard  a  door  bang  and  Harry's  voice  sounding  very  loud  and 
determined.  Mrs.  Randall  went  upstairs  herself  to  the  scene 
of  action. 

"Harry,  what  is  the  matter?  Aren't  you  going  to  take 
Kitty  to  church?" 

"Oh,  bother  !  Kitty  always  asks  me  to  take  her  out  when 
I  don't  want  to  go." 

Mrs.  Randall  sat  down  quietly  beside  her  unruly  young  son. 
"  Kitty,"  she  said,  in  her  calm  way,  "  go  and  put  your  things  on." 


254  HARRY'S  FAMILY'S  EASTER. 

Harry  ran  his  fingers  through  his  hair  till  it  stood  on  end — 
a  habit  he  had  when  he  was  excited. 

"  Bother  Kitty !  She's  always  wanting  to  go  somewhere 
when  a  fellow  wants  to  read.  I  thought  you  meant  to  go 
to-night,  Mother, — oh,  yes,  I  forgot.  You're  going  to  stay  home 
with  Father.  Mother,  why  doesn't  he  ever  go  to  church  ?" 

"Oh,  men  are  generally  tired  after  their  long  day's  work, 
Harry." 

"  Well,  all  of  'em  ain't.  Kitty  and  I  have  seen  Mr.  Beres- 
ford  every  night  at  the  Lent  devotions,  and  he's  the  head  of  a 
firm  and  has  a  good  deal  more  to  occupy  him  than  Father.  Why, 
Mother,  he  never  goes  to  the  Sacraments." 

"You  mustn't  speak  so  about  your  Father,"  said  Mrs. 
Randall,  turning  her  head  away. 

Harry  put  his  arms  awkwardly  about  her  neck  and  kissed 
her  gray  hair. 

"  I  bet  I  know  what  makes  you  look  so  unhappy,  Mother," 
he  said. 

"Harry,  what  do  you  mean?"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Randall,  in 
a  half-frightened  way. 

"Well,  I  guess  I  can  see.  Don't  I  "know  why  you  worry 
so  if  Father's  late  evenings  ?  I  don't  know  why  you  won't  talk 
to  me  about  it.  I'm  getting  real  big.  Fifteen  in  June,  and  I'm 
an  awful  lot  taller'n  you  are,  Mother." 

"There,  that  will  do,  Harry.  You're  choking  me,"  inter- 
polated Mrs.  Randall,  mildly. 

"Gracious,  here  comes  Kitty,"  Harry  added,  sitting  down 
very  suddenly. 

Kitty  eyed  the  pair  suspiciously. 

"  Mother,  your  eyes  are  all  red.  You've  been  crying,  and, 
Harry,  so  have  you." 

" I  have  not"  said  Harry,  indignantly. 

"  Well,  what's  the  matter  ?" 

"Nothing  at  all,"  said  Mrs.  Randall,  laughing  with  the 
tears  in  her  eyes.  "Go  now,  or  you'll  be  late." 

In  the  street,  Harry  linked  his  sister's  arm  protectingly  in 
his. 


HARRY'S  FAMILY'S  EASTER.  255 

"  Say,  Kit,  I  was  awful  cross  to  you  to-night,  wasn't  I  ?" 

"  Well — yes,  Harry, — you  were,"  Kitty  admitted. 

"  Well,  never  mind,  old  girl.  You  can  have  the  book  I  got 
on  Christmas  to  read,  after  I'm  done  with  it." 

"Oh,  Harry!" 

"And  you  can  use  my  paint-box  when  you  want  it  too — 
not  too  often,  you  know." 

"Oh,  Harry,  really!" 

"  Yep.  And  here  " — fumbling  in  his  pocket — "  here's  some 
nut-candy  I  bought  day  before  yesterday.  It's  been  in  my  pocket 
with  a  good  many  other  things,  but  that  doesn't  make  any  differ- 
ence. It's  good.  Have  some?" 

Mrs.  Randall  was  putting  the  children  to  bed  when  Harry 
came  home  from  church.  He  stole  in  very  quietly  so  as  not  to 
disturb  them.  His  mother's  face  lighted  up  when  he  entered : 
she  smiled  and  put  her  finger  on  her  lips. 

"Don't  you  worry.  I  won't  wake  'em,"  said  Harry. 
"I  just  wanted  to  tell  you  of  a  scheme  I've  got  in  my  head. 
Thought  about  it  in  church.  It's — it's  about  Father." 

Harry  was  accustomed  to  going  to  her  with  his  "  schemes," 
as  he  called  them,  but  this  time  he  couldn't  understand  why  his 
mother  kissed  him  afterward  and  called  him  "her  comfort." 

"  I  wish  you  were  five  years  older,  Harry,"  she  said. 

"Wish  I  was,  Mother,  for  your  sake,  but  is  anything  the 
matter  ?" 

"  Don't  tell  Kitty,  dear,  but  Father  is  going  to  lose  his  situa- 
tion. Mr.  Fleming  says  he — doesn't  want  him  any  more.  Maybe 
I  oughtn't  to  have  told  you,  but — well,  after  all,  you're  my  eldest 
son  and  I  had  to  tell  somebody." 

Harry  was  silent.  He  didn't  ask  the  reason  of  his  father's 
discharge,  but  for  the  first  time  a  feeling  of  repulsion  in  regard  to 
him  rose  in  his  mind.  Perhaps  the  mother  followed  his  thoughts, 
for  she  regretted  the  words  as  soon  as  they  had  passed  her  lips. 
Harry  was  very  young  to  be  made  a  confidant  in  such  t  matters. 

"  Oh,  well,  every  one  meets  with  misfortune  now  and  then, 
my  son,"  she  said,  taking  up  her  mending. 


256  HARRY'S  FAMILY'S  EASTER. 

"  I  don't  see  why  you  have  to  be  made  unhappy  though. 
You're  so  good,  Mother.  You're  a  good  sight  better'n  Father." 

"  Hush,  Harry,  I  won't  listen  to  such  talk,"  said  the  mother. 
"  You  ought  to  go  now  and  study  your  lessons  anyway." 

Harry  went  obediently,  but  that  night  Latin  and  Algebra 
were  a  hopeless  tangle  in  his  mind. 

II. 

At  a  quarter  before  eight  the  next  morning  (it  was  a  week-day), 
Harry  went  to  St.  Philip's  for  Mass,  and  afterward  the  regular 
daily  attendants  counted  him  amongst  their  number.  It  was  hard 
to  keep  to  his  resolution  when  he  was  tired  or  the  weather  was 
bad ;  but  he  did,  and  stormy  days  and  clear  days  he  was  there, 
for  that  had  been  his  agreement  with  Mother.  Nobody  in  church 
could  help  knowing  when  Harry  came  in.  He  always  banged 
the  door  to,  made  much  noise  with  his  feet  coming  up  the  uncar- 
peted  aisle,  and  was  sure  to  upset  the  kneeling-bench. 

Those  who  attended  the  Mass  regularly  were  always  sure  ot 
what  would  follow.  After  Mass,  Harry  would  go  to  the  Com- 
munion-rail and  kneel  before  the  Blessed  Mother's  altar,  where  he 
appeared  to  be  putting  up  a  very  fervent  petition  for  something — 
one  could  tell  that  by  his  face.  In  less  than  a  minute,  he  would 
finish  his  prayer,  leave  the  church  in  a  great  hurry,  banging  the 
door  again,  and  go  down  the  street  whistling. 

Harry  himself  in  time  became  quite  familiar  with  the  faces 
about  him.  There  were  three  or  four  bright-faced  servant  girls, 
who  were  always  on  hand  to  start  the  day  with  the  great  act  ol 
praise  and  prayer,  there  was  the  old  man  who  would  say  his  beads 
out  loud,  and  the  woman  who  always  came  in  late  with  her 
responses  to  the  prayers  the  priest  says  after  Mass.  Sometimes 
Harry  noticed  a  gentleman,  who  came  in  very  often  late  and  sat  in 
one  of  the  back  pews.  He  was  not  a  Catholic,  for  he  never  knelt, 
and  spent  a  good  deal  of  the  time,  Harry  thought,  in  looking 
about  the  church.  His  dress  was  faultless,  he  always  wore  gloves, 
and  he  had  a  watch-chain  which  was  the  special  envy  of  Harry's 
heart. 


HARRY'S  FAMILY'S  EASTER.  257 

The  day  after  he  had  the  talk  with  his  mother,  Harry  started 
down  town  on  an  expedition  of  his  own. 

His  heart  beat  a  little  when  he  saw  the  sign  he  was  in  search 
of  on  one  of  the  larger  buildings — "  W.  H.  Gardiner  &  Bro." 
He  stopped  on  the  threshold,  half  inclined  to  turn  back,  then  his 
mother's  face  somehow  got  between  him  and  the  door  and  he 
walked  in.  There  were  several  clerks  standing  about  at  big 
desks,  and  Harry  made  a  bold  front  and  asked  one  "  where  Mr. 
Gardiner  was  ?"  "  In  the  private  office.  What  do  you  want  him 
for?" 

The  clerk  didn't  look  much  older  than  Harry,  and  the  latter 
felt  very  much  inclined  to  say  "  It's  none  of  your  business."  But 
he  managed  to  control  himself  and  marched  toward  the  inner 
door. 

The  clerk  was  too  quick  for  him  however.  "  Look  here 
now,  young  man,"  he  said,  "  you  can't  go  in  there  bothering  Mr. 
Gardiner.  Tell  me  who  sent  you,  and  I'll  let  him  know  you're 
here." 

"Oh,  you  needn't  put  yourself  to  all  that  trouble,"  said 
Harry  airily.  "  Besides  my  business  is  private.  Pm  not  in  any 
hurry.  I'll  just  sit  here  till  Mr.  Gardiner  goes  out  to  dinner;" 
and,  suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  Harry  drew  up  a  chair  and 
down  he  sat. 

Some  of  the  clerks  began  to  laugh  and  Harry,  boy-like,  was 
rather  enjoying  his  adversary's  discomfiture,  when  the  door  opened 
and  a  gentleman  came  out  of  the  inner  room.  Harry  took  advan- 
tage of  the  opportunity  and  went  in. 

Mr.  Gardiner  was  sitting  at  a  large  desk  engaged  in  conver- 
sation with  another  gentleman.  When  he  saw  Harry  a  smile 
crossed  his  lips,  and  the  latter  involuntarily  breathed  a  sigh  of 
relief.  It  was  the  same  gentleman  whom  he  had  noticed  at  Mass 
in  St.  Philip's  Church. 

"  Did  you  want  to  see  me  ?"  asked  Mr.  Gardiner  kindly. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Harry,  "  but" — glancing  at  the  other  gen- 
tleman— "  I  guess  I'll  wait." 

The  two  men  laughed. 


258  HARRY'S  FAMILY'S  EASTER. 

"Private  business,  eh?"  said  the  stranger,  and  Harry  felt 
his  cheeks  grow  red ;  but  he  stuck  to  his  purpose  and  said  noth- 
ing- 

"  Sit  down,  boy,  I'll  attend  to  you  in  a  minute,"  said  Mr. 
Gardiner ;  and  Harry  was  glad  enough  to  do  as  he  was  told,  for  he 
:was  beginning  to  feel  rather  nervous. 

The  gentleman  finally  went  but  and  Harry  began  to  wonder 
if  Mr.  Gardiner  remembered  he  was  there.  It  was  some  minutes 
before  he  said,  without  looking  up  from  his  writing  : 

"  What  did  you  want  to  see  me  about  ?" 

Harry  cleared  his  throat. 

"  Please,  sir,  I  wanted  to  see  you  about  Father." 

"What  did  you  say?" 

"  I  want  to  see  you  about  Father." 

Mr.  Gardiner  slowly  turned  in  his  revolving  chair  and  looked 
at  Harry  over  his  spectacles.  "About  your  father  ?" 

"  Yes,  sir.  You  see,  sir,  he's  got  to  drinking  harder  lately, 
and  the  boss  told  him  he'd  have  to  leave.  Mother's  most  crazy, 
for  there's  four  of  us,  you  see,  sir,  and  I'm  the  biggest." 

All  this  was  delivered  very  rapidly,  as  though  it  were  a  set 
speech  prepared  beforehand.  Mr.  Gardiner's  bewildered  mind 
took  in  one  word. 

"What  boss?" 

"The  foreman  down  at  the  factory — your  factory,  you 
know,  sir.  It  was  he  that  discharged  Father,  and  I  wanted  just  to 
ask  you  if  you  wouldn't  please  try  Father  a  little  while  longer.  I 
wouldn't  mind  so  much  if  it  wasn't  for  Mother,  but  I  hate  to  see 
her  worried." 

Mr.  Gardiner  looked  at  Harry  curiously,  trying  to  imagine 
his  son  having  to  go  through  for  his  sake  the  humiliation  which 
this  boy  was  going  through  for  his  father. 

"Well,  you  see,  my  lad,"  he  said  kindly,  "I  don't  have 
much  to  do  with  that  part  of  the  factory.  The  foreman  engages 
the  men  and  makes  the  necessary  discharges  as  he  sees  fit.  Now 
we  can't  aiford  to  keep  incompetent  workmen,  and  I'm  sure  your 
father  wasn't  discharged  without  sufficient  reason." 


HARRY'S  FAMILY'S  EASTER.  259 

Harry's  heart  went  down  into  his  boots.  He  blinked  very- 
hard  a  few  times  and  took  up  his  hat  to  go. 

"You  don't  do  anything  yet,  I  suppose,"  observed  Mr. 
Gardiner. 

"  Mother  said  she'd  rather  I'd  get  my  schooling  in  first  if 
I  could.  But  I'm  going  to  be  an  office-boy  if  father  loses  his 
place,"  replied  Harry,  looking  at  the  floor. 

"  You're  the  boy  I   see  in  the  Catholic    church    in  B 

Street  so  often,  aren't  you?"  Mr.  Gardiner   asked,  rather   irrele- 
vantly. 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  Why  do  you  always  go  and  kneel  before  the  Virgin's  altar 
to  pray?"  was  the  next  question. 

"  Because  I  want  something  awful  bad  and  I  thought  maybe 
she'd  get  it  for  me,"  said  Harry  simply. 

A  faint  smile  hovered  over  the  gentleman's  lips. 

"Do  you  always  do  that  when  you  want  anything?"  he 
asked. 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Harry  again,  wondering  if  Mr.  Gardiner 
were  laughing  at  him. 

It  wasn't  very  hard  to  guess  what  the  "something"  was 
which  was  being  so  earnestly  begged  for. 

"  I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do,  my  boy,"  said  Mr.  Gardiner  cheer- 
fully. "We'll  make  an  agreement.  As  far  as  the  position  is 
concerned,  I'll  arrange  with  the  foreman  myself.  I'll  have  a  talk 
with  your  father  too,  though  I  don't  care  for  him  to  know 
you've  been  here.  Then,  if  your  petitions  are  answered  by  the  end 
of  the  month,  the  position  will  be  insured  to  your  father,  and  I 
will  give  credit  to  the  Mother  of  God  for  what  I  never  yet  have 
believed  of  her — the  power  of  hearing  and  granting  prayers. 
Good-day,  my  boy." 

Harry  felt  two  feet  higher  as  he  left  the  private  office.  He 
was  the  observed  of  all  the  clerks,  who  wondered  what  on  earth 
kept  the  head  of  the  firm  shut  up  so  long  with  such  a  very 
insignificant  portion  of  humanity  as  Harry. 

On  his  way  out,  Harry  marched  up  to  the  boyish-looking 
clerk  who  had  first  accosted  him. 


26O  HARRY'S  FAMILY'S  EASTER. 

"Say/'  he  said  cheerfully.  "  You  got  left,  didn't  you?" — 
and  of  course  his  exit  was  accompanied  by  a  roar  of  laughter  from 
the  others. 

It  was  hard  for  Harry  to  appear  ignorant  the  next  evening,, 
when  Mrs.  Randall  told  him  that  his  father  had  been  re-engaged 
at  the  factory.  But  it  was  a  comfort  to  see  the  anxious  look 
gone  from  "Mother's"  face. 

m. 

One  evening  shortly  before  Easter,  the  family  were  assem- 
bled in  the  sitting-room.  Randall  happened  to  come  home  earlier 
than  usual  too.  His  wife  was  trying  to  solve  the  problem  of  how 
to  darn  a  certain  small  heel  when  there  wasn't  much  heel  to  darn. 
The  children  were  preparing  the  next  day's  lessons.  Jamie  was 
supposed  to  be  studying  the  first  chapter  of  his  Catechism,  and 
was  perpetrating  remarkable  heresies  therefrom,  startling  enough 
to  have  shamed  the  Pelagians.  Joe  had  discovered  that,  by  hold- 
ing a  slate-pencil  in  a  horizontal  position  and  drawing  it  slowly 
down  the  slate,  a  series  of  delightful  squeaks  could  be  elicited  of 
a  distressingly  interesting  nature.  Mrs.  Randall's  nerves  had 
almost  given  way,  when  Harry  came  in  with  an  excited  air,  his 
hair  in  wild  confusion,  as  was  generally  the  case  when  he  was 
excited. 

"What  do  you  think  I've  been  doing,  Mother?"  he  asked, 
without  noticing  that  his  father  was  present. 

"  I  don't  know,"  replied  Mrs.  Randall  mildly ;  "  from  the 
appearance  of  your  hair,  my  son,  I  should  imagine  however,  that 
you  had  been  standing  on  your  head." 

Harry  was  too  excited  to  laugh. 

"  I  met  Mr.  Gardiner  just  now,  and  he  wants  me  to  come 
down  to  the  office  to-morrow  morning  to  see  him.  He  says  he 
needs  a  boy  about  the  place  and,  if  I  want  to  try  it,  I  have  the 
chance.  Five  dollars  a  week,  too.  Say,  Mother,  let  the  school- 
ing slide — I  can  study  up  at  night — and  I'll  call  it  a  go.  Will 
you  let  me  ?" 

Randall  winced.      He  was  conscious  that  he  had  not  his 


HARRY'S  FAMILY'S  EASTER.  261 

son's  confidence.  It  had  been  to  his  wife,  not  to  him,  that  Harry 
had  come  for  advice  and  guidance. 

Mrs.  Randall  dropped  her  work  and  was  looking  at  Harry 
wonderingly.  "How  did  you  know  Mr.  Gardiner,  Harry?" 
she  said. 

"  I — I  meet  him  at  Mass  sometimes — almost  every  morning," 
replied  Harry,  evasively. 

"At  Mass !  Perhaps  he  will  be  a  Catholic,"  said  Mrs. 
Randall,  musingly.  "  Come  upstairs  to  bed,  boys,  you're  getting 
sleepy,"  she  added,  as  Jamie  yawned  prodigiously  and  Joe  wa& 
found  asleep  over  his  literary  labors. 

"What  do  you  go  to  Mass  for  every  morning?"  asked 
Randall  curiously,  when  he  and  his  son  were  alone. 

"  I — had  a  reason,  sir." 

Mr.  Randall  looked  surprised.  He  had  asked  the  question 
out  of  idle  curiosity,  but  the  boy's  evasive  answer  awakened  his 
interest. 

"  What  is  the  reason  ?" 

"  It  is  simply  my  habit  to  go  every  morning." 

"  That's  no  reason.     Tell  me  why  you  go." 

"I'd  rather  tell  any  one  but  you,  Father,"  said  poor  Harry, 
desperately,  thinking  his  father  would  be  angry  if  he  told  the 
truth. 

Randall's  curiosity  was  fully  roused. 

"And  why  not  me  ?     Answer  me  !" 

Harry  dropped  his  eyes,  and  turned  his  hat  round  and  round 
in  his  hands. 

"  Because  it  was  for  you  I  went." 

"  For  me  ?     What  do  you  mean  ?" 

"  Please  don't  ask  me,  Father." 

"  Yes.     I  intend  to  know." 

"I  wanted  you  to  stop  drinking  so  Mother  wouldn't  be  cry- 
ing any  more." 

"  Crying  !     Who  said  she  was  crying  ?" 

"  I  saw  her." 

"When?" 


262  HARRY'S  FAMILY'S  EASTER. 

No  answer. 

"  When  did  you  see  her  crying  ?" 

"  When  you're  late  at  night  and  she  sits  up  waiting.  Joe 
and  Jamie  are  in  bed  and  Kitty  upstairs  studying,  so  she  doesn't 
know.  But  I  see  Mother  crying  over  her  rosary  on  the  sly  many 
a  time.  You  see,  Father,  I'm  the  eldest  son  and  Mother  kind-o' 
looks  to  me  now." 

Randall  was  startled.  Harry  was  small  for  his  age,  but  he 
showed  more  manliness  in  his  appearance,  more  purity  and 
straightforwardness  in  his  eyes,  than  his  father.  "  Mother  looks 
to  me  now" — the  words  had  a  strange  sound  to  him.  Randall 
dropped  his  eyes  before  his  fourteen-year-old  son. 

Harry  felt  uncomfortable,  and  saying  something  about  going 
upstairs  to  study,  was  glad  enough  to  leave  the  room. 

Randall  sat  looking  at  the  floor  and  thinking.  He  was  not 
by  nature  evilly  inclined,  till  he  had  fallen  in  with  three  or  four 
men  down  at  the  factory,  whose  influence  had  not  been  of  the  best. 
For  the  most  part  of  his  married  life  he  had  been  a  good  husband 
and  father,  and  to-night  he  was  conscious  of  a  feeling  of  regret  for 
those  past  happy  days.  Certainly  his  own  little  sitting-room, 
with  its  faded  carpet  and  shabby  furniture,  looked  more  cheerful 
than  the  corner  beer-saloon  where  he  generally  spent  his  evenings. 

When  his  wife  came  back,  Randall  was  apparently  perusing 
the  Evening  Telegraph  upside  down;  but  as  his  thoughts  were 
anywhere  but  in  the  paper,  ic  didn't  make  much  difference. 

"  What  a  tall,  fine-looking  boy  our  Harry  is  getting  to  be," 
he  observed,  after  a  pause. 

Mrs.  Randall  didn't  know  whether  to  believe  her  ears. 

"  Yes,"  she  agreed,  rather  faintly,  "  he  is  a  great  comfort." 

"Maggie,"  said  Randall  abruptly,  dropping  his  newspaper, 
"  I  haven't  treated  you  right  lately." 

"  Never  mind,  John.     It's  all  right." 

"  No,  it  ain't  all  right,  either.  I'm  going  to  begin  all  over 
again  and  show  you  I  mean  what  I  say.  There,  there  now, 
Maggie,  don't  take  on  so.  I  think  it  was  the  boy  that  did  it. 
He  told  rne — well,  never  mind  what  he  told  me — but  things'll 
be  better  now,  and  Harry  shan't  stop  his  schooling." 


.     THE  MIRACLE  OF  CHARITY.  283 

Mr.  Randall  was  getting  a  little  incoherent,  but  then  it  is 
never  an  easy  job  to  make  a  confession. 

On  Easter  morning,  Harry  was  the  proudest  boy  in  R , 

as  he  went  to  Mass  beside  his  father.  There  was  nothing  unusual 
in  seeing  Mrs.  Randall  with  Harry  and  Kitty  at  the  Communion- 
rail,  but  it  must  have  been  a  treat  to  the  congregation  to  see 
Randall  senior  among  them. 

As  Harry  and  his  father  came  out  of  church  together,  the 
former  whispered  suddenly,  "  Look,  Papa  !  Isn't  that  Mr. 
Gardiner  kneeling  at  the  Blessed  Virgin's  altar  ?" 

"  It  isn't  likely,"  said  Randall,  looking  round. 

"Well,  I  think  it  is,"  said  Harry,  adding  with  a  sigh,  "I'm 
sure  I  recognized  that  watch-chain." 


THE  MIRACLE  OF  CHARITY.1 
THE  VENERABLE  JOSEPH  COTTOLENGO, 

Born  1786,  died  1842. 

1 T  least  our  age  can  boast  openly  of  a  saint — a  man 
filled  with  its  own  spirit  of  versatility,  enterprise, 
hardihood,  and  never-resting  go-aheaditiveness.  He 
seems  an  American,  but  he  is  an  Italian  after  the 
pattern  of  Columbus,  with  the  glory  of  the  priesthood 
crowning  and  sanctifying  its  fame. 

The  ancient  city  of  Bra,  in  Piedmont,  famed  for  its  devotion 
to  Mary  under  the  sweet  title  of  Our  Lady  of  Flowers,  gave  to 
the  Church  this  illustrious  son  on  the  third  of  May,  1786.  The 
story  of  his  childhood  and  youth  is  more  Avonderful  than  a  fairy 
tale.  There  is  nothing  "  dry "  about  its  varied  details,  at  once 
homely  and  marvellous.  Ordained  priest  on  the  eighth  of  June, 
1811,  though  young  he  was  elevated  to  the  dignity  of  Canon  in  the 
Cathedral  of  Turin,  on  May  nineteenth,  1818.  Of  his  fidelity  to 

1  Le  Miracle  de  la  Charite.  Par  le  P.  Gasteldi,  Oblat  de  la  B.  Vierge 
Marie. 


264  THE  MIRACLE  OF  CHARITY.    . 

every  duty,  his  wonderful  eloquence,  holy  life,  and  success  in 
bringing  souls  to  God,  many  fascinating  pages  tell.  But  all  this 
was  only  in  preparation  as  it  were  for  the  great  work  which  God 
had  marked  out  for  him  as  the  model,  the  teacher,  and  the  glory  of 
his  own  and  succeeding  ages. 

On  the  2d  of  September,  1827,  a  poor  family,  consisting  of 
father,  mother,  and  three  little  children,  arrived  at  Turin  from 
Milan,  on  their  way  to  France.  So  much  was  to  come  of  this 
most  unpromising  arrival  that  it  is  fitting  the  Reverend  biographer 
of  Cottolengo  should  tell  what  ensued  in  his  own  graphic  style  : 

"  The  mother  fell  dangerously  ill  at  the  moment  of  resuming 
the  journey.  Charitable  persons,  drawn  by  the  cries  of  the  child- 
ren and  lamentations  of  their  father,  judged  it  best  to  take  the  sick 
woman  to  the  great  hospital  of  St.  John.  There  she  could  not 
be  received,  as  she  was  six  months  enceinte,  and  they  applied  to 
the  royal  hospital  of  the  Maternity.  There  also  the  rules  opposed 
her  admission,  because  the  establishment,  being  expressly  intended 
for  those  near  their  confinement,  were  closed  to  all  who  added  to 
this  a  special  illness,  and  this  was  unfortunately  the  case.  They 
were  obliged  to  carry  the  poor  woman  back  to  the  inn,  where  she 
soon  expired. 

Cottolengo  had  been  called  to  give  the  consolations  of  religion, 
with  the  last  Sacraments.  The  circumstances  of  that  death,  and 
the  despair  of  the  father  and  children,  threw  his  heart  and  his 
entire  being  into  confusion.  How  could  such  things  occur  in  a 
Christian  land  ?  Was  there  not  still  a  vacant  place  to  be  filled 
with  works  of  holy  charity  ?  Was  God  waiting  for  him  to  fill  it  ? 
Yes :  he  understood  all.  The  victim  who  had  only  come  to  die, 
had  traced  for  him  the  route  and  the  aim  :  it  was  God  Who  spoke. 

That  night  (it  was  Sunday)  after  adoring  the  Holy  Sacrament 
he  entered  the  sacristy,  and,  full  of  his  idea,  walked  to  and  fro  for 
some  moments,  then  addressed  the  sacristan  :  "  Sound  the  bell." 
"  But  all  the  offices  are  over."  Cottolengo  insisting,  the  bell  rang 
out,  and  when  the  sacristan  returned  he  was  told  :  "  Go  to  the 
altar  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  ;  remove  the  veil  that  covers  the  statue, 


THE  MIRACLE   OF  CHARITY.  265 

and  light  the  candles  that  surround  it :  we  must  pray  immediately 
to  the  Holy  Mother."  Then  desiring  a  clerk  to  put  on  a  surplice, 
they  approached  the  altar  of  Our  Lady  of  Graces. 

It  was  the  very  title  fitted  to  the  present  occasion — the  name 
of  Mary's  altar  in  the  Church  of  Corpus  Domini :  Mary,  the  help, 
the  protectress,  there  opened  her  mantle  to  all  the  miserable  and 
despairing,  there  heard  and  blessed  their  prayers  ! 

Many  persons  gathered  at  the  signal ;  the  chaplet  and  some 
other  prayers  were  recited.  The  sweet  Mother  heard  their  suppli- 
cations. She  saw  how  pure  and  ardent  was  the  charity  that  filled 
the  heart  of  her  child,  and  he  found  himself  suddenly  inundated 
with  so  lively  a  joy  that  in  entering  the  sacristy  he  could  not 
restrain  an  exclamation  :  "  The  grace  is  come  !  grace  is  obtained  ! 
Blessed  be  the  Mother  of  God  for  ever !" 

His  brother  priests  listened  with  emotion  to  his  explanation. 

"  I  know  well,"  he  continued,  "  that  Turin  is  celebrated  for 
its  civilization  and  wealth,  that  religion  is  deeply  engraved  on  the 
hearts  of  its  people,  that  Christian  charity  has  created  a  number 
of  admirable  works  :  however,  can  we  not  increase  that  work  of 
help  for  the  unfortunate,  and  prepare  an  asylum  from  which  none 
will  ever  be  repulsed  ?  Cannot  we  ourselves  prepare  some  cham- 
bers for  the  friendless  arriving  from  Milan,  Switzerland,  and 
France  ?  There  at  least  we  shall  have  no  motive  for  exclusion  ! 
Oh  !  how  God  will  bless  from  heaven  our  parish  and  ourselves  !" 

"  He  spoke  with  such  fire,  God  inspiring  him  with  so  much 
eloquence,  that  the  project  was  adopted  on  the  spot,  on  the  con- 
dition that  he  would  be  the  special  director  and  manager." 

The  next  day  the  Canon  of  Corpus  Domini  began  his  enter- 
prise by  renting  two  apartments  in  the  third  story  of  a  building 
nearly  opposite  the  church.  As  other  rooms  became  vacant  he 
took  them  until  he  had  nine,  and  a  friend  paid  for  the  beds  which 
were  made  ready  for  the  expected  guests.  In  his  merry  way  the 
good  priest  said  :  "  The  beds  are  ready ;  what  is  wanting  is  the 
patients  to  put  in  them.  Truly  He  Who  has  given  the  first  will 
also  give  the  others."  In  fact,  the  hospital,  beginning  with  two 
poor  sufferers  on  St.  Anthony's  day,  January  17,  1828,  soon  had 


266  THE  MIRACLE  OF  CHARITY. 

twenty-seven,  all  it  could  accommodate.  Friends  and  benefactors 
were  not  lacking ;  a  distinguished  physician,  Dr.  Granetti,  offered 
his  services,  medicines  were  supplied  by  a  good  penitent  of  the 
Canon,  a  pious  society  undertook  to  contribute  regular  donations. 
The  "Little  Asylum  of  Divine  Providence,"  as  named  by  its  holy 
founder  and  director,  was  firmly  established.  At  an  early  date 
he  established  a  sisterhood,  called  by  him  Daughters  of  St. 
Vincent  or  Vincentines,  but  whom  the  people  preferred  to  call 
Sisters  of  Cottolengo  or  Cottolengines  :  also  a  society  of  pious  men, 
called  Brothers  of  St.  Vincent,  and  a  little  band  of  Supplicants, 
to  attend  to  their  own  sex  not  only  in  the  Asylum  but  in  the 
world. 

Every  day,  after  his  Mass,  the  good  Father  visited  the 
Asylum,  consoled  the  sick,  helped  to  make  the  beds  and  attend  to 
the  thousand-and-one  duties  needing  brave  hearts  and  kindly 
hands ;  replying  to  the  remonstrances  of  the  Sisters :  "  What  ! 
would  you  hinder  me  from  doing  some  good?" 

To  one  of  his  brothers  who  wished  him  to  take  an  honorable 
position,  which  offered  every  advantage  and  where  he  could  do 
good  at  his  ease,  he  replied  :  "  Me  !  Should  you  cover  me  with 
gold,  with  silver  and  with  honors,  never  will  I  abandon  the  poor 
whom  God  has  confided  to  my  care  !  No,  never  !" 

He  was,  on  the  contrary,  continually  extending  his  cares. 
Young  girls  exposed  to  danger  whether  by  poverty,  their  own  wil- 
fulness,  or  the  neglect  of  their  parents,  he  placed  under  the  charge 
of  the  pious  lady  who  was  training  his  Vincentines ;  he  visited  them 
every  day,  examined  their  progress  in  education  and  solid  piety, 
and  distributed  among  them  chaplets,  images,  books,  and  even 
candies.  They  were  divided  into  two  classes,  under  the  patronage 
of  St.  Ursula  and  Genevieve. 

But  clouds  were  gathering.  Even  his  brother  canons,  at  first 
so  sympathetic  and  helpful,  turned  against  Cottolengo.  In  1832 
the  appearance  of  the  cholera  in  Piedmont  afforded  a  pretext  for 
closing  the  Little  Asylum.  In  obedience  to  the  city  authorities, 
the  order  was  given  to  him  by  the  Rector  of  Corpus  Domini,  in  a 
full  assembly  of  the  canons.  How  did  he  receive  it? 


THE  MIRACLE  OF  CHARITY.  267 

"  I  have  always  said  what  in  my  country  of  Bra  is  a  daily  say- 
ing— that  the  good  cultivation  of  cabbage  requires  it  to  be  trans- 
planted. We  shall  transplant  ourselves  then,  and  all  will  go  well." 

The  gently  spoken  answer  surprised  his  brethren.  "  How  !" 
cried  one.  "  You  do  not  even  now  renounce  your  enterprise  ! 
Whom  will  you  have  in  your  establishment?" 

"  The  sick  and  the  poor ;  that  goes  without  saying." 

"And  after  a  storm  like  this  you  are  not  corrected  ?" 

"  Bah  !"  was  the  smiling  reply.  "  Of  the  sick  and  the  poor 
I  will  have  more  than  a  thousand." 

To  sympathizing  friends  he  said  :  "Ah  well  !  all  is  for  the 
best.  Patience,  patience,  and  always  patience  !" 

To  the  Vincentine  Sisters  he  spoke  more  gravely :  "  I  fear 
lest  this  be  a  punishment  for  our  faults.  The  opportunity  for 
holy  charity  will  be  wanting  to  us.  Let  us  do  penance,  my 
daughters.  Let  us  ask  of  God  to  make  known  His  holy  will. 
Something  tells  my  heart  that  we  shall  come  out  stronger  after  all. 
Perseverance,  then,  and  confidence  !" 

The  sick  in  the  Little  Asylum  were  received  at  the  hospitals 
or  among  their  friends,  and  all  seemed  over. 

"  By'the  Cross  our  Lord  has  saved  us :  by  the  way  of  the 
Cross  he  who  would  work  for  souls  must  pass  in  his  turn,"  says 
our  author. 

Cottolengo  did  not  close  the  establishment.  He  re-united 
there  his  double  family  of  St.  Ursula  and  St.  Genevieve,  and 
came  every  day  to  continue  his  instructions.  The  Vincentines 
went  as  usual  to  visit  the  sick  poor,  not  only  of  the  parish,  but 
wherever  they  were  needed.  Having  plenty  of  space,  he  opened, 
in  his  indefatigable  zeal,  two  schools  for  little  children.  "  There 
they  were  fed  and  taken  care  of  all  day,  and  at  eve  were  sent  home 
with  a  good  piece  of  bread.  Our  Venerable  thus  began  an  insti- 
tution which  is  generalized  now  throughout  Europe." 

Meantime  hostilities  calmed  down.  "  Cottolengo  presented 
himself  to  his  brethren  of  Corpus  Domini,  and  with  equal 
humility  and  confidence  asked  them  to  leave  in  his  charge  the 
debts  of  the  Red  Arcade,  and  also  to  allow  him  to  be  responsible 


268  THE  MIRACLE   OF  CHARITY. 

for  all  the  objects  which  pertained  to  that  charity.  He  would 
search  for  a  small  place  in  a  distant  location,  and  the  congregation 
thus  would  have  no  more  fear  of  responsibilities.  The  proposition 
was  agreed  to  on  the  spot.  This  put  an  end  to  the  embarrass- 
ments of  the  congregation." 

On  the  27th  of  April,  1838,  the  Little  Asylum  of  Providence 
was  transplanted  to  Valdocco,  a  little  to  the  north-west  of  Turin. 
It  was  now  in  its  proper  location,  surrounded  by  gardens  and 
vacant  lands.  On  Sundays  and  feasts  these  places  were  not  soli- 
tary. Riotous  guests  from  the  city  thronged  the  low  taverns 
supported  by  their  custom.  Cottolengo  had  chosen  the  place  on 
account  of  a  sanctuary  of  our  Lady  in  the  neighborhood,  which 
was  a  celebrated  pilgrimage.  Doubtless  she  had  called  him  there 
to  reform  Valdocco,  which  he  marvellously  accomplished  under 
her  patronage. 

From  small  beginnings,  the  house  grew.  Cottolengo  called 
the  whole  "  the  place  of  Providence,"  and  over  the  doors  in  large 
characters  were  words  from  the  61st  Psalm  :  "Hope  in  the  Lord, 
people  of  all  lands :  expand  your  hearts  in  His  presence."  For  a 
name :  Little  Asylum  of  the  Divine  Providence,  under  the  auspices 
oj  St.  Vincent  de  Paul :  with  the  motto  from  St.  Paul :  "  The 
charity  of  Christ  urges  us"  All  this  he  explained  very  clearly, 
saying : 

"  First  of  all,  it  is  a  small  house ;  for  what  is  it  in  com- 
parison with  the  universe  where  dwells  the  Lord  ?  Little  Asylum 
of  the  Divine  Providence,  in  order  that  all  may  understand  at  once 
its  destination.  It  is  not  the  house  of  man,  but  of  Providence, 
by  Whom  it  was  founded  and  Who  commands,  directs,  and  governs 
it.  It  is  open  to  all  the  sick,  to  all  who  suffer,  without  distinc- 
tion of  age,  sex,  or  country.  St.  Vincent,  the  admirable  benefactor 
of  the  poor,  is  its  patron.  The  text  from  St.  Paul  shows  that 
here  we  have  no  dry  philanthropy,  but  Christian  charity ;  it  is 
the  charity  of  the  Lord  Jesus  that  presses  us." 

The  name  of  the  asylum,  by  the  way,  was  a  touchy  point 
with  the  saint.  He  had  toward  Providence  what  is  called  a 
"  particular  devotion  " — if  the  allusion  is  permissible.  Strong  in 


THE  MIR/1  CLE  OF  CHARITY.  2Q& 

all  doctrines,  practices,  and  habits  sanctioned  by  the  Church,  his 
trust  in  Divine  Providence  was  quite  indescribable.  It  was 
always  on  his  lips,  the  motive  of  his  heroic  acts,  the  heart  and 
soul  of  his  whole  existence.  Some  of  its  developments  were 
amusing.  Thus,  when  the  King,  Charles  Albert,  once  said  to 
him :  "  If  you  believe  me,  you  should  put  your  works  under  the 
protection  of  the  Government,"  his  answer  was :  "  Sire,  permit 
me  to  say  to  your  Majesty  it  is  impossible.  The  Little  Asylum  is 
already  under  the  protection  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  of  Divine 
Providence,  and  it  is  not  proper  that  I  snatch  it  from  them  to  give 
it  to  the  State." 

It  was  difficult  to  obtain  his  consent  to  have  the  place  legally 
established.  His  jealousy  for  Divine  Providence  took  the  alarm. 
When  at  length  his  consent  was  won,  he  was  horrified  on  reading 
in  the  document  the  "Little  Asylum  of  Providence."  "Oh!" 
he  cried,  "  that  does  not  suit  me  ;  I  do  not  intend  human  provi- 
dence. It  is  Divine  Providence  that  I  wish — I  must  have  that 
word."  When  it  was  altered,  the  holy  priest  was  satisfied. 

One  day  Charles  Albert  sent  two  officers  of  his  court  to  hint 
to  Cottolengo  the  propriety  of  limiting  his  good  works,  erecting 
no  more  buildings  till  those  already  in  use  were  well  provided 
for,  etc.  When  they  had  acquitted  themselves  in  an  awkward 
way,  he  laughed  gaily,  and  turned  toward  a  newly  built  infirmary, 
which  was  not  yet  occupied ;  he  said  :  "  Gentlemen,  you  see  that 
great  building  ?  The  only  trouble  I  have  about  it,  is  that  it  is 
not  yet  filled  with  patients.  Had  I  more  confidence  in  Divine 
Providence,  I  should  not  find  myself  embarrassed.  I  am  punished. 
But  the  hall  will  be  filled  very  soon.  You  think  the  Little 
Asylum  is  growing  too  large  ?  We  shall  go  even  to  the  river 
below  there,  yes,  even  to  the  river  !"  The  envoys,  admiring  that 
firm  faith,  returned  to  report  their  non-success  to  the  King,  who 
pronounced  him  an  "  extraordinary  man."  A  few  days  later  he 
read  an  announcement  of  the  death  of  Canon  Valletti,  rector  of 
the  Church  of  Corpus  Domini,  who  had  left  a  legacy  of  thirty 
thousand  francs  to  the  Little  Asylum.  The  King  then  related  the 
above  incident,  adding  :  "  You  see  it  is  truly  the  work  of  heaven  ; 


27O  THE  MIRACLE  OF  CHARITY. 

doubtless,  that  holy  man  filled  his  hall  with  the  sick,  and  Provi- 
dence at  once  appears  I" 

Yes,  the  work  went  on  from  success  to  success,  and  is  one  of 
the  glories  of  Turin  to-day.  The  glorious  founder  had  the  Vin- 
centines  instructed  in  medicine  and  surgery,  and  officially  qualified 
for  their  work.  The  deaf  and  the  dumb,  the  lunatic  and  the 
epileptic,  all  were  at  home  in  the  Little  Asylum :  all  received  not 
only  care  and  kindness,  but  were  encouraged  to  enjoy  themselves 
as  their  fancy  prompted  them. 

In  addition  to  the  Vincentines  and  the  brothers  of  St.  Vincent 
de  Paul,  the  indefatigable  priest  founded  eight  religious  congrega- 
tions, built  a  large  hospital  for  women,  erected  a  church — and  was 
through  all  a  gay  companion  for  his  suffering  household,  the 
teacher  and  companion  in  all  kinds  of  pious  practices,  a  zealous 
confessor  and  a  daily  preacher.  He  governed  all  things,  temporal 
as  well  as  spiritual,  in  that  immense  establishment,  and  yet  was  a 
man  of  prayer,  favored  with  visions  and  ecstasies  ! 

"  Cottolengo  said  to  one  of  his  friends :  '  Providence  has 
worked  so  many  miracles  for  the  Asylum  that  It  is  disposed  to  do 
more.'  Resting  on  God,  his  heart  never  doubted  of  help.  Thus 
it  was  said  of  him  that  he  held  the  keys  of  Providence,  and  by  others 
that  he  had  the  gift  of  multiplying  loaves"  To  cite  some  traits  : 

Sister  Dominic,  in  charge  of  the  refectory,  found  herself  one 
morning  without  any  food  for  the  religious.  Going  in  search  of 
the  Father,  she  announced  that  his  daughters  would  have  to  fast. 
"  That  goes  very  well,"  was  his  reply.  "  Have  you  noticed  that 
they  are  in  bad  humor  for  that,  and  diffident  of  Providence?" 
"  No,  indeed ;  they  complain  not,  but  it  is  easy  to  see  that  their 
appetite  is  keen."  "  Ah  well,"  replied  the  Father ;  "  a  little 
patience  :  let  us  report  this  to  Providence.  For  me,  I  have  noth- 
ing, and  there  is  nothing  in  the  box,  which  I  just  now  visited." 
Half  an  hour  later,  he  went  to  his  room,  opened  the  alms-box  and 
withdrew  many  rolls  amounting  to  two  thousand  francs,  which  he 
carried  at  once  to  the  Sister. 

Bread  being  wanting  in  the  refectory  one  day,  the  Father  had 
the  Miserere  recited ;  it  was  not  finished  when  an  abundance  of 


THE  MIRACLE  OF  CHARITY.  271 

bread  arrived.     The  same  with  candles  for  the  altar  on  a  feast  of 
St.  Vincent  de  Paul. 

It  was  the  same  with  danger  of  accidents  to  the  house, 
attempts  upon  his  life  in  his  lonely  ministrations  in  evil  neigh- 
borhoods,— in  all  emergencies  help  or  deliverance  was  sure. 

The  holy  man  could  well  say  with  the  Psalmist :  "  The 
Lord  has  strengthened  the  locks  of  thy  gates,  and  blessed  thy 
children  in  thee." 

Cottolengo  had  predicted  the  time  and  place  of  his  death, 
twelve  years  before  it  occurred. 

In  November,  1841,  the  Little  Asylum  was  ravaged  by  the 
typhus  fever.  Of  the  eight  priests  and  deacons  belonging  to  its 
church  six  were  departed,  and  the  remaining  two  had  scarcely  a 
breath  of  life.  The  dear  man,  who  had  never  spared  himself, 
was  worn  out.  He  knew  he  was  to  die  at  Chieri,  where  his 
brother  Louis  was  priest  and  a  canon  of  the  college.  Wasting 
slowly  away,  yet  still  energetic  and  loving,  it  was  only  on  the 
24th  of  April,  1842,  that  he  allowed  himself  to  be  removed  to 
Chieri,  where  he  died  on  the  30th,  Saturday,  "  the  vigil  of  the 
Month  of  Mary,  which  he  had  so  much  loved  to  celebrate,  and  to 
which  he  had  inspired  devotion  in  all  whom  he  directed." 

"  My  Mother  Mary !  Mary,  my  Mother !"  he  said  tran- 
.quilly,  elevating  his  voice  and  reciting  clearly  the  first  verse  of 
Psalm  121st :  "I  rejoiced  in  that  word  which  was  said  to  me  :  we 
shall  go  into  the  house  of  the  Lord."  And,  smiling  a  last  time, 
he  expired. 

"  I  have  lost  a  great  friend !"  said  the  king  of  Sardinia, 
Charles  Albert.  "  The  saint  is  dead !"  cried  all,  with  one 
impulse,  as  the  sad  news  spread.  Of  the  grief  his  "  dear  poor  " 
experienced,  though  much  is  beautifully  told,  what  use?  Like 
his  virtues  and  merits,  the  most  life-like  description  is  but  vain. 
"  You  are  the  successor  of  a  saint !"  said  glorious  Pio  Nono,  to 
the  Canon  Anglesio  ;  on  which  our  Reverend  author  concludes  : 
"Let  us  leave  a  saint  to  speak  of  a  saint." 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  BLESSED  SACRAMENT. 
By  J.  F.  Fitzgerald. 


M 


272 


Y  heart  was  weary,  sore,  oppressed, 

I  sighed  for  rest ; 
It  seemed  so  very  hard  to  bear 

Such  weight  of  care  ; 
The  ceaseless  din  of  worldly  strife, 
The  endless  struggle  making  life 
A  troubled  dream,  I  could  not  brook  ; 

An  upward  look — 
And  sweetly  to  my  sight  there  came 

The  lamp's  bright  flame ! 

I  turned  me  from  the  world's  great  glare. 

Oh,  shall  I  dare 
My  wayward,  falt'ring  steps  to  turn 

Where  I  can  learn 

To  ease  this  crushing  weight  of  woe  ? 
To  soothe  my  troubled  spirit,  so 
That  life  will  seem  no  longer  drear? 

Ah,  yes,  I  hear 
A  pleading  voice — "  Come  unto  Me  !" 

Yea,  Lord,  to  Thee  ! 

The  lone  lamp  quivered,  wavered,  then 

Flashed  out  again ; 
I  bowed  me  low,  one  sobbing  sigh, 

My  Lord  drew  nigh ; 
The  flick'ring  shadows  held  aloof, 
Then  played  from  nave  to  vaulted  roof; 
My  eyes  looked  upward  once  again  : 

I  prayed,  and  then 
Unto  my  restless  heart  was  given 
The  peace  of  heaven. 


THE   NAMING   OF  THE  AMAZON. 

II. 
FRANCISCO  DE  ORELLANA. 

VHE  name  of  Orellana  has  come  down  to 
JL  us  as  the  discoverer  of  the  great  River 
Amazon.  The  glory  of  this  exploit, 
however,  is  dimmed  in  his  case  by 
the  act  of  treachery  which  led  to  the 
discovery. 

We  have  seen  how,  on  the  report  of 
the  Indians  that  a  land  of  plenty  was 
not  far  off,  Gonzalo  Pizarro,  impatient 
to  relieve  the  sufferings  of  his  starving  followers,  despatched 
Orellana  down  the  Coca  in  the  brigantine  with  orders  to  reach 
this  province  as  speedily  as  possible  and  return  with  supplies. 
Of  what  happened  on  this  expedition  of  Orellana,  we  have  two 
chief  sources  of  information.  The  first  dealing  more  particularly 
with  the  results  of  Gonzalo  Pizarro's  ill-fated  wanderings  is  loud 
in  its  denunciation  of  the  cold  blooded  treachery  of  Orellana  who,, 
instead  of  obeying  the  orders  he  received,  basely  deserted  his 


273 


INDIAN  OF  THE  NAPO. 


274  THE  NAMING   OF  THE  AMAZON. 

perishing  comrades  and  sailed  on  till  he  reached  the  ocean  and 
finally  arrived  safe  in  Europe.  This  is  the  chronicle  of  Garcilasso 
Inca  de  la  Vega. 

We  have  another  relation  by  Antonio  de  Herrera,  who  held 
the  post  of  historiographer  of  the  Indies  for  many  years  and  died 
in  1625.  In  his  account  Orellana's  character  appears  in  rather 
brighter  colors.  The  man  of  faith  is  prominent  here  rather  than 
the  adventurer,  bent  only  on  the  pursuit  of  gold  and  dreaming 
only  of  power. 

Herrera  begins  his  account  by  the  remark  :  "  Some  say  that 
Orellana  and  his  companions  deserted  Pizarro  without  his  knowl- 
edge, and  others  that  they  continued  the  voyage  with  their  com- 
mander's permission  in  a  barque  which  they  had  built  and  some 
•canoes.  Voyaging,  as  they  say,  with  the  design  of  returning  to 
Gonzalo  Pizarro  with  provisions,  they  found  themselves,  after 
going  over  two  hundred  leagues,  unable  to  return,  and  therefore 
continued  to  sail  on  until  they  came  out  into  the  ocean." 

Whatever  we  may  think  of  this  explanation  of  the  abandon- 
ment of  Pizarro,  we  cannot  but  admire  the  bravery  of  these  men 
who,  first  "  commending  themselves  to  God  by  means  of  a  Mass 
which  was  said  by  a  Dominican  monk  named  Caravajal,"  com- 
mitted their  bark  to  the  guidance  of  the  current  which  swept 
them  on,  they  knew  not  whither — into  what  mysterious  regions  or 
among  what  strange  peoples — knowing  only  that  at  length  it  must 
bring  them  to  the  ocean. 

On  the  second  day  after  parting  from  Pizarro  they  had  like 
to  perish.  The  brigantine  struck  upon  a  floating  tree  and  stove  in 
a  plank,  but  luckily  they  were  able  to  run  her  on  shore  and  repair 
the  damage  at  once.  Else  they  might  be  remembered  now,  as 
Pizarro's  party  is,  for  terrible  sufferings  and  privations  endured 
in  these  trackless  forests,  the  lair  of  wild  beasts  and  venomous 
serpents,  into  which  the  sun  but  seldom  penetrates,  and  where  the 
rain  that  falls  abundantly,  lodging  in  the  already  sodden  earth, 
breeds  fever  and  death.  God  was  merciful  to  them ;  and  they 
escaped  this  trial  only  to  share  with  Pizarro  in  the  other  and  no 
less  terrible  one  of  famine. 


THE  NAMING   OF   THE  AMAZON. 


275 


When  Orellana  reached  the  Xapo  he  found  that  the  Indians 
had  deceived  Pizarro.     For  three  days  they  had  been  swept  on  by 


IN  THE   FORESTS  ON  THE  NAPO. 


the  rapid  current  of  the  Coca ;  and  now  the  expanse  of  this  great 
tributary  of  the  Amazon,  the  Napo,  lay  before  them,  but  no  sign 


276  THE  NAMING  OF  THE  AMAZON. 

of  any  habitation  on  either  bank.  As  the  sun  rose,  morning  after 
morning,  the  Spaniards  eagerly  scanned  the  river  banks,  hoping  to 
see  the  gilded  domes  of  palaces  and  temples  which  might  rival 
those  they  had  found  in  Peru ;  but  day  after  day  passed  and  their 
hopes  still  remained  unrealized. 

Their  provisions  were  finally  exhausted,  and  to  such  straits 
were  they  reduced  "  that  they  had  nothing  to  eat  but  the  skins 
which  formed  their  girdles  and  the  leather  of  their  shoes  boiled 
with  a  few  herbs."  If,  with  all  the  resources  of  the  present 
civilization,  expeditions  equipped  like  those  of  Stanley  into  Africa 
are  still  exposed  to  horrors  such  as  stirred  the  pity  and  sympathy 
of  the  world  not  so  long  since,  what  must  have  been  the  horrors 
expeditions  like  those  of  Pizarro  and  of  Orellana  experienced. 

The  sufferings  of  Orellana's  men  were  relieved  for  a  time, 
however.  On  the  8th  of  January  1541,  they  heard  the  welcome 
sound  of  drums.  The  drum  has  been  and  still  is  a  favorite 
instrument  with  the  Indians  of  these  regions.  It  plays  an  impor- 
tant part  not  only  in  their  amusements,  but  it  furnishes  them  as 
well  a  sort  of  telegraphic  mode  of  communicating  with  each  other 
and  of  assembling  their  bands  to  repel  aggressors  or  to  welcome 
friends.  The  former  seems  to  have  been  the  purpose  of  the  drum 
beating  on  this  occasion,  for  as  the  brigantine  swept  around  a  bend , 
in  the  river  a  considerable  village  lay  spread  before  them ;  but 
thousands  of  Indians  were  drawn  up  to  defend  it. 

Hungry  and  desperate  men  are  not  apt  to  spend  much  time 
balancing  chances  whether  to  die  by  starvation  or  in  fair  fight,  and 
so  impetuous  was  the  onset  of  the  mere  handful  of  men  that 
landed  from  the  brigantine  that  the  Indians  actually  melted  away 
before  them  and  left  the  Spaniards  to  enjoy  the  store  of  provisions 
which  was  laid  up  in  their  village.  This,  however,  was  not  the 
only  object  Orellana  had  in  view.  These  Indians  were  the  first 
they  had  met  in  many  days,  and  he  was  anxious  to  open  communi-: 
cation  with  them.  As  the  Indians  ventured  back,  a  few  hours 
after  the  battle,  to  see  what  had  become  of  the  strange  beings 
whose  aspect  was  so  terrible  and  whose  weapons  were  so  irresistible, 
Orellana  found  the  opportunity  he  was  seeking.  By  his  gentleness 


THE  NAMING  OF  THE  AMAZON.  277 

and  affability  he  succeeded  in  inspiring  the  natives  with  confidence, 
and  they  and  the  Spaniards  were  soon  the  best  of  friends. 

Finding  that  he  could  depend  on  his  new  friends  and  that  with 
rest  and  food  his  soldiers  had  recovered  their  good  spirits,  Orellana 
set  about  building  another  brigantine.  The  only  difficulty  in  the 
way  was  the  lack  of  nails ;  "  but  it  pleased  God,"  says  Herrera, 
"that  two  men  should  make  that  which  they  had  never  been 
taught  to  make,  while  another  took  charge  of  burning  charcoal. 
They  made  bellows  of  their  leathern  buskins  and  worked  hard  at 
everything  else,  the  Captain  himself  being  the  first  to  put  his  hand 
to  the  work."  They  delayed  here  too  long,  however.  The 
provisions  stored  in  the  village  were  nearly  exhausted ;  and  there 
was  nothing  to  be  done  but  push  on,  in  the  old  brigantine,  until 
some  favorable  opportunity  should  offer  for  beginning  the 
building  of  the  new  one.  The  start  was  made  on  Candlemas  day. 
So  far  they  had  travelled  two  hundred  leagues,  and  seven  of  their 
number  had  died  of  hunger. 

After  sailing  about  twenty  leagues  they  came  upon  a  stream 
on  the  right,  the  Curaray  River  probably,  which  poured  its  swollen 
waters  into  the  Xapo  with  such  violence  that  for  a  few  moments  the 
brigantine  became  unmanageable  and  the  Spaniards  gave  themselves 
up  for  lost.  But  they  escaped  this  danger  and  sailed  on  another 
two  hundred  leagues.  They  now  found  themselves  in  a  populous 
province.  The  Indians  received  them  cordially  and  gave  them 
provisions  in  plenty,  fish,  turtles,  and  partridges  being  specially 
mentioned. 

The  chief  of  one  of  these  villages  was  called  Aparia.  He 
received  Orellana  very  cordially  and  the  Spaniard,  as  Herrera 
says,  "  treated  him  to  a  discourse  on  the  law  of  God  and  the 
grandeur  of  the  King  of  Castile  ;  all  of  which  the  Indians  listened 
to  with  great  attention."  Already,  before  this,  vague  reports  had 
reached  the  Spaniards  of  a  nation  of  female  warriors  who  lorded 
it  over  a  great  expanse  of  territory  on  the  great  river  into  which 
the  Napo  flowed.  Aparia  asked  the  Spaniards  if  they  had  yet 
seen  these  women  whom  in  his  language,  he  said,  they  called 
Coniapayru,  meaning  Great  Lord.  It  was  these  reports  that  led 


THE  NAMING   OF   THE  AMAZON.  279 

Orellana  to  give  the  greatest  river  in  the  world  the  name  it  still 
bears,  the  Amazon  or  " River  of  the  Amazons" 

The  new  brigantine  was  built  here.  "  In  thirty-five  days 
she  was  launched,  caulked  with  cotton  and  the  seams  payed  with 
pitch."  The  Lenten  season  was  passed  in  this  work ;  and  "  all  the 
Christians  confessed  to  the  two  priests  who  were  in  the  company, 
and  the  priests  preached  to  them  and  urged  them  to  endure  the 
hardships  they  would  have  to  encounter  with  constancy  until  there 
should  be  an  end  of  them." 

On  the  4th  of  April,  the  Spaniards  left  this  place  and  were 
soon  sailing  on  the  Amazon.  As  they  neared  the  junction  of  the 
Putumayo  with  that  river  they  found  themselves  surrounded  by 
canoes  full  of  determined  warriors,  for  whom  their  weapons  (their 
powder  being  damp  was  useless)  had  no  terrors.  Though  some  of 
the  Spaniards  landed  and  by  force  obtained  a  supply  of  provisions, 
in  the  end  they  were  forced  to  retreat;  and  for  two  days  and 
nights  they  were  pursued  down  the  river  by  the  Indians.  Only 
one  Spaniard  was  killed  in  these  encounters,  though  many  were 
wounded. 

From  this  place  to  the  mouth  of  the  Negro,  they  were  able  to 
obtain  provisions  only  by  force.  The  Negro  River  excited  their 
wonder.  Its  inky  waters  flowing  for  twenty  leagues  through  the 
Amazon  without  mingling  with  its  waters  especially  struck  them. 
They  found  gold  in  the  villages  they  entered,  but  the  precious* 
metal  had  no  charm  for  them.  Their  only  object  now  was  to 
emerge  from  these  regions  alive.  Battling  as  they  went,  they 
finally  reached  the  country  they  had  heard  so  much  of — the 
country  of  the  Amazons.  In  one  great  skirmish  they  actually 
fought  with  them,  or  believed  they  did.  Father  Caravajal, 
according  to  Herrera's  account,  saw  a  dozen  of  these  female 
warriors  in  the  very  front  rank  of  the  assailants,  fighting  and  ani- 
mating the  men.  They  fought  with  bow  and  arrows,  and  their 
prowess  cost  seven  or  eight  Spaniards  their  lives.  The  end  of  this 
engagement  was  that  the  Spaniards  were  forced  to  retire  to  their 
brigantines.  The  Spaniards  estimated  that  they  had  up  to  this 
point  traversed  fourteen  hundred  leagues. 


280 


THE  NAMING  OF  THE  AMAZON. 


Father  Caravajal  was  wounded  by  an  arrow  in  the  eye  in  one 
of  these  attacks  on  the  Indian  villages.  He  lost  the  use  of  the 
eye  in  consequence  of  the  wound,  "  an  accident  which  caused  much 
sorrow  to  everyone,  because  this  Father,  besides  being  very  relig- 
ious, assisted  in  their  difficulties  by  his  cheerfulness  and  sagacity." 

On  another  occasion  the  smaller  of  the  brigantines  struck  on 
a  snag  and,  starting  a  plank,  quickly  filled,  just  as  they  came  to  in 
front  of  a  village  of  hostile  Indians.  To  add  to  their  danger,  the 
tide  ebbing  left  the  remaining  brigantine  high  and  dry.  The  posi- 
tion was  a  trying  one.  One  half  of  the  little  band  of  Spaniards 
had  to  fight  the  Indians  while  the  other  half  tried  to  get  one 
brigantine  afloat  and  to  repair  the  damage  to  the  other. 

On  the  26th  of  August  1541,  they  finally  sailed  out  of  the 
Amazon.  At  the  end  of  nine  days  they  reached  the  Gulf  of  Para, 
where  they  were  kept  back  for  seven  days  by  contrary  winds.  On 
the  llth  of  September  they  reached  the  island  of  Cubagua  and 
their  trials  and  their  wanderings  were  over. 

Orellana  lost  no  time  in  reaching  Spain.  His  account  of  the 
Amazon  was  listened  to  favorably  by  the  King,  and  he  received 
the  commission  he  asked  to  conquer  and  govern  it  in  the  name 
of  his  Sovereign.  He  gathered  more  than  five  hundred  soldiers 
and  set  sail  from  San  Lucar  on  his  return ;  but  he  died  at  sea. 
Those  composing  the  expeditions  dispersed,  and  no  further  attempt 
was  made  to  reach  the  Amazon  for  nearly  twenty  years. 


BANK  OF  TURTLE  EGGS. 


ST.   RODERICK   OF   SPAIN. 

[The  fine  half-tint  engraving  of  the  Saint  is  from  a  design  furnished  by 
Mr.  Caryl  Coleman,  as  a  sample  of  the  Spanish  Chasuble.  It  thus  completes  the 
illustrations  of  our  former  articles.  ] 

fN  the  ninth  century,  by  a  just  judgment  of  God, 
Spain  lay  groaning  under  the  yoke  of  the  Moors. 
The  chronicles  of  the  time  give  dreary  pictures  of 
the  state  of  religion  among  the  Christians.  The 
Arian  heresy  had  shaken  the  basis  of  the  faith 
among  these  people,  and  the  advent  of  the  Mussulman — sword 
in  one  hand,  Koran  in  the  other — found  many  weak-kneed 
Christians  ready  to  sacrifice  their  eternal  interests  for  the  sake 
of  temporal  life  and  passing  goods.  Families  were  divided,  and 
never  were  the  words  of  our  Lord  more  truly  verified  that  a 
man's  enemies  are  those  of  his  own  household.  The  Moors  them- 
selves were  scandalized  at  the  weak  resistance  the  Christians 
made  before  apostatizing,  and  did  not  spare  their  expressions 
of  contempt  for  those  who  saved  their  necks  at  the  expense  of 
their  faith. 

St.  Roderick,  of  whom  nothing  is  known  but  the  name  and 
the  incidents  connected  with  his  martyrdom,  was  an  exception  to 
the  rule.  He  had  two  brothers  :  one  of  these  became  a  Mussul- 
man, the  other  remained  Christian  but  retained  little  more  than 
the  name.  These  two  found  in  their  different  conditions  endless 
matter  for  sneers  and  mutual  recrimination,  which  sometimes  led 
to  blows.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  as  Roderick  was  trying 
to  make  peace  between  them,  the  two  fell  on  him  and,  without 
wishing  it,  inflicted  on  him  a  mortal  wound.  As  he  fell  insensible, 
the  Mussulman  brother  had  him  placed  on  a  litter  and  carried 
through  the  streets,  while  he  walking  by  his  brother's  side  called 
the  attention  of  the  passers-by,  saying  :  "  This  is  my  brother  whom 
God  has  enlightened ;  although  a  priest  he  has  embraced  our 
religion,  and  being  at  the  last  gasp,  as  you  see,  he  did  not  wish  to 
•die  without  making  his  change  of  faith  known  to  the  city." 

281 


282  57.  RODERICK  OF  SPAIN. 

A  few  days  later,  Roderick  was  restored  to  health.  As  he 
had  been  unconscious  from  the  time  he  had  received  the  brutal 
stroke  from  his  brothers,  he  had  neither  knowledge  nor  recollection 
of  what  had  passed  or  of  the  scene  in  which  his  Mussulman  brother 
had  made  him  the  chief  actor.  He  was  not  long  left  in  ignorance, 
however ;  and  when  he  heard  what  had  been  done,  after  the  exam- 
ple of  his  Divine  Master  Who  fled  before  the  anger  of  Herod,  he  too 
withdrew  into  retirement.  But  later,  being  obliged  to  enter  the 
city  of  Cordova  on  some  pressing  business,  he  was  met  by  his 
Mussulman  brother,  who  at  once  laid  hands  on  him  and  hurried 
him  before  a  Cadi  on  the  charge  of  having  abandoned  the  law  of 
the  Prophet.  Roderick's  denial  that  he  had  ever  been  a  Mussul- 
man and  his  explanations  were  of  no  avail.  Even  the  fact  that 
he  was  a  priest  had  no  effect  on  the  Cadi,  and  he  was  thrown  into 
prison. 

In  prison  Roderick  found  another  Christian,  St.  Solomon,  who 
was  there  on  the  same  charge.  Together  with  St.  Solomon,  he 
inaugurated  many  good  works.  Soon  the  report  of  what  the 
two  Christians  were  doing  and  of  the  friendship  that  existed 
between  them  reached  the  Cadi,  and  he  ordered  them  to  be  separated 
and  cut  off  from  all  intercourse  with  the  outside  world. 
Finally  he  had  them  brought  before  himself  three  several  times ; 
but  as  his  words  and  arguments  had  as  little  weight  with  these 
heroic  men  as  his  threats,  he  ordered  them  both  to  be  beheaded. 
St.  Roderick  was  the  first  to  suffer.  St.  Eulogius,  another  priest  of 
Cordova,  hearing  of  their  execution,  celebrated  the  Holy  Sacrifice 
in  their  honor,  and  then  proceeded  to  the  river  banks  on  which 
their  sacred  bodies  had  been  exposed.  So  fearful  were  the  Mus- 
sulmans lest  the  Christians  should  get  any  relics  of  the  Martyrs,, 
that  they  carefully  gathered  even  the  pebbles  which  were  stained 
with  blood  and  flung  them  into  the  river.  Their  martyrdom  took 
place  on  the  13th  of  March,  A.  D.  857,  on  which  day  their  feast 
is  celebrated. 


ST.  RODERICK  OF  SPAIN. 

(From  a  design  of  Murillo.) 


THE    FATHER   OF  MANY   SOULS. 
JOHN  HENRY  NEWMAN, 

Priest  of  the  Oratory  of  St.  Philip  Neri  and  Cardinal  of  the  Holy  Roman  Church  : 
born  in  London,  England,  21  February,  1801,  elected  Fellow  of  Oriel  College, 
Oxford  University,  in  1823,  sometime  University  preacher  (Anglican),  received 
into  the  Catholic  Church,  October  9,  1845,  died  11  August,  1890. 

ni. 

HE  third  period  of  Cardinal  Newman's  life,  nearly 
forty-five  full  years,  was  passed  as  a  Catholic.  Of 
this  he  has  himself  said  modestly,  in  answer  to  the 
attack  which  compelled  him  in  his  Apologia  to 
justify  himself — and  which  has  resulted  in  justifying 
all  his  brethren  with  him — before  the  English-speaking  public : 

From  the  time  that  I  became  a  Catholic,  of  course  I  have  no 
further  history  of  my  religious  opinions  to  narrate.  In  saying 
this,  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  my  mind  has  been  idle,  or  that  I 
have  given  up  thinking  on  theological  subjects ;  but  that  I  have 
had  no  variations  to  record,  and  have  had  no  anxiety  of  heart 
whatever.  I  have  been  in  perfect  peace  and  contentment ;  I  never 
have  had  one  doubt. 

Mr.  Hutton  has  aptly  characterized  this  period  : 

From  the  moment  when  Newman  became  a  Roman  Catholic, 
the  freest  and  happiest,  though  not,  perhaps,  the  most  fascinating, 
epoch  of  his  life  may  be  said  to  have  commenced.  ...  In 
irony,  in  humor,  in  eloquence,  in  imaginative  force,  the  writings  of 
the  later,  and,  as  we  may  call  it,  the  emancipated  portion  of  his 
career  far  surpassed  the  writings  of  his  theological  apprenticeship. 

Emancipated,  indeed,  he  was :  the  snare  was  broken,  and  he 
had  been  freed.  He  had  still  his  mission  to  pursue,  there  was  to 
be  the  slow  adjustment  of  his  whole  life  to  its  new  field,  and  he 
was  to  do  valiant  service  for  the  Church  whom  he  called  so 
lovingly  "  the  Mighty  Mother." 

Any  attempt  at  piecing  out  our  mosaic  so  as  to  comprise  this 

284 


THE  FATHER  OF  MANY  SOULS.  285 

period  would  evidently  result  rather  in  a  study  of  his  mental 
career  and  influence  than  of  his  own  spiritual  life.  The  latter 
will  be  fully  made  known  only  when  his  literary  executors  have 
finally  given  to  the  world  the  wealth  of  correspondence  which  has 
been  turned  over  to  them  since  his  death.  It  was  his  own  idea 
that  the  life  of  a  man  can  properly  be  known  only  from  those 
spontaneous  manifestations  of  himself  which  are  made  in  conver- 
sation and  in  letters.  But  Newman,  even  when  speaking  to  the 
entire  world,  bore  always  with  him  the  same  sincerity ;  and  many 
most  edifying  details  have  been  told  us  in  the  reminiscences  of  his 
friends.  Some  of  them  may  be  noted  here,  to  make  our  little 
sketch  more  complete  and  life-like. 

It  is  evident  that  a  man  of  formed  thought  will  take  to  him- 
self the  working  principles  of  the  Catholic  Faith  in  a  way  somewhat 
different  from  that  in  which  they  exist  in  one  brought  up  under 
their  influence  from  childhood.  The  latter  will  act  upon  them 
with  a  careless,  unthinking  freedom  where  the  former  will  be 
obliged  to  go  on  reflectingly.  It  is  this  plain  analysis  to  himself 
of  the  applications  of  faith  to  conduct  which  is  of  priceless  value 
in  the  writings  of  Newman  as  priest  and  Cardinal.  A  born 
Catholic,  as  the  saying  is,  might  not  have  so  attended  to  all  that 
was  going  on  in  his  own  mind ;  and  yet  it  is  important,  most  of 
all  for  those  outside  the  Church  who  would  desire  to  know  what 
her  children  really  are,  that  they  should  have  this  work  of 
analysis  done  for  them.  Even  an  unbelieving  poet  like  Goethe 
has  recognized  this : 

Look  in  at  the  Church  on  the  market  square  ; 
Nothing  but  gloom  and  darkness  there : 
Shrewd  Sir  Philistine  sees  things  so, 
Who  all  his  life  on  the  outside  passes. 

It  was  Newman's  work  henceforward  to  open  up  views,  wide 
and  true,  of  that  inner  Catholic  life  which  had  been  so  utterly 
unknown  to  his  countrymen.  There  is  no  Catholic  familiar  with 
the  English  literature  of  fifty  years  ago  and  that  of  to-day  who  will 
not  say  tha*".  his  work  has  been  well  done.  Of  more  immediate 
interest  to  Catholics  themselves,  are  the  little  revelations  made 


286  THE  FATHER   OF  MANY  SOULS. 

here  and  there  of  his  own  private  devotion.     Mr.  Hutton  himself 
is  struck  by  the  convert's  devotion  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  : 

In  the  sermons,  for  example,  exquisite,  even  if  too  elaborate 
as  compositions,  on  The  Glories  of  Mary  for  the  Sake  of  her  Son, 
he  almost  rivalled  the  passion  of  Italian  and  French  devotion  to 
the  Mother  of  our  Lord,  and  anticipated  the  dogma  of  the  Immac- 
ulate Conception  of  the  Virgin  some  years  before  it  had  been 
denned  (!)  I  know  no  passage  in  Newman  which  so  thoroughly 
bewilders  the  Protestant  imagination. 

A  more  accurate  indication  of  his  practical  and  heartfelt 
devotion  may  be  found  in  a  familiar  address  to  the  boys  at  Oscott 
College  about  the  Rosary,  after  he  had  been  made  Cardinal. 

You  know  that  to-day  we  keep  the  Feast  of  the  Holy  Rosary, 
and  I  propose  to  say  to  you  what  occurs  on  this  great  subject. 
You  know  how  that  devotion  came  about ;  how,  at  a  time  when 
heresy  was  very  wide-spread  and  had  called  in  the  aid  of  sophistry 
that  can  so  powerfully  aid  infidelity  against  religion,  God  inspired 
St.  Dominic  to  institute  and  spread  this  devotion.  It  seems  so 
simple  and  easy,  but  you  know  God  chooses  the  small  things  of 
the  world  to  humble  the  great.  Of  course,  it  was  first  of  all  for 
the  poor  and  simple,  but  not  for  them  only,  for  everyone  who  has 
practised  the  devotion  knows  there  is  in  it  a  soothing  sweetness 
that  there  is  in  nothing  else. 

The  great  power  of  the  Rosary  lies  in  this,  that  it  makes  the 
Creed  into  a  prayer ;  of  course,  the  Creed  is  in  some  sense  a 
prayer  and  a  great  act  of  homage  to  God  ;  but  the  Rosary  gives  us 
the  great  truths  of  His  life  and  death  to  meditate  upon,  and  brings 
them  nearer  to  our  hearts.  And  so  we  contemplate  all  the  great 
mysteries  of  His  life  and  His  birth  in  the  manger ;  and  so  too  the 
mysteries  of  His  suffering  and  His  glorified  life.  But  even 
Christians,  with  all  their  knowledge  of  God,  have  usually  more 
awe  than  love  of  Him,  and  the  special  virtue  of  the  Rosary  lies  in 
the  special  way  in  which  it  looks  at  these  mysteries  ;  for  with  all 
our  thoughts  of  Him  are  mingled  thoughts  of  His  Mother,  and.  in 
the  relations  between  Mother  and  Son  we  have  set  before  us  the 
Holy  Family,  the  home  in  which  God  lived.  Now  the  family  is, 
even  humanly  considered,  a  sacred  thing ;  how  much  more  the 
family  bound  together  by  supernatural  ties,  and,  above  all,  that  in 
which  God  dwelt  with  His  Blessed  Mother. 

This  is  what  I  should  most  wish  you  to  remember  in  future 
years.  For  you  will  all  of  you  have  to  go  out  into  the  world,  and 


THE  FATHER  OF  MANY  SOULS.  287 

going  out  into  the  world  means  leaving  home ;  and,  my  dear 
boys,  you  don't  know  what  the  world  is  now.  You  look  forward 
to  the  time  when  you  will  go  out  into  the  world,  and  it  seems  to 
you  very  bright  and  full  of  promise.  It  is  not  wrong  for  you  to 
look  forward  to  that  time ;  but  most  men  who  know  the  world 
find  it  a  world  of  great  trouble,  and  disappointments,  and  even 
misery.  If  it  turns  out  so  to  you,  seek  a  home  in  the  Holy 
Family  that  you  think  about  in  the  mysteries  of  the  Rosary. 

We  should  expect  in  the  great  Cardinal  a  tender  devotion  to 
our  Lord  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament.  In  the  London  Month  for 
November  following  his  death,  a  writer,  evidently  knowing 
whereof  he  speaks,  says,  under  the  head  of  "  The  Loyalty  of  Car- 
dinal Newman  " : 

In  the  hidden  life  that  he  has  led  during  the  greater  part  of 
his  life  as  a  Catholic,  he  was  acting,  not  on  any  mere  human 
impulse,  but  under  the  continual  guidance  of  God.  In  every 
crisis  of  life,  in  all  times  of  difficulty  or  trouble  or  doubt,  he  would 
spend  long  hours  before  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  asking  for  guid- 
ance and  consolation.  This  was  especially  the  case  during  the 
Achilli  trial,  and  in  the  intensity  of  sorrow  that  he  experienced  on 
the  death  of  his  dearly  loved  friend  Father  St.  John.  In  the  first 
sermon  that  he  preached  after  Father  St.  John's  death,  he  did  not 
make  any  direct  allusion  to  it,  as  was  expected,  but  preached  on 
the  Blessed  Sacrament  and  the  privilege  of  devotion  to  It.  "  In 
time  of  great  trouble,"  he  said,  "  when  you  think  everything  is 
gone  from  you,  if  you  have  with  you  our  Lord  in  the  Blessed 
Sacrament,  you  have  still  everything — whatever  you  have  lost,  if 
you  have  not  lost  Him,  you  have  lost  nothing."  "  Believe  me,  it 
is  so,  my  dear  children."  Then,  after  a  pause,  in  a  low  impres- 
sive voice  "I  know  it." 

With  these  words  of  devotedness  to  the  Lord  he  served  so 
well,  we  may  close  our  study  of  his  spiritual  life.  The  Spirit  of 
our  Lord  shone  in  him.  He  had  many  contrarieties  to  endure, 
from  the  misrepresentations  of  foes  and  the  mistakes  of  friends  and 
the  unthinking,  ill-informed  mistrust  of  those  who  knew  him  not ; 
but  he  bore  them  humbly  and  in  silence.  Christ's  poor  loved 
him,  and  he  always  gave  much  of  his  time  to  them.  In  a  great 
cholera  season  he  devoted  himself  personally  day  and  night  to  their 
service. 


288  THE  FATHER   OF  MANY  SOULS. 

When  Newman  was  at  length  made  Cardinal,  he  was  happy 
enough  to  receive  for  his  titular  church  in  Rome  that  dedicated  to 
St.  George,  the  Patron  of  his  country.  He  chose  for  his  motto — 
Cor  ad  cor  loquitur,  "Heart  speaketh  unto  heart" — that  which 
had  been  the  secret  of  his  own  great  influence  over  his  countrymen. 

Shortly  before  his  death  he  asked  one  of  the  Fathers  to  come 
and  play  or  sing  to  him  Father  Faber's  hymn  of  "  The  Eternal 
Years."  He  made  them  repeat  it  several  times,  explaining  his 
reason  in  his  own  simple  way. 

"  Many  people  speak  well  of  my  "  Lead  kindly  Light,"  but 
this  is  far  more  beautiful.  Mine  is  of  a  soul  in  darkness, — this 
of  the  Eternal  Light." 

The  hymn  of  his  dear  friend  and  disciple,  which  had  cheered 
his  dying  hours,  fittingly  marks  off  in  simple  strain  the  three 
periods  of  his  life  : 

How  shalt  thou  bear  the  cross  that  now 

So  dread  a  weight  appears? 
Keep  quietly  to  God,,  and  think 

Upon  the  Eternal  Years. 

Brave  quiet  is  the  thing  for  thee, 

Chiding  thy  scrupulous  fears, 
Learn  to  be  real,  from  the  thought 

Of  the  Eternal  years. 

One  cross  can  sanctify  a  soul ; 

Late  Saints  and  ancient  Seers 
Were  what  they  were  because  they  mused 

Upon  the  Eternal  Years. 

It  is  one  of  the  glories  of  the  great  Judgment  Day  that  the  leading 
of  the  Kindly  Light  shall  then  be  made  fully  manifest,  and  justify 
the  ways  of  God  to  men.  In  a  simple  hymn  to  his  Guardian 
Angel,  Cardinal  Newman  has  summed  up  the  guidance  which  fell 
to  his  own  lot. 

Oh,  who  of  all  thy  toils  and  cares 

Can  tell  the  tale  complete, 
To  place  me  under  Mary's  smile 

And  Peter's  royal  feet. 


THE   EXERCISES   OF  ST.  IGNATIUS, 

AND  THE 

DEVOTION  TO  THE  SACRED  HEART  OF  JESUS. 

(From  the  Spanish  Messenger.') 


are  few  who  do  not  know,  or  at  least  have  not  heard, 
of  the  Spiritual  Exercises  of  St.  Ignatius  of  Loyola.  When 
the  book  first  appeared,  even  before  it  was  printed  and 
was  known  only  in  manuscript,  it  greatly  excited  the  curiosity  of 
the  public  and  attracted  universal  attention  on  the  part  of  both 
devout  and  indifferent,  learned  and  ignorant,  theologians  and 
laymen  in  theological  science.  Nor  is  this  astonishing.  A  soldier, 
who  spent  a  great  part  of  his  life  on  the  battle-field  and  occupied 
his  leisure  in  reading  romances,  finds  hiniself  suddenly  changed 
into  another  man  with  thoughts  and  desires  totally  at  variance 
with  those  which  formerly  filled  his  heart  and  mind.  He  retires 
from  the  world,  changes  his  rich  dress  for  the  coarse  serge  of  a 
peasant,  goes  on  foot  to  the  monastery  of  Montserrat,  keeps  his 
vigil  of  knighthood  before  the  altar  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  pray- 
ing the  entire  night  with  indescribable  fervor,  then  goes  to 
Manresa  where  he  buries  himself  in  a  cave  to  give  himself  up  to 
meditation  and  the  rigors  of  the  most  austere  penance.  In  this 
solitary  retreat  he  remains  nearly  a  year,  never  leaving  it  but  for 
a  short  time  to  fulfil  some  pious  duties,  to  beg  alms  or  to 
practise  works  of  charity,  thus  finding  an  outlet  for  the  zeal 
which  consumed  him. 

Such  was  the  school  in  which  Ignatius  acquired  the  science 
of  sanctity.  Here  it  was  that  he  conceived  that  admirable  book. 
Here  he  wrote  it  out,  consulting  no  master,  having  recourse  to  no 
other  books,  studying  nothing  but  Jesus  crucified  and  his  own 
conscience  ;  ever  ready  to  listen  to  the  inspirations  of  Heaven  and 
to  receive  the  splendor  of  that  unfailing  Light  which  enlightens 
all  who  do  not  obstinately  close  the  eyes  of  their  soul.  This  man 

289 


29O  THE  EXERCISES  OF  ST.  IGNATIUS. 

had  no  antecedents  to  guarantee  his  acquaintance  with  the  difficult 
science  of  the  spirit.  He  had  no  more  theology  than  may  be 
learned  from  the  catechism,  no  more  knowledge  of  moral  science 
than  the  general  ideas  that  any  of  the  simple  faithful  may  acquire 
by  means  of  sermons  and  explanations  of  the  Gospel,  and  no  more 
practice  in  the  spiritual  life  than  that  which  he  himself  had 
acquired  in  the  short  space  of  time  spent  in  the  cave  of  Manresa. 
Yet  he  wrote  a  book  treating  of  morals  and  theology,  giving  rules 
and  counsels  on  meditation  and  examination  of  conscience,  pro- 
posing new  ways  of  praying,  explaining  rules  for  the  discernment 
of  spirits,  of  divers  methods  of  election  and  reformation  of  life, 
establishing  truths  and  principles  which,  if  not  new  in  substance, 
were  entirely  new  in  their  arrangement  and  dependence  one  upon 
the  other.  The  book,  finally,  was  presented  under  this  strange 
and  seemingly  boastful  title  :  Spiritual  Exercises  to  overcome  one's 
self  and  regulate  one's  life,  and  to  avoid  coming  to  a  determination 
through  any  inordinate  affection. 

Let  us  confess  that  this  title  of  itself  was  sufficient  to  alarm 
the  calmest  and  least  timorous  minds.  Either  the  author  was  the 
victim  of  illusion  or  else  he  was  an  extraordinary  man.  A  book 
thus  characterized  could  not  but  wonderfully  excite  attention  and 
awaken  unusual  curiosity  in  the  public ;  and  such  was  its  effect. 

It  would  take  us  too  far  to  give  in  detail  the  history  of  the 
vicissitudes  and  contradictions  to  which  the  book  was  subjected. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  it  caused  its  author  to  be  put  in  chains  and 
cast  into  prison ;  that  it  was  tried  in  the  furnace  of  the  severest 
and  most  prejudiced  criticism ;  that  it  was  the  object  of  acrid 
censure  on  the  part  of  those  who  did  not  know  or  fully  penetrate 
its  depth,  but  attended  solely  to  its  form.  But  it  was  highly 
praised,  after  mature  examination,  by  impartial  minds ;  and  the 
Holy  See  more  than  once  earnestly  recommended  it  to  the  faithful, 
praising  it  as  a  whole  and  in  its  various  parts,  commending  its 
admirable  method,  and  exhorting  finally  all  classes  of  persons  to 
take  it  as  a  guide  in  Spiritual  Retreats,  as  an  efficacious  means 
for  the  reformation  of  morals,  for  making  progress  in  virtue,  and 
as  a  prudent  counselor  for  making  a  choice  or  reforming  one's  life. 


THE  EXERCISES  OF  ST.   IGNATIUS.  291 

If  any  other  argument  were  needed  to  prove  the  excellence 
and  sovereign  usefulness  of  the  Spiritual  Exercises  of  St.  Ignatius, 
the  incontestable  testimony  of  facts  alone  would  suffice.  We 
have  the  experience  of  more  than  three  centuries  during  which 
the  practice  of  these  holy  exercises  has  effected  the  most  famous 
conversions  and  reformed  religious  communities  and,  where  the 
life  of  clerics  was  not  all  it  should  be,  has  restored  it  to  its 
primitive  splendor,  has  extinguished  implacable  hatred  in  families, 
and  formed  great  saints  not  only  in,  but  also  outside,  the  Society 
of  Jesus.  Beyond  all  doubt  this  speaks  very  highly  in  favor  of 
this  precious  book,  small  in  volume,  but  very  great  in  its  contents. 
It  has  little  or  no  literary  merit  in  its  form,  but  it  is  essentially 
beyond  all  price,  being  an  inexhaustible  mine  which  offers  to  the 
careful  and  industrious  worker  ever  new  and  rich  veins  of  pre- 
cious ore  that  he  may  use  for  the  spiritual  profit  of  the  faithful. 

II. 

Among  the  various  aspects  under  which  this  book  may  be 
studied,  there  is  one  much  in  harmony  with  the  end  and  aim  of 
the  MESSENGER — to  preserve,  extend,  and  daily  impart  new  life 
and  splendor  to  the  sweetest  and  most  attractive  of  devotions,  that 
to  the  most  loving  Heart  of  Jesus.  In  fact,  if  we  consider  well 
and  attentively  the  book  of  the  Exercises,  we  shall  see  that  it 
serves  greatly  to  enkindle  in  us  a  tender  and  solid  devotion  to 
this  adorable  Heart. 

Far  from  us  be  the  idea  of  forcing  in  the  least  the  text  of 
St.  Ignatius,  to  make  the  author  say  what  he  did  not,  or  to  bring 
in  support  of  our  assertions  proofs  which  instead  of  convincing 
only  serve  -to  manifest  more  clearly  the  futility  of  any  effort  to 
make  St.  Ignatius  speak  in  his  book  of  a  devotion  revealed  much 
later  by  our  Lord  to  His  servant  Blessed  Margaret  Mary 
Alacoque.  We  hasten  to  declare  that  St.  Ignatius  does  not  treat 
of  devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  nor  could  he  treat  of  it, 
at  least  as  it  is  understood  and  practised  at  the  present  day. 
Nevertheless,  we  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  we  may  use  the 
Spiritual  Exercises  to  awaken  and  confirm  in  ourselves  the  devo- 


292  THE  EXERCISES  OF  ST.  IGNATIUS. 

tion  of  which  we  are  speaking.     This  is  what  we  intend  to  show 
in  the  present  article. 

m. 

What  does  it  mean  to  be  devout  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of 
Jesus  ?  It  means  to  be  wholly  His.  To  be  His,  it  is  necessary 
to  imitate  Him ;  and  to  imitate  Him,  it  is  indispensable  to  love 
Him  •  and  to  love  Him,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  know  Him. 
Knowledge,  love,  imitation — these  are  the  three  elements  which 
essentially  make  up  this  devotion,  and  which  are  intimately  united 
one  with  another  in  the  order  of  ideas,  as  well  as  in  the  order  of 
facts.  How  can  we  love  another  unless  we  have  some  knowledge 
of  him  ?  How  can  we  imitate  him,  if  love  does  not  move  and 
impel  the  will  ? 

In  the  book  of  the  Spiritual  Exercises  we  find  efficacious 
means  of  acquiring,  as  far  as  human  nature  is  capable,  perfect 
knowledge  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus,  a  tender  and  yearning 
love  for  this  Heaven  in  which  the  Divine  Beauty  is  reflected,  and 
a  faithful  and  true  imitation  of  this  Exemplar  and  Model  of  all 
elect  souls. 

The  basis  and  foundation  of  this  love  is  knowledge,  and  in 
proportion  as  this  becomes  perfect  love  goes  on  increasing. 
St.  Augustine  teaches  the  same  thing  :  "  For  whoso  knoweth  Thee, 
he  forgetteth  himself;  he  loveth  Thee  more  than  self;  he  goeth 
forth  from  self  and  cometh  to  Thee,  that  he  may  rejoice  with  Thy 
joy.  And  hence  it  followeth,  O  My  Lord,  that  I  love  Thee  not 
as  I  ought,  for  that  I  know  Thee  not  fully." ' 

St.  Ignatius,  having  laid  down  these  principles,  desires  and 
takes  much  pains  in  order  that  the  exereitant  shall  acquire  not  a 
superficial  but  a  deep  and  profound  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ. 
He  is  not  satisfied  to  have  us  study  Jesus  Christ  in  a  general,  vague 
way ;  he  is  not  content  to  have  us  give  a  certain  attention  to  the  exam- 
ples offered  us  in  the  Divine  Model ;  but  he  will  have  us  endeavor 

1  Quis  enim  cognoscit  te  diligit  te  ;  obliviscitur  se,  amat  te  plus  quam  se  ; 
relinquit  se,  et  venit  ad  te  ut  gaudeat  de  te :  hinc  est  ergo,  Domine,  quod  mm 
tantum  diligo  quantum  debeo,  quia  non  plene  cognosce  te.  (Sol.  c.  1.) 


THE  EXERCISES  OF  ST.  IGNATIUS.  293 

to  penetrate  into  the  innermost  depths  of  His  soul  to  scrutinize,  so  to 
speak,  the  most  hidden  intentions,  affections,  and  feelings  which  give 
life  and  soul  and  elevation  to  His  thoughts  and  words  and  actions. 
The  intention  of  St.  Ignatius  is  evident  from  the  first  contempla- 
tion of  the  second  week.  Here  is  what  he  says  :  "  The  third  pre- 
lude is  to  ask  for  what  I  want :  it  will  here  be  to  ask  for  an 
interior  knowledge  of  our  Lord,  Who  for  me  has  become  Man  that 
I  may  love  Him  and  follow  Him  the  more."  There  is  question 
then  of  knowing,  and  of  knowing  interiorly,  Jesus  Christ.  We 
have  to  set  before  ourselves  the  same  object  in  the  meditations 
which  follow,  contemplating  Jesus  in  His  private  life,  in  His 
public  life,  in  His  sufferings  and  death,  and  in  His  glorious  Resur- 
rection. This  the  Saint  tells  us  in  a  subsequent  note  :  "  It  is  fitting 
to  mention  here  that  the  same  preparatory  prayer  is,  as  has  been 
said  before,  to  be  made  unchanged,  and  the  same  three  preludes  are 
to  be  made  during  this  and  the  following  weeks,  changing  the 
form  according  to  the  subject  matter." 

But  in  what  sense  are  we  to  take  the  words  interior  know- 
ledge f  Do  they  mean  that  the  person  meditating  must  endeavor 
to  understand  thoroughly  the  subject  of  the  meditation,  or  that  the 
practical  fruit  he  derives  must  be  to  know  the  interior  of  Jesus  ? 
In  other  words  must  this  knowledge  be  objectively  or  subjectively 
interior?  It  must  be  both  by  turns.  And  we  judge  this  to  be 
the  intention  of  St.  Ignatius,  first,  from  the  very  nature  of  things ; 
since  to  have  a  subjectively  interior  knowledge  of  any  truth  or 
object  it  is  indispensably  requisite  to  know  the  truth  or  the  object 
in  itself,  in  its  essence,  or — what  is  the  same  thing — it  is  necessary 
that  the  knowledge  be  also  objectively  interior.  We  judge  it,  in 
the  second  place,  from  other  passages  in  the  book  where  the  author 
manifestly  and  without  any  doubt  whatever  reveals  to  us  his 
opinion  on  this  point.  To  what  do  the  two  fundamental  medita- 
tions, the  Kingdom  of  Christ  and  the  Iwo  Standards,  lead  ?  Does 
not  the  first  treat  of  knowing  the  Person  of  Jesus  Christ,  His 
mission,  and  to  this  end  His  intentions,  His  desires,  His  interior  ? 
Is  not  the  principal  object  of  the  second,  to  make  plain  to  the  eyes 
of  our  soul  the  design  and  the  intention  of  the  true  and  eternal 


294  THE  EXERCISES  OF  ST.  IGNATIUS. 

Captain,  Christ  our  Lord,  in  regard  to  what  He  desires  and  asks 
of  us,  as  diametrically  opposed  to  the  evil  intentions  of  the  perverse 
chief  of  the  evil  host  ?  Finally,  why  insist  so  much  upon  con- 
templating the  persons,  their  words  and  actions,  if  not  because 
one's  words  and  above  all  one's  works  reveal  his  interior  so  that 
we  may  truly  say  we  know  another  when  we  are  familiar  with 
the  motive  and  intention  which  always  actuate  him  ?  We  con- 
clude then  from  all  this  that  St.  Ignatius  asks  us  to  acquire  pro- 
found knowledge  of  the  interior  of  Jesus  Christ. 

From  this  truth  follows  another  no  less  important  to  the 
object  we  have  in  view,  which  is  to  show  that  our  experienced 
spiritual  guide  claims,  though  he  does  not  say  it  in  so  many 
words,  that  we  may  acquire  by  means  of  the  Exercises  interior 
knowledge  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus.  It  is  in  every  respect 
impossible  to  attain  the  interior  knowledge  of  Jesus,  of  which  St. 
Ignatius  speaks  in  so  many  parts  of  his  work,  unless  we  contem- 
plate this  sanctuary  of  the  Divinity  of  Jesus  Christ.  We  must 
learn  from  this  precious  book  of  gold,  from  His  Sacred  Heart,  the 
sublime  lessons  written  therein  in  characters  equally  divine  and 
human.  We  must  study  with  humble  reverence  and  holy  fervor 
this  Divine  Heart  in  Which  are  contained  all  the  treasures  of  the 
wisdom  and  the  grace  of  God.  Therein  we  shall  find  rich  sources 
of  virtue,  of  sanctity,  and  of  perfection ;  and  there,  finally,  we  may 
learn  the  fundamental,  the  characteristic  virtue  of  Jesus,  the 
humility  which  He — the  Lord — exhorts  us  to  learn  from  His 
Heart :  Learn  of  Me  becaiise  I  am  meek  and  humble  of  heart. 

We  have  proved,  we  think,  that  the  Exercises  lead  to  an 
intimate  knowledge  of  the  interior  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  conse- 
quently of  His  divine  Heart.  Let  us  see  now  what  means  St. 
Ignatius  has  recourse  to,  supposing  always  the  assistance  of  grace 
without  which  we  can  do  absolutely  nothing  in  the  supernatural 
order,  to  help  us  to  obtain  this  first  requisite  of  devotion  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus. 

The  principal  means  and  the  one  to  which  all  the  others  may 
be  reduced  is,  without  doubt,  attentive  meditation  on  the  life  of 
Christ  and  on  the  examples  of  virtue  which  He  gives  us  from  the 


THE  EXERCISES  OF  ST.  IGNATIUS.  295 

sighs  and  wails  of  the  Manger  to  the  glorious  triumph  of  His 
Ascension  into  heaven,  following  step  by  step  the  smallest  details 
and  circumstances  in  the  life  of  our  Divine  Master.  Thus  does 
St.  Ignatius  conduct  the  disciple  through  the  gallery  of  varied 
pictures  oifered  us  in  the  different  mysteries  of  the  life  of  Christ, 
upon  Whose  holy  humanity  the  Saint  would  have  the  eyes  of  the 
soul  chiefly  fixed,  keeping  at  the  same  time  well  in  view  the 
primary  end  of  all  the  meditations,  which  is,  as  we  have  indicated, 
interior  knowledge  of  our  Lord. 

The  wonder  and  novelty  of  this  art  do  not  consist  so  much  in 
the  matter  treated  of,  as  in  the  method  and  form.  The  mysteries 
of  the  life  of  Christ  are  as  ancient  as  Christianity,  and  the  practice 
of  meditating  upon  these  mysteries  dates  from  the  early  ages  of 
the  Church.  But  to  bring  them  out  in  relief  before  the  eyes  of 
the  soul,  contemplating  the  persons,  the  words,  and  the  actions ;  to 
make  all  the  powers  of  the  soul  and  the  senses  of  the  body  concur 
in  the  practical  study  of  the  Divine  Exemplar ;  to  insist  upon  the 
same  passage  of  the  life  of  Christ  by  means  of  repetitious ;  to 
accommodate  all  and  every  one  of  these  divers  exercises  to  a 
determined  end,  preserving  among  them  a  perfect  gradation, 
logical  order,  and  admirable  harmony ;  to  establish  fundamental 
principles  and  axioms  which  serve  as  a  point  of  departure  and 
most  solid  basis  to  preserve  us  from  error  in  this  difficult  science, 
and  to  prevent  our  efforts  from  being  fruitless ;  all  this,  we  say,  is 
new,  very  new,  and  due  to  St.  Ignatius  Loyola,  the  author  of  this 
wonderful  book.  So  wonderful  indeed  is  it  that  we  are  constrained 
to  receive  not  only  as  plausible,  but  as  probable  enough,  the  opinion 
generally  accepted  among  the  sons  of  St.  Ignatius,  that  it  was 
inspired  of  Heaven  and  dictated  by  the  Sovereign  Queen  of 
Angels,  by  her  who  is  called  and  who  is  the  Sedes  Sapientiae 
"  Seat  of  Wisdom." 

Therefore,  if  we  place  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  before  the 
eyes  of  the  soul,  in  order  to  contemplate  It  fixedly ;  if  we  revolve 
in  our  memory,  examine  with  our  intelligence,  and  love  with  our 
will  the  admirable  example  of  virtue,  of  which  this  same  Heart 
is  a  perennial  source  ;  if  we  endeavor  to  behold  Its  ardent  flames, 


296  THE  MORNING   OFFERING. 

to  hear  Its  loving  sighs,  to  inhale  the  exquisite  fragrance  of  Its 
virtues,  to  taste  Its  infinite  sweetness,  and  to  touch  with  filial 
reverence  like  St.  Thomas  the  open  Side  revealing  to  us  this  Heart 
of  the  Man-God  Which  has  loved  men  so  much ;  in  a  word,  if  we 
faithfully  apply  the  admirable  method  of  St.  Ignatius  with  all  his 
annotations,  all  his  additions,  and  with  the  unity  and  dependence 
preserved  between  the  mysteries  and  the  truths  which  he  puts  in 
this  golden  book,  we  may  confidently  hope  to  acquire  a  profound 
knowledge  of  the  true  and  intimate  life  of  Jesus  Christ  and  of  His 
adorable  Heart.  For  this  is  the  centre  and  focus  whence  issue  and 
whither  converge  the  rays  of  light  and  the  flames  of  love  of  the 
Man-God.  He  has  willed  to  reveal  to  us  in  an  open  and  sensible 
manner,  in  these  latter  times,  the  infinite  riches  contained  and 
treasured  in  His  Divine  Breast.  To  know  Jesus  Christ  is  to  know 
His  Heart ;  and  to  love  Him  is  to  unite  our  hearts  intimately  and 
irrevocably  to  His,  so  that  our  desires  and  our  aspirations  shall  be 
identified  with  the  aspirations  and  desires  of  the  Divine  Heart  of 
Jesus. 


THE   MORNING  OFFERING. 
A  FOURTH  DIALOGUE. 

DlSCIPLE.  What  is  the  special  benefit  to  be  expected  from 
the  united  prayers  of  the  Associates  of  the  League  of  the  Sacred 
Heart  ?  I  hear  it  always  spoken  of  as  the  power  of  pleading 
before  God. 

leacher.  Yes,  that  is  our  usual  way  of  expressing  it  in 
English.  It  is  not  quite  as  accurate  as  the  word — impetration. 
We  use  it  because  its  meaning  is  easily  grasped,  while  the  latter  is 
too  latinized  and  unfamiliar  for  common  use. 

Disciple.  If  I  have  not  lost  my  Latin,  impetration  ought  to 
mean  the  act  of  obtaining  something  by  one's  own  personal 
entreaty :  and  I  suppose  this  would  imply  an  effective  power  of 
pleading.  Is  that  the  case  here  ? 


THE  MORNING   OFFERING.  297 

Teacher.  Very  nearly.  The  Apostleship  of  Prayer  has  been 
built  up  on  the  Christian  principle  that  such  a  power  of  obtaining 
graces  from  God  by  the  personal  entreaties  of  human  beings, 
singly  or  together,  actually  exists,  and  is  effective  under  the  proper 
conditions.  For  its  unfailing  efficiency  it  requires  the  union  with 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  which  has  caused  our  Apostleship  to  be 
organized  into  a  "  League  of  Christian  hearts  with  the  Heart  of 
Jesus  pleading."  He  is  our  great  Mediator — always  living  to 
make  intercession  for  us.1 

Disciple.  Impetration,  then,  is  something  more  than  prayer ; 
otherwise  all  prayer,  from  that  of  the  sinner  who  has  some  super- 
stition connected  with  it  up  to  the  sincere  prayer  of  the  Saint, 
would  be  effective. 

Teacher.  That  is  only  partly  true.  All  prayer  properly 
so-called  is  effective,  and  we  have  God's  promise  for  it.  Only  it 
is  so  in  different  degrees.  Then,  perhaps  you  may  call  that  prayer 
which  is  not  so  properly. 

Disciple.  I  should  like  to  go  over  all  the  different  ways  in 
which  man  as  a  creature  really  appeals  to  God  as  his  Creator.  In 
this  way  I  should  imagine  it  might  be  made  clear  just  how  far  and 
when  our  prayers  are  likely  to  have  some  effect. 

Teacher.  Once  more,  you  are  speaking  not  quite  accurately. 
Every  appeal  to  God  has  some  effect ;  for  He  is  Lord  over  all, 
rich  unto  all  that  call  upon  Him.3  We  must  always  be  careful  to 
avoid  thinking  of  God  as  a  haughty  king,  beyond  the  skies  and 
far  away,  and  likely  to  hear  us  only  when  we  call  very  loud  and 
long.  The  air  we  breathe  is  not  so  near  to  us,  does  not  enter  into  us 
so  vitally,  as  does  God  with  His  attention  to  our  least  wants  all 
the  day  long.  This  is  what  St.  Paul  said  to  the  Athenians — See- 
ing it  is  He  Who  giveth  to  all  life  and  breath  and  all  things,  and  hath 
made  of  one  all  mankind  to  dwell  upon  the  whole  earth,  determining 
appointed  times  and  the  limits  of  their  habitation,  that  they  should 
seek  God,  if  happily  they  may  feel  after  Him  or  find  Him,  although 
He  be  not  far  from  every  one  of  us.  For  in  Him  we  live  and  move 
and  are.3  Our  very  existence,  in  the  midst  of  so  many  necessities 

1  Hebrews,  vii.  25.  2  Komans,  x.  12.  'Acts,  xvii.  25-8. 


298  THE  MORNING   OFFERING. 

of  body  and  soul,  is  an  appeal  to  Him,  which  He  answers  always 
and  with  all  men.  St.  John  says,  for  one  thing,  that  the  Eternal 
Word  is  the  true  light  which  enlighteneth  every  man  that  cometh  into 
this  world.  We  are  too  apt  to  forget  this.  After  the  prophesying 
of  Jonas  the  Ninivites  not  only  fasted  themselves,  but  made  their 
oxen  and  sheep  to  fast,  and  called  this  crying  to  the  Lord  with  all 
their  strength !  Afterward,  God  gave  this  as  a  reason  why  He 
should  spare  that  great  city,  in  which  there  are  more  than  a  hundred 
and  twenty  thousand  persons  that  know  not  how  to  distinguish 
between  their  right  hand  and  their  left,  and  many  beasts.11 

Disciple.  I  have  read  of  something  like  this  in  Catholic 
times.  In  Brittany,  I  believe,  in  seasons  of  great  drought,  the 
little  children  who  had  not  yet  come  to  the  age  of  reason  were  led 
in  troops  across  the  fields  that  God  might  have  pity  on  so  much 
innocence  mutely  appealing  to  Him.  This,  I  suppose,  about 
represents  your  distinction  between  that  in  us  which  appeals  to 
God  of  itself  and  prayer  which  is  our  free  calling  upon  Him. 

Teacher.  Yes,  and  too  many  Christians  forget  that  this 
dumb  cry  of  human  nature  is  always  mounting  up  to  God,  Who 
loveth  all  things  that  are,  Who  hateth  none  of  the  things  which  He 
hath  made  ;5  and  when  we  come  to  think  of  His  mysterious  deal- 
ings with  the  souls  who  even  reject  Him,  we  see  that  this  more 
than  motherly  care  of  His  creatures  goes  beyond  our  utmost 
thought.  This  is  why  the  Prophet  brings  Him  before  us  in  the 
person  of  our  Lord  holding  out  His  wounded  hands  all  the  day 
long  to  an  unbelieving  people.6  How  much  more,  then,  will  He 
listen  when  even  the  most  sinful  of  men  uses  his  free  will  to  call 
upon  Him  ? 

Disciple.  Prayer,  then,  properly  so-called,  is  equivalent  to 
petitioning  Almighty  God  for  something  ? 

Teacher.  Yes,  for  our  present  purpose.  It  is  to  induce  God 
to  do  something  for  us  of  His  own  will,  because  we  have  shown 
Him  our  inmost  need  and  heart's  desire. 

Disciple.  But  I  have  heard  of  very  ignorant  and  depraved 
criminals  asking  God's  help  to  commit  some  sin.  Was  that 
prayer  ? 

4  Jonas,  iii. ;  id.,  iv.  11.  5  Wisdom,  xi.  25.  6  Isnias,  Ixv.  2. 


THE  MORNING   OFFERING.  299 

Teacher.  It  was  rather  an  execration,  on  the  part  of  men  who 
from  some  superstition  looked  on  God  as  a  real  demon.  This  may 
be  petition,  but  it  is  not  prayer  at  all.  Prayer  asks  God  for  some- 
thing which  He  can  do  in  accordance  with  His  own  Divine  Nature 
that  is  all  holy,  and  with  His  "Will,  which  is  all  good  and  merciful. 

Disciple.  I  begin  to  see  that  all  petition  is  not  prayer  ;  but 
is  there  ever  a  real  prayer  without  some  effectiveness — some 
power  of  impetration? 

Teacher.  No  prayer  is  without  some  effect.  Let  us  take  the 
most  elementary  example,  where  prayer  is  made  by  a  man  who  is 
quite  without  faith,  that  is,  who  has  never  learned  from  revelation 
that  there  is  a  personal  God  Who  has  promised  to  hear  him.  Now 
this  man  has  not  that  certain  hope  of  being  heard  which  can  come 
only  from  faith.  It  is  very  difficult  for  him  to  realize,  to  bring 
home  to  himself,  what  prayer  is  to  do  for  him.  Still,  he  is  not 
quite  so  badly  off  as  the  atheist  whose  form  of  prayer  ran  :  "  O 
my  God,  if  there  be  a  God,  save  my  soul,  if  I  have  a  soul."  Yes, 
he  is  better  than  that;  for  he  is  a  rational  creature.  Now,  a 
rational  creature  cannot  help  feeling  at  times  intensely  that  there 
is  a  great  Will  working  in  and  through  the  world,  and  in  some 
hours  of  special  difficulty  he  will  feel  impelled  to  call  for  aid 
on  this  Supreme  Will.  The  light  of  nature  will  have  taught 
him,  confusedly  at  least,  that  there  is  a  Divine  Providence.  Of 
course,  he  is  not  likely  to  reach  so  far  as  this  without  God's  grace 
stirring  him  to  pray.  Now,  even  this  prayer,  which  I  call  the 
most  elementary  possible,  is  not  without  its  effect.  It  appeals  to 
God's  love  for  His  creature  far  more  than  the  mere  need  in  which 
the  man  stood  before.  It  is  true  that  this  prayer  has  not  the 
benefit  of  the  special  promises  made  by  Christ,  because  it  was  not 
based  on  Christian  faith  or  hope.  But  it  is  in  the  nature  of  God 
to  help  such  a  man  and  finally  to  bring  him  to  the  light  of  faith. 
This  is  not  impetration,  for  it  is  not  the  man's  petition  that  obtains 
the  answer,  but  simply  God's  superabundant  goodness  in  His  way 
of  dealing  with  all  the  creatures  of  His  hand.  It  is,  however,  one 
great  step  beyond  what  King  David  says  of  the  lion's  whelps,  that 
by  their  roaring  they  seek  their  meat  from  God.1 

T  Psalm  ciii.  21. 


3OO  THE  MORNING   OFFERING. 

Disciple.  What  is  the  next  degree  of  prayer?  And  kindly 
tell  me  when  the  absolute  effectiveness  of  impetration,  as  you  call 
it,  really  begins. 

Teacher.  This  is  the  general  principle.  Every  petition  of 
the  soul  to  God  which  is  made  with  faith  and  hope  is  sure  to  have 
some  answer.  This  is  the  least  which  we  can  gather  from  the 
great  promises  of  Christ.  The  prayer  would  not  be  truly  from 
faith  if  anything  wrong  were  asked  for,  as  I  have  explained  about 
your  superstitious  man.  And  it  would  not  be  with  hope,  unless 
the  other  conditions  of  asking  with  piety  and  perseverance  and 
with  some  reference  to  our  own  salvation,  were  found  in  it.  It  is 
something  like  what  St.  Paul  says  to  Timothy  concerning  God's 
nature.  If  we  believe  not,  He  continueth  faithful.  He  cannot  deny 
Himself.* 

Disciple.  You  say  that  prayer  must  be  made  piously.  At 
that  rate  the  sinner's  prayer  stands  a  poor  chance. 

Teacher.  Not  at  all.  We  do  not  say  that  only  a  pious,  that 
is  a  just,  man  can  pray  with  hope  of  receiving  what  he  asks. 
That  would  be  a  very  discouraging  thing.  Why,  the  sinner  could 
never  ask  for  the  grace  of  repenting  of  his  sins,  at  that  rate.  It 
is  very  necessary  to  remember  that  grace  stirs  up  the  sinner  to 
pious  acts  quite  as  much,  and  often  much  more  than  it  does  the  just 
man.  It  is  quite  like  the  teaching  of  our  Lord  Himself,  Who 
came,  not  to  call  the  just,  but  sinners  to  penance."  This  is  true  of 
the  interior  grace  by  which  Christ's  Spirit  teaches  all  men.  It  is 
the  sum  of  His  wonderful  revelation  made  to  St.  John :  Behold,  I 
stand  at  the  gate  and  knock :  if  any  man  shall  hear  My  voice  and 
open  to  Me  the  door,  I  will  come  in  to  him  and  will  sup  with  him, 
and  he  with  Me.10  The  important  thing  is  that  the  man  should 
open  the  door  to  Him  Who  stands  at  the  gate  of  his  heart  and 
knocks.  God  will  do  the  rest. 

8  II.  Timothy,  ii.  13. 

9  St.  Luke,  v.  32  ;  St.  Matthew,  ix.  13  ;  St.  Mark,  ii.  17. 

10  Apocalypse,  iii.  20. 


THE   READER. 


"DEAR  MESSENGER: 

"The  talks  about  'The  Morning  Offering'  are  full  of 
interest.  When  I  began  mine  I  expected  it  to  be  an  earnest  act  of 
consecration,  to  be  recalled  at  nightly  examen.  I  find  that  it 
pervades  the  day,  coming  oftener  and  oftener  to  mind.  Sometimes . 
I  find  myself  saying  it  imperfectly  as  I  wake,  from  the  habit  of 
making  it  the  first  conscious  act. 

"  The  word  '  sufferings '  brings  a  little  shudder  often,  I  have 
had  so  many  of  them;  but  when  the  sufferings  themselves  come, 
I  instantly  recall  the  '  Offering/  and  say — that's  what  I  bargained 
for.  But  oh,  so  often  I  feel  as  if  our  Lord  Jesus  answered  me  : 

"  *  Yes,  but  it  is  accepted — not  a  pang  is  lost ' — and  this 
grows  and  grows,  and  gives  a  kind  of  fortitude,  where  all  courage 
for  mental  pain  was  lacking — God's  generosity  conveyed  through 
the  steady  practice  of  the  Morning  Offering. 

"  May  this  encourage  some  heavy  heart  in  isolation — 

H.  B." 


We  also  desire  to  say  a  good  word  for  a  far  smaller  class  of 
the  community,  though  not  an  unimportant  one.  Mr.  George 
O'Connell,  S.  J.,  who  labored  so  faithfully  on  our  "  MESSENGER  " 
during  the  early  years  of  this  later  series,  has  reprinted  his  little 
Manual  for  the  use  of  the  Sanctuary  boys.  The  "  boys  on  the 
Altar "  play  a  not  unimportant  part  in  our  Parishes.  It  is  the 
great  ambition  of  their  age  to  be  dressed  up  in  gown  and  white 
surplice,  as  so  many  angels,  to  serve  in  Holy  Things  about  the 
Sanctuary  ;  and  it  is  the  great  pride  of  their  parents  to  see  them 
taking  part  in  the  Church  ceremonies.  Here  many  a  vocation  is 
nursed  to  the  Priesthood,  and  many  a  holy  thought  firmly  rooted 
in  the  mind,  which,  in  the  great  world,  in  the  midst  of  temptation, 
will  come  back  to  anchor  the  soul  to  its  early  faith* 

301 


3O2  THE  READER. 


Father  Matthew  Russell,  who  so  kindly  wrote  for  our  "  MES- 
SENGER" the  Eucharistic  Thoughts  published  iu  January  and 
February,  sends  us  a  letter  of  meek  complaint.  It  is  true  that  the 
demands  of  the  printer  led  to  a  slight  change  in  the  order  of  his 
beautiful  thoughts.  We  are  so  glad  to  have  anything  from  one 
who  writes  so  well  and  so  seldom  that,  to  our  own  confusion,  we 
give  the  reader  his  words  : 

I  am  sure  you  will  feel  for  me  when  you  learn  that  the  two 
last  paragraphs  of  Eucharistic  Thoughts,  as  given  by  you  [namely, 
in  January]  are  only  a  commentary  on  a  phrase  of  Cardinal 
Newman's,  given  in  one  of  the  suppressed  or  postponed  paragraphs 
[printed  in  February].  Those  last  phrases  about  "making  the 
young  heart  chaste "  and  "  Mary  as  our  nursing  Mother "  are 
Newman's ;  and  I  have  repeated  them  to  myself  and  my  penitents 
thousands  of  times,  since  the  time  I  turned  them  into  a  sonnet 
many  years  ago.  I  am  very  sorry  the  text  of  my  little  homily 
has  thus  been  left  out,  and  I  should  much  have  preferred  waiting 
half  a  year. 

We  can  do  no  -better  after  this,  than  give  the  text  and  sonnet. 

A   THOUGHT   FEOM   DR.  NEWMAN. 

In  the  last  of  his  Discourses  to  Mixed  Congregations  he  calls  the  Blessed 
Virgin  the  Mother  of  Emmanuel,  and  says :  "  It  is  the  boast  of  the  Catholic  Religion 
that  it  has  the  gift  of  making  the  young  heart  chaste  ;  and  why  is  this  but  that  it 
gives  us  Jesus  for  our  Food  and  Mary  for  our  nursing  Mother?" 

The  world  shines  bright  for  inexperienced  eyes, 

And  death  seems  distant  to  the  gay  and  strong, 
And  in  the  youthful  heart  proud  fancies  throng, 

And  only  present  good  can  nature  prize. 

How,  then,  shall  youth  o'er  these  low  vapors  rise 

And  climb  the  upward  path,  so  steep  and  long? 
And  how,  amid  earth's  sights  and  sounds  of  wrong, 

Walk  with  pure  heart  and  face  raised  to  the  skies? 

By  gazing  on  the  infinitely  Good, 

Whose  love  must  quell  or  hallow  ev'ry  other — 
By  living  in  the  shadow  of  the  Rood, 

For  He  that  hangs  there  is  our  Elder  Brother, 
Who  dying  gave  to  us  Himself  as  Food, 

And  His  own  Mother  as  our  nursing  Mother. 


THE  READER.  3O3 


The  Disappearance  of  John  Longworthy,  by  Maurice  Francis 
Egan,  has  been  laid  on  the  Reader's  desk.  We  have  several 
times  noted  the  work  of  this  author,  and  lamented  that  not  more 
of  it  was  given  us.  This  new  volume  continues  the  studies  in 
New  York  life — especially  in  the  better  class  of  tenement-houses — 
which  the  author  has  presented  us  in  his  previous  books.  His 
heart  is  evidently  in  his  work,  and  on  the  whole  his  work  is  well 
done.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  to  any  competent  reader,  that  the 
literary  form  of  his  books  is  far  above  that  which  we  are  now 
accustomed  to  find  in  our  American  Catholic  publications. 
Certainly  the  present  book  is  far  above  the  Commencement  Season 
volumes,  with  their  cheap,  gaudy  covers,  blotched  with  gold-leaf 
outside  and  containing  literature  of  the  most  desperately  common- 
place order,  both  in  form  and  matter,  on  the  inside.  We  suppose 
that  this  Commencement  literature  must  have  its  way  :  some  time, 
perhaps,  we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  of  the  very  great  harm 
it  is  doing  to  the  interests  of  our  true  Catholic  literature.  It  is 
enough  to  say  now  that  Mr.  Egan's  book  is  not  of  this  class. 

These  studies  of  the  East  Side  of  New  York  are  along  the 
same  literary  lines  as  those  of  the  East  End  of  London  which 
have  made  the  novelist  Besant  so  popular.  And  they  are  written 
from  a  truer  standpoint  than  the  works  of  the  English  writer, 
because  of  the  peculiar  insight  any  instructed  and  thoughtful 
Catholic  must  have  into  the  good  and  evil  of  a  population  largely 
Catholic.  There  is,  perhaps,  something  to  be  desired  in  the  grasp 
of  the  various  problems  considered  by  the  author.  But  it  is  not 
necessary  that  the  story-teller  should  settle  questions.  It  is  suffi- 
cient that  he  should  present  facts.  This  has  been  too  often  for- 
gotten by  men  of  purely  worldly  minds,  like  Besant ;  and  even 
the  late  Protestant  Archbishop  Trench  of  Dublin  recorded  his 
earnest  protest  against  the  mere  novelist's  solution  being  held 
worthy  of  any  serious  consideration  in  healing  the  hurt  of  God's 
people.  Mr.  Egan  is  right  therefore  in  not  dogmatizing,  In 
general,  he  seems  either  to  give  up  the  problem  as  hopeless  or  else 
refers  to  the  Church's  action  for  alleviating  its  evil  conditions. 

A  light  defect  also  is  the  number  of  allusions  made  in 
connection  with  the  descriptions  'given.  Now  allusions  interest 
the  confirmed  literary  man,  who  recognizes  them  and  finds  a  whole 


3O4  THE  READER. 

train  of  pleasant  associations  set  going  in  his  mind,  as  they  come 
to  him.  But  for  the  reading  public  in  general,  and  for  the  earnest 
men  who  desire  to  do  good  work  in  the  world  and  have  not  time 
to  waste  on  the  mere  accomplishments  of  literature,  these  allusions 
rather  hinder  than  help  the  effect  of  writing. 

With  these  light  criticisms,  which  should  only  make  our 
readers  more  anxious  to  see  the  book  for  themselves,  we  proceed 
to  its  real  merit.  So  far  as  we  know,  it  is  the  first  plain  though 
pleasant-spoken  description  of  life  as  it  really  exists  among  a  large 
portion  of  the  Catholic  population  of  a  great  city,  more  than  half 
Catholic,  like  New  York.  It  is  evident  that  only  a  Catholic  could 
describe  this  life  without  offence.  It  is  also  evident  that  only  a 
Catholic  would  understand  half  of  what  was  going  on  or,  indeed, 
anything  of  the  serious  side  of  this  life. 

Now  Mr.  Egan  has  carefully  and  sympathetically — even 
humorously — described  the  light  and  dark  side  of  this  life  among 
our  own  people.  In  doing  so  he  could  not  help  starting  up  all 
manner  of  burning  questions.  For  example,  why  is  it  that  the 
two  sisters  of  his  book  are  well-bred  as  well  as  pious,  while  their 
brother  who  has  been  a  student  of  a  Catholic  college  is  underbred 
and  not  pious  ?  Every  hard-working  priest  knows  how  often  this 
state  of  things  results  in  those  mixed  marriages  by  which  Catholic 
mothers  and  children  are  lost  to  the  Church  while  Catholic  men 
step  down  to  a  lower  plane  of  life.  Mr.  Egan  does  not  attribute 
the  defects  in  his  hero's  character  to  the  college  at  which  he  was 
educated.  Quite  the  contrary,  for  his  special  hero  was  a  fellow- 
student.  He  does  not  quite  explain  the  cause  of  what  is,  after  all, 
a  heart-breaking  phenomenon  enough.  He  seems  to  attribute  it 
partly  to  a  lack  of  home  training,  partly  to  the  lowering  influence 
of  politics  in  our  American  cities,  and  partly  to  the  beer  drinking 
which  appears  on  perhaps  too  many  pages  of  his  book — though 
not  more  often  than  in  real  life. 

Not  all  the  Catholic  girls  of  his  story,  however,  are  well- 
bred  :  and  another  problem  is  started  in  the  mind  by  the  contem- 
plation of  "  Lacy's  "  shop-girl  who  manages  to  deck  herself  out  so 
gaily  for  the  "  Lady  Rosebuds'  Ball."  It  is  the  hollowness  of  this 
pretence  and  strain  after  a  low,  grotesque  imitation  of  the  fashion- 
able life  of  the  rich  that  comes  out  most  sadly  in  these  pages. 


GENERAL   INTENTION 

FOR  APRIL,    1891. 

Designated  by  His  Holiness,  Leo  XIII.,  with  his  special  blessing,  and  given  to  His 
Eminence  the  Cardinal  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda — the  Protector  of  the 
League  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  called  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer — for  recom- 
mendation to  the  prayers  of  the  Associates. 

CHRISTIAN  MEN  OF  SCIENCE. 

r  1  ^HE  man  of  science,  the  great  scholar,  the  genius,  seems,  by 
the  very  nature  of  his  exalted  endowments,  destined  to 
lead  a  lonely  sort  of  life.  He  weaves  his  thoughts  or 
pores  over  his  problems,  far  away  from  the  busy  throng.  Such 
solitude  is  even  supposed  to  be  a  better  nursery  for  genius  than 
scenes  of  enterprise  and  activity.  Yes ;  but  all  the  while  it  is 
the  deep  thinker — whether  surrounded  by  the  comforts  of  life  or 
sitting  alone  and  pale  in  cell  or  garret — who  spins  out  a  great 
thought  which  passes  from  him  to  the  masses  and  is  woven  by 
them  into  the  web  of  history.  He  sows  the  seed  :  the  crop  grows 
and  the  harvest  is  garnered  in  due  season.  On  him,  therefore, 
more  than  on  the  laborers  who  reap  and  gather,  does  the  quality 
of  the  crop  in  very  large  measure  depend. 

I. 

It  is  for  such  men  we  are  called  upon  to  pray :  that  they 
may  use  the  gifts  of  God  for  the  purposes  unto  which  they  were 
given,  and  may  make  men  better  by  the  influence  of  their  word 
or  pen.  Furthermore,  we  are  to  beg  that,  through  God's  especial 
bounty,  such  men  may  arise  amongst  us,  to  set  themselves  on  the 
side  of  truth  and,  in  the  various  departments  of  human  knowledge, 
aim  at  showing  to  mankind  that  science  the  most  sublime  can 
reach  no  higher  glory  than  that  of  being  the  handmaid  of  religion. 
They  both  spring  from  the  same  source,  though  they  often  differ 
in  the  course  they  pursue.  Religion  is  the  service  we  render 

305 


3O6  GENERAL   INTENTION. 

to  truths  from  which  God  has  lifted  the  veil  of  concealment  and, 
in  a  manner  of  His  own  choosing,  identified  them  and  warranted 
them  as  His  teaching.  The  results  of  science,  on  the  other 
hand — and  especially  of  what  is  called  scientific  investigation — 
are  discoveries  of  facts  or  truths  which  had  been  hidden  in  the 
mysterious  workings  of  nature.  In  this  case  it  is  man  who  lifts 
the  veil.  And,  as  "the  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  the  fulness 
thereof/'  man  ought  to  stamp  his  discovery  as  a  truth  of  God's 
teaching  proclaimed  through  his  agency.  But  ever  since  Eve 
listened  and  Adam  fell,  there  is  a  tendency  in  the  human  mind 
to  regard  the  tangible,  material  world  as  man's  own  possession, 
and  to  dig  in  it  some  sort  of  foundation  upon  which  to  build  a 
claim  against  God's  right  to  own  it.  This  it  is  which  makes  the 
real  conflict  between  what  is  called  science  and  revealed  religion. 
The  truths  imparted  by  each  are  to  the  masses  of  mankind  a 
revelation ;  and,  in  point  of  fact,  there  is  an  abnormal  readiness 
to  set  a  revealing  man  above  a  revealing  God. 

Now,  this  in  itself  is  an  absurdity,  since  it  is  nothing  else 
than  striving  to  present  a  fragment  hewn  from  a  great  building, 
and  disfigured  in  the  transfer,  as  evidence  in  proof  that  no  archi- 
tect had  ever  planned  that  building.  Yet  it  is  such  things  as 
this  that  men  of  great  natural  ability  are  doing  every  day,  to  the 
damage  of  their  fellow-men  and  of  themselves.  No  one  gains  by 
their  misguided  or  misdirected  ability ;  and  the  greater  their 
science  the  more  hurtful  and  lasting  is  the  harm  that  is  done. 
Witness  the  disastrous  influence  of  the  Encyclopedists,  toward  the 
close  of  the  last  century !  Perverted  science  and  corrupt  prin- 
ciples, like  baneful  seed,  produced  through  a  process  of  natural 
growth  the  horrors  and  calamities  of  the  French  Revolution. 

II. 

Imagine  what  a  blessing  it  would  be  to  the  world  if  a  great 
poet  should  sing  deathless  songs  by  which  men  would  be  led 
nearer  to  the  truth  of  God.  Not,  indeed,  a  poet  simply  having 
goodness  for  his  theme  or  his  aim ;  but  a  poet  of  real  genius 
rending  the  web  of  sophistry,  shattering  falsehood,  routing 


GENERAL  INTENTION.  3O7 

calumny,  and  waving  proudly  the  banner  of  truth  in  rightful 
triumph  of  victory  clearly  won  !  How  men's  hearts  would  melt 
in  sympathy  with  the  utterances  of  a  really  great  orator  devoting 
the  energies  of  his  genius  to  the  teaching  of  right  principles  ! 
And  of  writers  gifted  with  extraordinary  skill  what  shall  be 
said? 

The  Associates  of  the  Holy  League  and  the  readers  of  the 
MESSENGER  know  in  what  esteem  we  hold  the  reading  of  books 
which  lead  toward  the  true  and  the  good.  The  efforts  we  our- 
selves make  to  furnish  good  reading  are  rather  an  evidence  of  our 
earnest  purpose  to  work  in  the  right  direction  than  a  realization 
of  our  idea  as  to  what  ought  to  be  done.  But  if  a  writer  of 
genius,  with  pure  principles  and  lofty  aims,  were  to  use  his 
energies  as  a  true  Christian  man  of  science,  he  could  magnetize 
by  the  charm  of  his  style  or  the  subtle  skill  of  his  thought ;  and 
thus  he  could  lead  his  readers,  almost  irresistibly,  to  a  love  of 
what  is  worthy  of  being  loved  and  to  a  hatred  of  what  is  base. 
Useless  to  say  that  genius  might  miss  its  aim  whilst  harnessed 
to  such  commonplace  work.  Real  genius  never  miscarries : 
it  wins  the  right  of  way  because  it  is  what  it  is,  and  always  secures 
a  following. 

Men  like  Ozanam  and  Cardinal  Newman  have  done  incal- 
culable benefit  to  the  cause  of  truth  by  their  writings ;  and  there 
is  no  telling  how  many  thousands  might  be  led  to  religion,  if  men 
of  repute  for  genius  or  great  scientific  skill,  in  any  branch  of 
knowledge,  were  at  the  same  time  humble  worshippers  at  the 
altar  of  the  true  God.  Good  example  sheds  always  a  genial  ray 
upon  some  one :  but  the  Christian  example  of  men  of  great 
science  is  a  light  shining  for  many. 

When  we  take  into  account  the  immense  quantity  of  reading 
matter  published  every  year ;  and  when,  moreover,  we  bear  in 
mind  the  fact  that  so  much  of  it  is  either  not  on  the  side  of  truth, 
or  directly  against  it,  we  learn  to  understand  the  momentous 
importance  of  having  men  of  science  really  Christian  in  their 
knowledge,  their  conduct,  their  aims,  their  influence.  One  such 
man  would  wield  a  mighty  power.  But  if  to  the  one  were  added 


308  GENERAL  INTENTION. 

others,  the  sphere  of  their  apostleship  would  widen  immeasurably, 
because  no  one  can  reckon  exactly  where  the  spell  of  genius  may 
end  or  what  may  be  the  possibilities  its  subtle  charm  may  develop. 
Deep  may  call  upon  deep,  and  the  voice  of  many  waters  re-echo 
the  call.  Genius  enlisted  and  combating  in  the  cause  of  truth 
may  arouse  an  army  of  less  gifted  men  like  common  soldiers  to 
fight  under  the  same  banner. 

m. 

Ecclesiastics,  or  churchmen  as  they  are  called,  are  expected 
as  a  matter  of  course  to  speak  and  write  in  such  manner  as  may 
be  helpful  to  faith  and  morals.  It  is  according  to  their  profession 
to  do  so.  Rather,  therefore,  should  we  pray  that  we  may  have 
Christian  laymen  of  great  knowledge  and  great  piety,  with  great 
power  of  utilizing  both  for  the  welfare  of  their  fellow-men.  We 
need  literary  men,  scientific  men,  scholars — in  a  word,  we  need 
for  active  service  in  the  Christian  cause  such  men  as  the  French 
describe  by  that  term  which  is  untranslatable  by  reason  of  the 
associations  which  cluster  around  it,  Savants. 

Such  Christian  men  of  science  would  show,  by  their  very 
lives,  that  the  highest  learning  in  natural  things  can  be  happily 
joined  with  the  supernatural  Christian  life ;  and,  by  their  writings, 
they  might  dispel  from  weak  and  doubting  souls  the  shadows  of 
evil  cast  by  an  infidel  and  unreal  science.  Surely,  this  union  of 
science  and  religion,  which  is  due  to  truth  and  to  the  souls  of  men, 
must  also  be  in  the  merciful  designs  of  the  Divine  Heart.  It  is 
therefore  a  fit  object  of  our  prayers. 

OFFEEING  FOE  THE  INTENTIONS  OF  THE  MONTH. 

O  Jesus,  through  the  Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary,  I  offer 
Thee  all  the  prayers,  work,  and  sufferings  of  this  day  for  all  the 
intentions  of  Thy  Divine  Heart,  in  union  with  the  Holy  Sacrifice 
of  the  Mass,  in  reparation  for  all  sin,  and  for  all  requests  pre- 
sented through  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer :  and  in  particular, 
that  men  of  science  may  be  imbued  with  proper  principles  and 
propagate  these  throughout  the  world.  Amen. 


APPEAL 

FOR  THE  TERCENTENARY  or  THE  DEATH  OP 
ST.  ALOYSIUS  GONZAGA,  PATRON  OF  YOUTH. 

1.      Occasion  of  this  Appeal. 

r  I  ^HE  three  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  death  of  St.  Aloysius 
Gonzaga,  Patron  of  Youth,  falls  on  the  21st  of  June  of 
the  present  year.  The  Holy  See,  by  a  Brief  dated  January 
1,  1891,  has  granted  special  privileges  to  its  celebration,  for  the 
churches  of  the  whole  world.  The  Holy  Father  had  already 
chosen  devotion  to  this  Saint  as  the  General  Intention  to  be 
especially  recommended  to  the  Associates  of  the  League  of  the 
Sacred  Heart,  called  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer,  during  the  first 
month  of  this  year ;  and  the  MESSENGERS  OF  THE  SACRED  HEART 
throughout  the  world  have  taken  up,  as  their  own  work,  the  due 
celebration  of  the  Anniversary. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  we  venture  to  make  the  following 
appeal  to  all  the  centres  of  the  League,  to  all  the  many  Sodalities 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin  which  have  this  Saint  as  their  secondary 
Patron,  and  in  general  to  all  the  Reverend  clergy  and  religious 
communities  that  have  care  of  the  young  of  whom  St.  Aloysius 
has  been  declared  the  special  Patron  by  several  Sovereign  Pontiffs. 

#.     General  Plan  of  Celebration. 

The  part  of  the  celebration  which  naturally  appeals  to  all  the 
faithful  is  that  concerning  the  Feast  itself.  To  this  may  properly 
be  added  the  very  popular  and  richly  indulgenced  practice  of  con- 
secutive Communions  on  each  of  the  Six  Sundays  preceding  the 
Feast. 

To  insure  the  success  of  this  devotion,  it  should  be  announced 
suitably  for  several  weeks  beforehand.  The  MESSENGER  will 
have  ready  for  distribution,  by  the  1st  of  May,  a  small  Life  of  the 
Saint,  with  devotions  suitable  for  the  Six  Sundays  and  a  form  of 

309 


31O  APPEAL. 

consecration  for  the  Feast  itself.  Such  a  Life,  properly  distributed 
among  the  members  of  the  congregation  or  read  publicly  during 
the  novena  or  for  some  time  daily  in  the  classes  of  the  schools, 
will  awaken  the  fervor  of  the  faithful  to  the  importance  of  this 
celebration. 

8.     Special  Celebration  of  the  Feast. 

In  schools  and  communities,  and  in  general  wherever  the 
devotion  of  the  people  may  warrant  it,  a  public  Novena  imme- 
diately preceding  or  following  the  Feast  should  be  held.  This 
has  been  specially  approved  by  the  Holy  Father. 

In  the  case  of  Sodalities  having  St.  Aloysius  as  their  Patron, 
a  Iriduum,  which  has  also  been  approved  by  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff,  might  properly  be  celebrated  with  a  certain  degree  of 
solemnity,  v.g.,  with  a  special  sermon  each  day  and  Benediction  of 
the  Most  Blessed  Sacrament. 

In  the  case  of  Centres  of  the  League  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
wherever  the  semi-annual  Reception  of  Promoters  and  renewal  of 
their  Consecration  through  any  cause  has  been  deferred  beyond  the 
Feast  of  the  Sacred  Heart  on  the  5th  of  June,  the  present  Feast 
of  St.  Aloysius — which  this  year  falls  on  a  Sunday — might  very 
properly  be  taken  for  that  purpose  and  the  consecration  to  the 
Saint  added.  This  also  would  properly  be  preceded  by  a  Novena 
or  Triduum. 

4.     The  Celebration  and  Children's  Communion. 

The  Central  Director  of  the  League  is  anxious  to  make  this 
celebration  the  starting  point  of  an  important  work  for  Catholic 
children,  already  begun  in  other  countries  and  more  than  once 
specially  approved  and  urged  on  the  League  by  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff.  This  has  a  twofold  object : 

First,  the  public  and  solemn  Monthly  Communion  of  Children, 
beginning  from  the  time  of  their  First  Communion.  The  month 
of  June  is  very  commonly  taken  for  the  First  Communion  of 
children  in  our  American  dioceses ;  and  this  work,  so  urgently 
needed,  can  easily  be  started  in  connection  with  the  present  Feast. 


APPEAL.  311 

For  example,  the  Feast  may  be  taken  as  the  day  of  the  First  Com- 
munion of  the  children  and  of  the  solemn  renewal  of  their  First 
Communion  by  the  older  children,  to  be  followed  up  month  after 
month  by  Communion  in  a  body. 

Second,  the  introduction  into  schools  of  that  special  adapta- 
tion of  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer  which  is  variously  known  as  the 
Pope?s  Militia,  or  The  Apostleship  of  Study.  This  organizes  the 
children  into  a  special  branch  of  the  League  of  the  Sacred  Heart 
during  their  school-time,  without  in  any  way  interfering  with  the 
general  work  of  the  League  in  the  Parish. 

With  this  may  aptly  be  joined  the  application  of  the  devo- 
tions of  the  League  to  the  cause  of  Temperance,  as  propagated  by 
Father  Cullen  in  the  Irish  Messenger. 

For  the  convenience  of  the  Directors  of  the  League  and  of 
the  Reverend  clergy  and  religious  communities,  there  will  be 
issued  from  the  MESSENGER  Office,  before  the  1st  of  June,  a  small 
Manual  with  full  explanations  and  devotions  for  this  twofold 
work  of  the  League  among  children. 

5.     The  Pilgrimage  and  Album  of  Consecrations. 

A  great  Pilgrimage  has  been  organized  on  occasion  of  this 
Centenary  to  the  Saint's  tomb  in  Rome.  For  those  who  are 
unable  actually  to  join  this  Pilgrimage  for  the  21st  of  June, 
special  spiritual  favors  have  been  granted  by  the  Holy  Father,  on 
condition  that  they  unite  in  spirit  with  the  Pilgrims  and  place 
themselves  under  the  patronage  of  St.  Aloysius  ;  and  parents  may 
do  this  in  the  name  of  their  young  children. 

Moreover  a  special  Album  in  memory  of  the  Centenary  is  to 
be  deposited  in  the  tomb  of  the  Saint,  containing  the  names  of  the 
young  children  whose  parents  may  consecrate  them  under  his  pro- 
tection. Where  the  child  is  old  enough,  it  may  itself  make  its 
mark  and  even  sign  its  name,  though  the  parent  is  authorized  to 
do  this.  The  Leaflets  of  the  Consecration  and  Lists  for  the  Album 
may  be  had  on  application  at  the  MESSENGER  Office,  after  the  1st 
of  May. 

The  Fathers  charged  with  the  Celebration  of  the  Feast  at  the 


312  APPEAL. 

tomb  of  the  Saint  desire  to  take  this  occasion  for  renovating  the 
Altar  and  further  beautifying  the  church  which  derives  its  great- 
est glory  from  his  relics.  This  is  the  Church  of  the  former 
Roman  College,  in  which  St.  Aloysius  completed  his  sanctification 
and  died. 

At  the  MESSENGER  Office,  any  alms  for  this  purpose  will  be 
received  and  duly  acknowledged. 

6.     Indulgences  and  Privileges. 

The  Sacred  Congregation  of  Indulgences  has  promulgated  the 
following  privileges  in  favor  of  the  churches  or  chapels  celebrating 
the  Anniversary,  with  Indulgences  for  the  faithful : 

1°.  A  Plenary  Indulgence  for  the  Triduum  or  for  assisting 
five  times  at  the  No  vena,  to  be  gained  on  the  Feast  itself  or  any 
day  of  the  Triduum  or  Novena.  A  visit  to  the  church  or  chapel 
where  the  Feast  is  celebrated  is  required,  under  the  usual  con- 
ditions of  Confession  and  Communion  with  prayers  for  the  inten- 
tions of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff. 

2°.  To  those  making  the  Pilgrimage  and  to  children  who  as 
far  as  they  are  capable  place  themselves  under  the  protection  of 
St.  Aloysius,  and  to  their  parents  who  see  that  this  is  done,  an 
Indulgence  of  seven  years  and  seven  quarantines. 

All  these  Indulgences  are  applicable  to  the  souls  of  the  Faith- 
ful Departed. 

3°.  In  all  the  churches  of  the  world  which  celebrate  this 
Anniversary,  the  Mass  of  the  Saint  may  be  said  for  three  days 
beginning  on  the  Feast  itself. 

All  the  above  privileges  and  Indulgences  require  the  usual 
consent  of  the  Ordinary. 


The  Reverend  clergy,  and  Superiors  of  religious  communities 
and  schools,  or  others  who  desire  to  make  use  of  the  services  of  the 
MESSENGER  Office  for  the  due  celebration  of  the  Anniversary,  are 
requested  to  give  timely  notice  to  the  Head  Director. 

R.  S.  DEWEY,  S.  J. 
114  South  Third  Street,  Philadelphia. 


APOSTLESHIP  ft     OHHOrn    NOTICES 


RECENT  AGGREGATIONS. — To  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer, 
League  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  (February  12.  to  March 
12,  1891). 

(Name  of  diocese  in  italics,  before  parish  or  community  aggregated.) 

Baltimore,  Maryland :  Convent  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Mary 
(Sisters  of  St.  Dominic),  Washington. 

Boston,  Massachusetts :  St.  Patrick's  Church  and  St.  Patrick's 
Boys'  School  (Xaverian  Brothers),  Lowell. 

Brooklyn,  New  York :  St.  Joseph's  Institute  for  Deaf  Mutes, 
Brooklyn ;  St.  Mary's  Church,  Long  Island  City. 

Buffalo,  New  York :  St.  Gabriel's  Church,  Hammondsport ; 
St.  Mary's  Church,  Elmira. 

Chicago,  Illinois :  Convent  of  St.  Benedict  and  St.  Scholastica 
(Benedictine  Sisters),  Chicago. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio:  St.  Edward's  Church  and  St.  Francis 
Xavier's  Church,  Cincinnati. 

Cleveland,  Ohio :  St.  Ann's  Church,  Fremont. 

Columbus,  Ohio :  Holy  Name  Church,  Steubenville  ;  Immac- 
ulate Conception  Church,  Dennison. 

Concordia,  Kansas :  Our  Lady  of  Help  Cathedral,  Concordia. 

Davenport,  Iowa :  St.  Ambrose's  Church,  Des  Moines ; 
Mercy  Hospital  (Sisters  of  Mercy),  Davenport ;  St.  Joseph's  School 
(Sisters  of  the  Humility  of  Mary),  Fort  Madison. 

Detroit,  Michigan :  Holy  Trinity  Church,  Detroit. 

Erie,  Pennsylvania:  Convent  of  Mercy,  Crates. 

Fort  Wayne,  Indiana :  St.  Rose's  Academy,  Laporte. 

Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania :  St.  Joseph's  Church,  Danville. 

313 


314  APOSTLESHIP  NOTICES. 

Hartford,  Connecticut :  St.  Joseph's  Convent  (Sisters  of  St 
Joseph),  Windsor  Locks. 

La  Crosse,  Wisconsin:  St.  Louis'  Church,  Washburn. 

Leavenworth,  Kansas:  St.  Benedict's  Church,  Dentonville; 
St.  Brigid's  Church,  Kansas  City. 

Louisville,  Kentucky :  Sacred  Heart  Retreat,  Louisville ;  St. 
Agnes'  Academy  (Sisters  of  Mercy),  Preston  Park. 

Marquette,  Michigan :  St.  Ann's  Church,  Menominee. 

Nashville,  Tennessee :  St.  Cecilia's  Academy,  Nashville. 

Nesqually,  Washington:  St.  Mary's  Church,  Simcoe. 

New  Orleans,  Louisiana :  St.  Joseph's  Church,  Pontchatoula  ; 
St.  Helena's  Church,  Arnite  City. 

New  York,  New  York :  St.  Joseph's  Church,  Rhinecliff;  St. 
Paul's  Church,  Staatsburg  ;  Regina  Coeli  Church,  Hyde  Park. 

Ogdensburgh,  New  York :  St.  Patrick's  Church,  Port  Henry. 

Providence,  Rhode  Island:  Our  Lady  of  the  Isle  Church, 
Newport. 

Sioux  Falls,  South  Dakota:  St.  Aloysius'  Church,  Sturgis 
Falls. 

St.  Augustine,  Florida:  St.  Anthony's  Church  and  Holy  Name 
Academy  (Benedictine  Sisters),  San  Antonio. 

St.  Louis,  Missouri :  Immaculate  Conception  Church,  Macon 
City. 

St.  Paul,  Minnesota :  St.  Patrick's  Church,  St.  Paul ;  St. 
Peter's  Church,  Mendota. 

Springfield,  Massachusetts:  St.  Michael's  Cathedral,  Spring- 
field. 

Wheeling,  West  Virginia :  St.  Joseph's  Church,  St.  Joseph's. 

THE  SODALITY  OF  THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN. 

Diplomas  of  Affiliation,  received  from  the  Prima  Primaria, 
have  been  transmitted  to  the  following : 

Baltimore,  Maryland :  St.  Vincent's  Church,  Baltimore. 

Boston,  Massachusetts :  St.  Cecilia's  Church,  Boston. 

Brooklyn,  New  York :  St.  Francis  de  Sales'  Church,  Patchogue. 

Chicago,  Illinois  :  St.  Denis'  Church,  Lockport ;  St.  Joseph's 
Church,  Manteno ;  St.  Patrick's  Church  (4),  Amboy. 


APOSTLESHIP  NOTICES.  315 

Cincinnati,  Ohio :  St.  Patrick's  Church  (2),  Bellefontaine. 

Denver,  Colorado :  St.  Elizabeth's  Church,  Denver. 

Kansas  City,  Missouri :  St.  Vincent's  Church,  Sedalia. 

New  York,  New  York:  Nativity  Church,  Poughkeepsie ; 
St.  Nicholas'  Church  (3),  New  York. 

Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania  :  Holy  Cross  Church,  Mt.  Airy ; 
St.  Francis  de  Sales'  Industrial  School,  Eddington. 

Providence,  Rhode  Island  :  Convent  of  Jesus  and  Mary,  Fall 
River. 

Sacramento,  California :  St.  Mary's  Church,  Virginia  City. 

THE  BONA  MOBS  ASSOCIATION. 

Diplomas  have  been  sent  to  the  following  : 

Chicago,  Illinois :  Sacred  Heart  Church,  Chicago. 
Cleveland,  Ohio :  Assumption  Church,  Elyria. 
Galveston,  Texas :  Sacred  Heart  Church,  Galveston. 
Idaho,  Idaho :  St.  John  Evangelist's  Church,  Boise  City. 
Savannah,  Georgia :  Immaculate  Conception  Church,  Atlanta. 
St.  Augustine,  Florida:  St.  Louis'  Church,  Tampa. 
St.  Louis,  Missouri:  St.  Joseph's  Church,  Edina. 

THE  TREASURY  OF  THE  SACRED  HEART. 

Associates  can  gain  100  days'  Indulgence  for  each  action  offered  for  the 
Intentions  of  the  League. 

Offerings  for  the  Intentions  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  received  from  February  12  to 

March  12,  1891. 

No.  OF  TIMES.  No.  or  TIMES. 

1.  Acts  of  Charity  .            .  385,489  11.  Masses  Heard     ....  267,235 

2.  Beads 417,567  12.  Mortifications    ....  331,757 

3.  Stations  of  the  Cross     .  106,223  13.  Works  of  Charity      .    .  227,742 

4.  Holy  Communions    .    .  91,024  14.  Works  of  Zeal  ....  441,258 

5.  Spiritual  Communions  .  270,418  15.  Prayers 5,798,559 

6.  Examens  of  Conscience  63,490  16.  Charitable  Conversation  307,942 

7.  Hours  of  Labor  .    .    .    .  894,715  17.  Sufferings  or  Afflictions  103,357 

8.  Hours  of  Silence    .    .    .  572,565  18.  Self-Conquest     ....  139,369 

9.  Pious  Reading    ....  147,548  19.  Visits  to  B.  Sacrament  302,213 
10.  Masses  Celebrated     .    .  3,615  20.  Various  Good  Works   .  602,111 

Total 14,174,196 

The  above  returns  represent  four  hundred  and  twenty  Centres. 


ALLVDU  THAT  UBOUMND  ARE  BURDENED 


IN  THANKSGIVING   FOR  GRACES   OBTAINED. 

TOTAL  NUMBER  OF  THANKSGIVINGS  FOE  LAST  MONTH,  96,401. 

If  you  abide  in  Me,  and  My  Words  abide  in  you,  you  shall  ask  whatever  you  vnU 

and  it  shall  be  done  unto  you  (St.  John,  xv.  7). 

JOLIET,  ILL,.,  FEBRUARY  12. — We  have  recently  received 
an  extraordinary  favor  from  the  Sacred  Heart  in  the  cure  of  a  sick 
pupil.  The  pupil  referred  to  had  been  with  us  only  a  few  days 
when  typhoid  fever  declared  itself.  When  the  disease  reached  its 
crisis  and  we  had  lost  all  hopes  of  her  recovery,  we  thought  of 
having  recourse  to  the  Sacred  Heart  in  a  special  manner.  From 
that  day  she  grew  better  and  is  now  improving  rapidly,  so  that  she 
can  attend  school  within  a  short  time. 

,  IOWA,  FEBRUARY  12. — Thanks  to  the  loving  Heart  ot 

Jesus  for  the  selling  of  a  farm  that  could  not  be  sold  before. 

OMAHA,  NEB.,  FEBRUARY  12. — Thanks  for  the  conversion 
of  one  who  had  neglected  the  Sacraments  and  become  a  total 
wreck  from  drink.  He  is  now  seven  months  at  work  and  is  a 
consolation  to  all  his  relatives. 

ST.  Louis,  FEBRUARY  13. — Some  time  since  being  out  of 
employment  and  means,  with  a  wife  and  nine  children  depending 
on  me,  and  I  might  say,  absolute  want  staring  me  in  the  face,  I 
turned  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus.  Scarcely  had  I  finished  a 
novena  (I  think  the  day  after),  when  my  prayers  were  granted  in 
a  very  unexpected  manner. 


316 


IN    THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES   OBTAINED.  317 

ABBEVILLE,  S.  C.,  FEBRUARY  14. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  for  a  favor  granted  me. 

FORT  DUFFERIN,  ST.  JOHN,  N.  B.,  FEBRUARY  14. — My  two 
eldest  sons  had  for  some  time  been  desirous  of  entering  some 
religious  order,  but  had  no  means,  and  their  father  was  opposed 
to  any  such  idea.  They  were  becoming  discouraged,  when  we  had 
a  lamp  lit  before  the  Sacred  Heart  (in  the  Sacred  Heart  Convent 
here)  in  honor  of  Blessed  Margaret  Mary,  to  burn  for  thirty  days, 
beginning  on  the  25th  of  September  and  ending  October  25th 
— her  feast  day.  We  also  joined  in  the  no  vena  to  St.  Francis  of 
Assisi  beginning  the  25th  of  September  and  ending  October  4th. 
At  the  same  time  we  recommended  all  these  intentions  to  the 
prayers  of  the  Holy  League. 

On  the  25th  of  October,  the  last  of  the  thirty  days,  we 
received  a  letter  which  removed  all  doubt  as  to  what  order  my 
eldest  son  should  join.  On  the  29th  of  December  another  letter 
decided  the  same  doubt  for  my  second  son.  On  the  22d  of  January 
they  received  all  the  necessary  means  to  accomplish  their  desires, 
and  on  the  5th  of  February  they  were  each  in  the  religious 
house  where  they  believed  the  voice  of  God  called  them,  with 
the  full  consent  and  good  will  of  their  father,  who  accompanied 
each  to  his  destination. 

FLUSHING,  N.  Y.,  FEBRUARY    15. — A  Sister  of  St.   

returns  thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  restoration  to  health 
and  the  conversion  of  a  person,  who  for  the  past  three  months 
has  been  recommended  to  the  prayers  of  the  League.  Three 
families,  including  thirteen  persons,  influenced  by  the  example  ol 
the  above-mentioned  convert,  are  at  present  under  instruction. 

,  COL.,  FEBRUARY  16. — -I  wish  to  return  thanks  to  the 

Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  because  my  two  boys  have  made  their  First 
Communion  and  have  been  confirmed.  Also  for  an  event  passing  off 
quietly  in  my  family  that  I  dreaded  would  bring  disturbance,  but 
instead,  after  recommending  it  once  to  the  Sacred  Heart,  it  has 
turned  out  a  source  of  happiness.  Also  for  a  lawsuit  gained  and 
for  means  to  meet  pressing  engagements. 

CLEVELAND,  O.,  FEBRUARY  16. — Thanks  from  a  poor  young 


318  IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES  OBTAINED. 

man  and  a  poor  young  woman,  both  of  whom  attribute  their  situa- 
tions to  the  prayers  of  the  League.  Also,  a  very  poor  widow 
who  was  threatened  with  loss  of  sight  wishes  to  return  thanks  to 
the  Sacred  Heart  for  preserving  her  from  that  affliction. 

PITTSBURGH,  PA.,  FEBRUARY  16. — Special  thanks  are 
returned  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  unexpected  means  received 
for  the  fulfilment  of  a  religious  vocation  after  having  been 
recommended  for  two  years. 

FALL  RIVER,  MASS.,  FEBRUARY  16. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  of  Jesus  for  a  temporal  favor  obtained  five  days  after  it  was 
recommended  to  the  League,  and  the  day  after  I  promised  to  have 
it  published  in  the  MESSENGER. 

NEW  BRUNSWICK,  N.  J.,  FEBRUARY  18. — Sincere  thanks  to 
the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  recovery  of  my  mother  from  an  attack  of 
pneumonia.  The  case  was  considered  hopeless  by  the  doctors. 

BALTIMORE,  MD.,  FEBRUARY  18. — Thanksgiving  for  a 
gentleman's  conversion  whom  I  recommended  to  your  prayers, 
and  who  has  since  died  a  beautiful  death. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  FEBRUARY  18. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred 
Heart,  two  persons  who  were  at  variance  are  now  quite  reconciled. 

BARNES,  LA.,  FEBRUARY  19. — Please  return  thanks  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  for  a  situation  obtained  for  my  son,  recommended 
last  month. 

CHICAGO,  FEBRUARY  21. — Thanks  for  the  conversion  of  a 
very  great  sinner,  who  had  not  been  to  his  duty  for  years. 

NEW  YORK,  FEBRUARY  21. — I  had  been  out  of  employment 
for  some  time.  I  recommended  myself  to  the  prayers  of  the 
League,  and  before  three  days  I  got  employment. 

PROVIDENCE,  R.  I.,  FEBRUARY  22. — A  short  time  ago,  I 
promised  for  the  owners  of  an  unrented  store  that,  if  a  tenant 
could  be  found  very  soon,  I  would  acknowledge  the  favor  in  the 
MESSENGER.  Before  the  month  was  ended  the  store  was  let. 

FREDERICK,  MD.,  FEBRUARY  23. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  for  the  return  of  two  persons  to  the  Church,  both  recom- 
mended last  month  to  the  prayers  of  the  League.  One  was  in  a 
dying  condition. 


IN    THANKSGIVING   FOR   GRACES  OBTAINED.  319 

PLYMOUTH,  PA.,  FEBRUARY  23. — A  young  man  who  had 
not  been  heard  from  for  over  two  years  wrote  to  his  family  about 
two  weeks  ago.  The  other,  a  man  who  had  not  been  at  Mass  for 
several  years,  has  been  going  regularly  for  the  last  month. 

LOUISVILLE,  O.,  FEBEUARY  28. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  for  a  favor  granted  through  the  prayers  of  the  Holy  League. 

MT.  KOCK,  PA.,  FEBRUARY  28. — Thanks  to  the  dear  Sacred 
Heart  for  two  great  temporal  favors  received  during  the  month 
of  February,  and  for  many  spiritual  favors. 

TEENTON,  N.  J.,  FEBEUAEY  25. — I  wrote  a  letter  last 
March,  asking  the  prayers  of  the  League  for  the  recovery  of  my 
health,  so  that  I  might  be  able  to  do  a  little  work.  The  special 
grace  asked  for  was  not  received  right  away,  and  I  was  about  to 
abandon  hope  when  all  of  a  sudden  my  condition  took  a  change 
for  the  better.  On  the  eve  of  the  anniversary  of  my  first  letter, 
you  might  say,  I  am  enjoying  better  health  and  I  have  been  able  to 
work  a  few  days  a  week.  Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  hear- 
ing my  appeal. 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y.,  FEBEUARY  25. — Thanks  are  returned  to 
the  Sacred  Heart  for  a  person  who  was  miraculously  saved  from 
death  by  his  own  act.  He  had  been  the  object  of  special  prayer 
to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  nine  preceding  months.  Also  for  God's 
prolonged  mercy  toward  an  obstinate  sinner,  and  for  many  graces 
spiritual  and  temporal  repeatedly  bestowed  upon  a  wasteful 
Christian. 

LOUISVILLE,  KY.,  FEBRUARY  25. — Please  return  thanks  for 
the  recovery  of  a  priest  who  was  seriously  ill  with  pneumonia.  The 
lady  I  have  been  asking  the  League  prayers  for  is  almost  well. 

MOBILE,  ALA.,  FEBEUARY  26. — Many  thanks  are  returned 
to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  three  favors  granted.  One  was  the 
obtaining  of  a  situation  for  a  young  man ;  another  the  cure  of  an 
affliction  suffered  for  years  by  a  young  man,  and  the  almost  entire 
cure  from  headaches  suffered  by  an  uncle  for  years. 

CHICAGO,  ILL.,  FEBRUARY  28. — Our  little  girl  was  very 
sick  with  diphtheria  which  left  her  in  a  most  pitiful  condition. 
All  her  strength  was  gone,  the  muscles  of  her  throat  were 


32O  IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES  OBTAINED. 

paralyzed,  and  her  eyes  badly  crossed.  She  was  recommended  to 
the  prayers  of  the  Holy  League.  She  was  cured  !  Her  eyes  are  as 
straight  and  as  bright  as  ever. 

NEW  ALBANY,  IND.,  MAECH  2. — Thanks  to  the  dear 
Heart  of  Jesus  for  a  great  favor.  A  young  man  addicted  to  drink- 
ing asked  of  his  own  accord  for  the  pledge. 

SAGINAW,  MICH.,  MARCH  3. — Special  thanks  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  for  the  return  of  the  father  of  a  family  supposed  to  be  dead ; 
he  had  not  been  heard  from  during  six  months,  and  his  where- 
abouts could  not  be  discovered.  He  was  recommended  to  the 
prayers  of  the  Associates  about  a  month  ago. 

NEW  YORK,  MARCH  6. — A  priest  returns  thanks  for  the 
fulfilment  of  the  10th  Promise  an  instant  after  he  had  promised  to 
give  thanks  in  the  MESSENGER,  if  the  favor — a  real  miracle  of 
grace — were  granted. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  MARCH  6. — Some  months  ago  I  begged 
the  prayers  of  the  League  for  two  persons,  members  of  my  band, 
who  had  not  been  to  their  duties ;  one  for  sixteen  years  and  the 
other  for  forty-five  years.  Some  months  ago  one  went  to  Holy 
Communion  on  the  First  Friday,  and  this  morning  the  other  went 
on  the  First  Friday  also.  Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus. 

NEW  YORK,  MARCH  12. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of 
Jesus  and  to  His  Immaculate  Mother  for  the  conversion  of  a  man 
who  had  neglected  his  duties  for  years.  I  had  him  prayed  for  by 
the  Holy  League  for  several  months.  He  has  returned  to  his 
Church  and  made  his  confession  and  received  Holy  Communion. 

VARIOUS  CENTRES. — Thanks  for  the  return  to  his  religious 
duties  of  a  young  man.  Also  for  the  preservation  of  an  army 
officer  during  the  Indian  trouble,  and  his  recovery  from  severe 
illness  afterward. — For  the  return  of  a  man  to  his  religious  duties 
after  absenting  himself  for  fifty  years.  Also  for  a  great  spiritual 
favor. — For  the  recovery  of  my  little  nephew. — For  the  speedy 
recovery  of  a  six-year  old  daughter. — For  a  young  man  who  had 
strayed  away  from  his  wife  and  two  children  and  was  found  in  an 
almost  miraculous  manner. 


(Design  from  the  Roman  Studio  of  Gagliardi.) 


VOL.  YI  (xxvi). 


MAY,  1891. 

THE   NEW   MAY. 
'By  Maurice  Francis  Egan. 


No.  5 


HE  thrush  sings  to  the  sun,  and  so  my  heart 

In  this  dear  Maytime  sings  to  Thee,  O  God, — 
In  this  dear  Maytime  when  the  hawthorn  rod 
Springs  into  bloom  and  violets  upward  dart, 
And  raindrops  on  green  boughs  sigh  forth,  "Depart," 
As  Winter  lingers  where  the  sun  falls  not 
In  hedged  hollows ; — soon  will  every  spot 
Rejoice  as  May  awakes  with  joyous  start : 
The  thrush  sings  to  the  sun,  as  never  bird 

Sang  in  the  old  days  ere  Our  Dear  Lord  came ; 

The  flowers  bloom  as  no  flowers  ever  bloomed 
Before  the  Mother  of  th'  Incarnate  Word 

Smiled  on  the  lilies'  snow,  the  tulips'  flame, 

And  gave  Joy  to  our  race  no  longer  doomed. 


Copyright,  1891,  by  Rev.  R.  S.  Dewey,  S.  J.    All  rights  reserved.] 


321 


THE   PARIS   COMMUNE   OF.  1871. 

is  now  twenty  full  years  since  the  last  great  revolu- 
tionary attempt  in  Paris.  From  the  middle  of 
March  to  the  end  of  May  a  Communist  Government 
was  in  full  control  of  the  city's  life  and  activity. 
From  its  workings  we  can  learn  the  true  nature  of 
those  outbursts  which  profess  to  work  a  radical  change  in  the  con- 
stitution of  society.  In  this  case  the  interest  is  heightened  by  the 
ruins  left  behind,  while  to  the  Catholic  no  recent  heroes  of  the 
Faith  are  more  interesting  than  the  Martyrs  of  the  Commune  of 
1871. 

The  disastrous  war  with  Prussia  was  at  an  end.  After  a 
long  siege  Paris  had  been  taken  possession  of  by  the  German 
troops.  From  the  captivity  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  III.,  in 
September  of  the  previous  year,  the  Republic  had  been  proclaimed 
in  France  and  acknowledged  as  the  lawful  government.  With 
the  Republic  Prussia  had  signed  the  treaty  of  peace,  evacuating 
Paris  in  the  first  days  of  March.  The  national  government  had 
now  before  it  the  task  of  bringing  back  the  wonted  movement  and 
security  of  civil  life  among  the  French  people.  This  would  have 
been  easy,  had  it  not  been  for  a  new  enemy  which  had  grown  up 
in  some  of  the  great  cities,  notably  in  Paris  and  Lyons.  The 
necessities  of  the  siege  had  caused  the  arming  of  that  nondescript, 
unstable  and  excitable  population  of  the  lower  quarters  of  Paris, 
which  for  a  century  has  been  under  the  teaching  of  irreligion  and 
of  all  that  is  opposed  to  the  present  condition  of  society.  These 
were  the  so-called  National  Guards. 

They  had  not  distinguished  themselves  in  real  warfare. 
They  were  the  first  to  demand  guns,  and  loudly  boasted  that  the 
Prussians  would  flee  at  the  very  sight  of  the  armed  men  of  Paris. 
When  they  were  sent  to  the  outposts,  they  began  by  plundering 
the  nearest  church.  The  company  of  Belleville  was  ordered  to 
the  front ;  but,  with  all  their  copious  libations  on  the  way,  courage 

322 


THE  PARIS   COMMUNE  OF  1871.  323 

did  not  come  to  them  and  during  the  night  a  single  rifle  shot, 
coming  by  mistake  from  a  drunken  man  of  their  own  party,  sent 
them  all  home  again  in  a  panic.  When  the  siege  was  over, 
naturally  enough  their  courage  was  renewed  and  their  patriotism 
knew  no  bounds.  Especially  they  were  filled  with  contempt  "  for 
the  cowardly  government  which  had  dared  to  treat  with  the 
enemy  rather  than  to  find  its  tomb  under  the  ruins  of  Paris." 

Such  men  were  sure  to  find  a  grievance.  More  than  this,  it 
was  known  that  behind  them  there  was  a  directing  committee  of 
the  Internationale — a  great  secret  society  which,  in  those  troublous 
years,  gathered  into  one  the  revolutionary  designs  of  Continental 
Freemasonry.  The  evacuation  of  the  city  gave  the  signal  for  a 
disturbance  sure  to  come  sooner  or  later. 

"  We  do  not  wish,"  said  these  representatives  of  the  people 
of  Paris,  "that  the  cannon  which  we — the  National  Guard — have 
so  dearly  paid  for  should  go  into  the  hands  of  the  Prussians." 

Thereupon  men  and  women  and  children  harnessed  them- 
selves to  the  pieces  of  artillery  gathered  together  in  different  parts 
of  the  city,  and  dragged  them  with  hymns  of  triumph  up  to  the 
heights  of  Montmartre.  There  they  hastily  dug  trenches  and 
pointed  the  deadly  mitrailleuse  toward  every  street  leading  to  their 
improvised  fortress.  Sentinels  were  posted ;  and  song  and  wine 
consoled  the  grief  of  those  who  had  been  unable  to  deliver  their 
country  from  the  foreigner  at  the  price  of  their  blood.  Blood, 
however,  they  were  sure  to  have,  provided  only  it  were  not  their 
own. 

Paris  soon  awoke  to  the  gravity  of  the  new  danger  which 
had  arisen.  Against  three  hundred  thousand  armed  men  the  law- 
ful Government  had  but  ten  thousand  soldiers  on  whom  it  could 
rely.  In  a  few  days  the  Government  was  obliged  to  retire  from 
the  city  to  Versailles.  Two  of  the  principal  Generals  of  the 
army,  who  were  unfortunate  enough  to  meet  with  a  body  of  the 
insurgents,  were  shot  down  after  a  mockery  of  trial.  With  these 
two  assassinations,  on  the  18th  of  March,  was  properly  inaugurated 
that  government  of  Paris,  which  professed  to  reform  society  and 
by  its  example  revolutionize  the  world. 


324  THE  P4RIS   COMMUNE  OF  1871. 

So  far  the  Commune  was  ruled  by  a  few  agitators  who  had 
calmly  formed  themselves  into  a  "  Central  Committee  of  the 
National  Guards." 

The  spirit  of  their  reforming  Communism  may  be  gathered 
from  the  deposition  of  Admiral  Saisset  before  a  later  Commission 
of  Inquiry  concerning  this  same  18th  of  March. 

The  door  suddenly  opened  and  a  man  appeared  and  threw  on 
the  table  a  bundle  of  bank  notes,  saying,  "  I  will  have  nothing 
more  to  do  with  it.  Let  them  leave  me  alone.  They  are  nothing 
but  assassins  !" — "  Who  are  you,"  I  asked. — "  I  am  Lebreton,  the 
Intendant  General  of  the  Commune."  He  went  on :  "  It  is 
horrible.  I  went  to  dine  yesterday  with  Assi  [one  of  the  chief 
agitators  and  a  member  of  the  Central  Committee  of  the  National 
Guards]  ;  they  were  shooting  people  down,  and  killed  twelve 
before  my  eyes.  .  .  .  At  the  end  of  the  dinner  Assi  said  to 
me  : — '  You  know  an  Intendant  has  always  money  ?' — '  No,  I 
have  none.' — '  You  are  an  Intendant  General ;  you  must  have 
even  more  money  than  an  ordinary  Intendant.  You  must  give 
me  300,000  francs,  for  the  time  is  come  and  I  have  to  get  off  into 
Belgium.  If  you  don't  give  them  to  me,  I  will  kill  you.'  .  .  , 
A  moment  later  six  Garibaldians  [soldiers  of  Garibaldi's  corps  in 
the  late  war]  armed  with  rifles  drew  up  in  a  line  behind  me.  One 
of  them,  whose  wife  was  sick  and  to  whom  I  had  sent  some  money, 
said  to  me — '  We  have  orders  to  execute  you,  if  you  don't  give 
money  to  Assi !'  r' 

The  frightened  Intendant  made  haste  to  assure  them  that  he 
would  get  the  money,  and  on  this  pretence  succeeded  in  escaping 
to  the  Admiral's  office  where  he  told  his  story,  which  is  still  full 
of  meaning. 

General  elections  were  now  ordered  and  took  place  on  the 
26th  of  March.  Needless  to  say,  the  Citizen  Delegates  of  the 
Commune  were  all  of  the  same  color.  The  inhabitants  of  Paris 
who  were  willing  to  take  part  in  this  mockery  of  an  election  had 
been  lured  on  and  deceived  by  the  most  extravagant  appeals. 
One  of  the  leaders  addressed  them  in  these  words : 

What  a  day !  This  warm  bright  sun  which  gilds  the 
cannon's  mouth,  this  fragrance  of  the  flowers,  this  trembling  of 
our  banners  in  the  breeze,  the  murmur  of  this  Revolution  which 


326  THE  PARIS  COMMUNE   OF  1871. 

flows  on  tranquil  and  beautiful  as  the  azure-tinted  river ;  all  this 
leaping  for  joy,  these  bonfires,  the  trumpet's  blare,  these  glisten- 
ing cannon,  the  blaze  of  hope,  this  perfume  of  honor — is  it  not 
enough  to  make  drunk  with  pride  and  joy  the  victorious  army  of 
the  He  publicans?  O  great  Paris  ! 

Whatever  happens,  even  should  we  be  vanquished  once  again 
and  die  to-morrow,  our  generation  has  been  consoled  !  We  are 
paid  for  twenty  years  of  defeat  and  anguish. 

And  thou,  little  one,  playing  with  the  cannon-balls  behind 
this  barricade,  come  to  my  embrace  ! 

The  18th  of  March  has  indeed  saved  thee,  young  boy  !  Like 
us  you  might  have  grown  up  in  the  fog,  and  wallowed  in  the 
mud  and  rolled  in  blood,  heart-broken  with  hunger  and  shame, 
with  the  unutterable  grief  of  those  who  are  dishonored ! 

It  is  finished ! 

We  have  bled  and  wept  for  thee.  Thou  shalt  reap  our 
inheritance.  Son  of  those  who  despaired,  thou  shalt  be  a  free  man  ! 

It  is  significant  of  the  cruel  imposition  practised  on  the 
people  whom  the  Commune  professed  to  deliver  in  the  name  of 
patriotism,  that  Assi,  who  had  now  become  President  of  the  Sub- 
central  Committee  and  Governor  of  the  H6tel-de-Ville,  rode 
through  the  streets  with  an  almost  royal  cavalcade,  loudly  speak- 
ing his  native  Italian  !  With  the  aid  of  such  men  the  French 
people  were  to  be  saved.  One  of  the  first  public  pronouncements 
of  the  Commune  was  to  declare  that  society  had  but  one  duty 
toward  princes — death  !  An  English  correspondent  wrote  :  "All 
the  rascals  of  Paris  are  under  arms.  I  never  saw  such  a  collec- 
tion of  sinister  faces.  These  men  appear  to  be  always  more  or 
less  drunk;  perhaps  they  have  been  nothing  else  since  the  18th 
of  March." 

On  the  2d  of  April  the  battalions  of  the  National  Guard 
marched  bravely  out  of  Paris,  to  attack  the  troops  of  the  lawful 
Government  in  Versailles.  A  surgeon-major,  sent  forward  by 
the  regular  troops  for  a  parley,  was  received  by  the  men  of  the 
Commune  with  a  fusillade.  He  fell  mortally  wounded.  The 
regular  troops  were  aroused  by  this,  and  opened  so  heavy  a  fire 
on  the  insurgents  that  their  bravery  quite  evaporated.  The  men 
and  officers  of  the  new  Commune  speedily  regained  their  beloved 
Paris  in  confusion. 


THE  PARIS  COMMUNE  OF  i8ji.  327 

Proclamations,  placarded  on  the  dead  walls  of  Paris  the 
next  day,  show  whither  the  spirit  of  the  Commune  was  tending 
from  the  first.  The  attempt  to  fasten  on  the  Catholic  clergy  the 
responsibility  of  every  resistance  made  to  the  new  order  of  things 
is  plainly  apparent.  The  first  proclamation  declared  that  an 
attack  had  been  made  on  the  National  Guard  of  Paris  by  the 
Royalist  conspirators  "along  with  the  Pontifical  Zouaves." 
A  second  proclamation  showed  still  less  equivocally  the  object  of 
these  accusations. 

The  Commune  of  Paris, 

Considering  that  the  first  principle  of  the  French  Republic 
is  Liberty; 

Considering  that  liberty  of  conscience  is  the  first  of  liberties ; 

Considering  that  the  Budget  of  Worship  is  contrary  to  this 
principle,  since  it  is  an  imposition  on  citizens  against  their  own 
faith ; 

Considering  that,  in  point  of  fact,  the  clergy  has  been  the 
accomplice  of  the  crimes  of  the  Monarchy  against  Liberty, 

Be  It  Decread  :  » 

Article  I. — The  Church  is  separated  from  the  State. 

Article  If. — The  Budget  of  Worship  is  suppressed. 

Article  III. — Goods  said  to  be  held  in  mortmain,  belonging 
to  religious  congregations,  movable  and  immovable,  are  declared 
to  be  National  property. 

Article  IV. — Inquisition  shall  be  made  immediately  as  to 
these  goods,  to  determine  their  nature  and  to  place  them  at  the 
disposition  of  the  nation. 

The  Commune  of  Paris. 

One  of  the  more  violent  of  the  Communist  organs  justified 
this  measure  in  the  following  terms  : 

Papists  and  other  nurslings  of  the  priests  have  been  the  first 
in  the  attack  on  Paris. 

Paris  answers  them  by  taking  from  them  the  goods  seques- 
trated by  priests  and  by  suppressing  the  Budget  of  Worship. 

A  documentary  curiosity  of  these  few  days  is  a  permit 
delivered  to  the  chaplain  of  the  jail  where  one  of  the  wounded  had 
demanded  his  ministry. 


FATHER  ALEXIS  CLERC, 
JESUIT  MARTYR  OF  THE  COMMUNE, 

24  May,  1871. 


THE  PARIS  COMMUNE  OF  1871.  329 

Pass  Citizen  X who  calls  himself  the  servant  of  a  party 

named  God  ! 

On  the  3d  of  April  there  was  more  fighting  in  the  outskirts 
of  the  city.  Twenty  thousand  of  these  brave  National  Guards 
were  again  stricken  with  panic  and  saved  themselves  in  hot  haste 
within  the  city.  Great  services  were  rendered  them  during  these 
days  by  the  ambulance-hospital  which  had  been  set  up  by  the 
Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools.  We  shall  see  later  on  how  the 
modest  devotedness  of  the  Brothers  was  recompensed. 

The  ninety  members  of  the  Commune  soon  saw  that  new 
measures  were  necessary.  Henceforward  the  Commune  was 
turned  into  a  veritable  Reign  of  Terror.  On  the  4th  of  April  the 
organ  of  the  Commune  demanded  the  application  of  the  lex 
talionis. 

An  eye  for  an  eye,  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth. 

The  Gates  of  Paris  are  closed. 

No  one  can  leave  the  city. 

We  have  hostages  in  our  hands  ! 

These  significant  threats  were  put  in  execution  that  very  day. 
The  Archbishop  of  Paris  with  his  Secretary  and  a  Vicar-General 
were  arrested,  and  with  the  Parish  Priest  of  the  Madeleine  and 
several  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  swept  off  to  prison.  The  houses  of 
the  Jesuits,  of  the  Missionaries  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  of  the 
Dominican  Fathers  were  sacked  and  pillaged.  The  next  day  the 
house  of  the  Lazarists  received  a  visit,  and  a  second  house  of  the 
Jesuit  Fathers  was  searched  from  garret  to  cellar  and  the  Superior 
and  another  Father  taken  to  prison.  The  Superior  was  Father 
Olivaint,  who  stands  out  as  one  of  the  most  notable  figures  of  this 
dreary  time.  From  the  notes  of  his  spiritual  life  which  were 
found  after  he  had  been  martyred  and  peace  restored,  we  have 
learned  to  know  his  saintliness.  He  at  once  began  in  the  prison 
the  exercises  of  "  retreat,"  and  continued  them  for  the  forty  days 
and  more  until  the  end  came. 

Meanwhile  things  went  on  from  bad  to  worse.  The  National 
Guards  of  the  Commune,  as  they  called  themselves,  were  driven 


33O  THE  PARIS  COMMUNE  OF  1871. 

back  toward  Paris  by  the  constantly  advancing  forces  of  the  law- 
ful Government  at  Versailles.  In  the  little  suburb  of  Neuilly  the 
Fathers  of  the  Holy  Cross  had  an  establishment,  of  education.  It 
was  between  two  fires,  and  one  day  a  shell  passed  the  whole  length 
of  the  students'  wardrobe,  carrying  even  into  the  yard  shreds  of 
linen  with  the  fragments  of  the  exploded  bomb.  Day  by  day  the 
wretchedness  grew  greater,  and  the  Commune,  goaded  to  fury, 
increased  the  rigors  of  the  Terror.  All  provisions  and  resources 
on  which  they  could  lay  their  hands  were  seized,  and  it  was  a 
crime  that  each  able-bodied  man  should  not  give  his  services  to  the 
Commune. 

Hitherto  the  churches  had  remained  open,  but  it  was  now 
time  to  finish  with  superstition  and  recall  other  principles  "  of  a 
higher  order,"  which  might  serve  to  strengthen  the  failing  cause 
among  the  populace.  The  notorious  Henri  Rochefort,  in  his  lurid 
journal,  drew  the  attention  of  the  Central  Committee  to  the 
churches.  There  is  a  mocking  air  about  his  words  which  makes 
them  worth  quoting.  He  began  by  speaking  of  the  bells  and  the 
treasures  of  sacred  vessels  existing  in  the  different  sacristies. 

Bells  constitute  an  exterior  manifestation  of  Catholic  worship, 
and  by  the  terms  of  the  Concordat  this  kind  of  manifestation  is 
absolutely  forbidden.  .  .  .  Our  eternal  belief  shall  be  that, 
since  Jesus  Christ  was  born  in  a  stable,  the  only  treasure  the 
Church  of  Notre  Dame  ought  to  possess  is  a  bundle  of  straw. 

It  is  also  worth  noting  that,  at  a  time  when  this  violence  of 
language  was  drawing  a  considerable  revenue  to  its  author,  his 
father  was  dying  in  extreme  poverty,  aided  only  by  the  priests 
whom  the  son  was  reviling. 

At  Montmartre  the  church  was  closed,  the  priest  taken  to 
prison,  and  the  following  curious  placard  posted  on  the  church 
door : 

Seeing  that  priests  are  bandits,  and  the  churches  are  their 
haunts  where  they  have  morally  assassinated  the  masses 
the  Civil  Delegate  at  the  former  Prefecture  of  Police  ordains  that 
the  Church  of  St.  Peter  be  closed,  and  decrees  the  arrests  of  the 
priests  and  of  the  Brothers  ignorantins. 


FATHER    DUCOUDRAY, 

JESUIT  MARTYR  OP  THE  COMMUNE, 

24  May,  1871. 


332  THE  PARIS  COMMUNE  OF  i87i. 

At  another  church,  where  a  great  concourse  of  the  faithful 
were  assisting  at  the  High  Mass,  two  delegates  entered,  hat  on 
head,  and  escorted  the  astonished  people  from  the  church,  women 
first  and  men  afterwards.  Then  with  their  attendant  soldiers  they 
proceeded  to  a  thorough  search  and  confiscation.  During  this 
time  a  funeral  approached,  but  it  was  met  at  the  door  by  an  officer, 
who  gave  these  plain  directions  : 

Take  your  dead  man  straight  to  the  cemetery.  It's  the  best 
thing  you  can  do.  What's  the  use  of  passing  in  through  this 
house,  which  is  only  a  haunt  of  the  calotins  [a  name  of  contempt 
given  to  priests]. 

In  some  churches  everything  was  pillaged,  from  the  works  of 
art  in  the  sacred  building  itself  to  the  linen  and  pictures  and  other 
objects  of  the  adjoining  house,  even  to  the  rabbits  and  poultry  of 
the  sacristan. 

A  number  of  priests  were  arrested  and  brought  to  the  Pre- 
fecture of  Police.  Meanwhile  a  vigorous  hunt  was  kept  up  for 
the  former  policemen  of  the  city,  with  whom  these  Communists 
had  long  since  made  unfavorable  acquaintance. 

On  the  5th  of  April  a  still  more  telling  attack  was  made  by 
the  troops  of  Versailles.  The  Communists  were  obliged  to  fall 
back  within  the  walls  of  the  city,  and  again  they  turned  for 
revenge  on  the  Church  and  clergy. 

It  was  Holy  Week  and  the  solemn  services  were  going  on  in 
the  great  Parish  Church  of  St.  Sulpice.  A  detachment  of  the 
National  Guards  came  in  with  a  noisy  rattling  of  arms,  to  the  great 
consternation  of  the  faithful  who  filled  the  church.  They  had  an 
order  for  arresting  the  Superior  of  the  adjoining  Seminary.  He 
was  not  in  the  church,  but  the  Guards  insisted  on  finding  him  and 
commenced  to  threaten  the  priest  who  was  officiating.  At  this 
men,  women,  and  children  rose  up  together  in  the  church  to  pro- 
tect their  pastor,  crying  :  "  You  shall  not  have  our  priests.  You 
shall  kill  us  first !"  Two  of  the  National  Guards  were  so 
impressed  that  they  threw  down  their  arms  and  retired,  declaring 
that  they  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  so  infamous  an  affair. 


THE  PARIS  COMMUNE  OF  1871.  333 

The  others  were  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  the  priests  to  protect 
them  from  the  indignation  of  the  crowd.  This  did  not  hindei 
them  from  forcing  their  way  immediately  after  into  the  Seminary 
and  leading  away  to  prison  the  venerable  Superior. 

The  Commune  had  naturally  a  crying  need  of  money.  They 
everywhere  seized  supplies  of  provisions  and  extorted  several 
millions  from  the  banks ;  but  their  treasury  soon  became  empty. 
Then  they  began  an  official  visit  of  the  religious  communities, 
demanding  whatever  funds  they  might  have  on  hand  for  their  own 
expenses.  One  of  the  first  to  receive  the  visit  was  the  house  of 
the  Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor.  The  high-minded  Communists 
were  astonished  at  the  scanty  purse  of  the  Mother  Superior,  and 
insisted  on  searching  everywhere.  The  decrepit  old  men  who  were 
cared  for  by  these  Sisters  broke  out  into  the  most  violent  expres- 
sions of  indignation.  Even  the  Captain  of  the  Delegates  of  the 
Commune  felt  himself  affected  and  withdrew  in  confusion. 


"  I  did  not  know  what  the  Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor  are," 
he  said. 


Doubtless  many  more  of  the  misled  people  of  Paris  were  in 
the  same  condition. 

The  tendency  of  the  Commune  was  plain.  At  the  head  of 
affairs  were  some  eighty  men  who  had  succeeded  in  duping  the 
lowest  classes  of  the  people  to  their  own  advantage.  But  in  the 
midst  of  their  debauches  and  declamations  they  could  not  help 
seeing  that  their  lease  of  power  would  be  short.  They  had  sown 
the  wind  and  they  were  sure  to  reap  the  whirlwind.  All  that 
remained  for  them  was  to  hold  fast  to  their  position  as  long  as 
they  could ;  and  to  do  this  it  was  necessary  to  keep  some  live  issue 
constantly  before  the  populace.  The  question  nearest  to  hand  was 
this  of  the  Church  and  the  clergy,  whose  religion  was  distasteful 
to  men  living  without  religion,  whose  Ten  Commandments  were 
brrdensome  to  men  that  desired  to  be  without  restraint,  and  who 
were  popularly  supposed  to  be  rich  and  given  over  to  the  interests 
of  the  rich.  All  these  causes  of  irritation  against  the  clergy  were 


o    . 


THE  PARIS  COMMUNE  OF  i8ji.  335 

skilfully  exaggerated  and  kept  constantly  before  the  people  by  the 
government  of  the  Commune. 

It  is  instructive  to  note  the  antecedents  of  the  governors  of 
Paris  during  these  days.  There  were  12  journalists,  4  primary- 
school  teachers,  4  lawyers,  3  doctors,  2  druggists,  5  painters,  2 
architects,  2  engineers,  6  clerks,  1  sculptor,  2  small  shop-keepers, 
1  jeweller,  1  carver,  1  printer,  2  book-binders,  2  dyers,  6  shoe- 
makers, 1  hatter,  5  mechanics,  1  boiler-maker,  1  basket-maker,  1 
joiner,  1  cashier,  1  perfumer,  3  who  were  called  owners  of  real 
estate,  and  9  without  any  profession — perhaps  because  they  had 
had  too  many  in  the  past.  It  was  a  sufficiently  curious  make-up 
for  the  government  of  a  great  city  claiming  to  be  the  centre  of 
the  world's  civilization.  It  was  not  claimed  for  any  one  of  them 
that  he  had  had  the  least  experience  in  practical  government. 

As  the  fortunes  of  the  Commune  became  precarious,  the 
persecution  of  priests  and  religious  grew  in  force.  At  a  principal 
church,  much  frequented  by  the  market-women,  the  priest  was 
arrested  just  in  time  to  prevent  his  celebrating  the  solemn  feast 
of  Easter  with  his  people.  The  good  women  of  his  parish  rose 
in  a  body  and  marched  to  the  headquarters  of  the  Government, 
declaring — "  We  must  have  our  Cur6  for  to-morrow  in  our  own 
church."  The  Commune  for  once  was  abashed,  and  the  good 
priest  celebrated  the  feast  of  the  Resurrection  in  the  midst  of  his 
people. 

On  the  16th  of  April  the  Commune  declared  that  it  had 
documents  in  hand  proving  that  the  Christian  Brothers  were 
Prussian  spies.  Until  then  everyone  had  thought  that  the 
Brothers,  who  had  been  charged  with  ambulances  in  the  fiercest 
battles  of  the  late  war,  had  devoted  themselves  at  the  risk  of 
their  lives  to  the  cause  of  their  country.  But  the  Commune 
proceeded  to  their  central  house,  arrested  the  Superior,  plundered 
whatever  could  be  found,  taking  the  very  sacred  vessels  from  the 
altar  and  expressing  great  indignation  at  finding  so  little.  Other 
Brothers  were  afterwards  arrested,  and  held  to  the  end  in  a  painful 
and  ignominious  captivity  among  common  criminals ;  and  one  at 
least  lost  his  life.  Since  the  preceding  month  of  August  these 


336  THE  PARIS   COMMUNE  OF  1871. 

Brothers  had  admitted  to  their  Hospital  and  cared  unweariedly 
for  1300  men,  of  whom  over  1000  were  sick  and  wounded. 

Meanwhile  the  army  of  Versailles  was  slowly  driving  back 
the  Commune  into  the  city,  which  was  now  subjected  to  the 
horrors  of  another  siege.  The  Commune  openly  declared  its 
programme,  which  was  nothing  else  than  to  "  universalize  prop- 
erty " — in  other  words,  universal  confiscation,  for  the  benefit  of 
those  who  happened  to  be  at  the  head  of  affairs.  They  defended 
the  melting  up  of  the  sacred  vessels  which  had  been  found  in  the 
churches. 

Made  into  silver  and  gold  coin  and  cast  into  circulation, 
they  will  be  much  more  useful  to  labor  and  to  business.  .  .  . 
the  right  of  transforming  these  things,  which  belong  to  it  for  the 
great  interest  of  all,  cannot  be  denied  to  Paris. 

With  their  waning  fortunes  their  grandiose  pretentious  only 
increased.  On  the  19th  of  April  the  Commune  of  Paris  declared 
that  it  had  "  the  mission  of  carrying  out  the  modern  revolution — 
the  greatest  and  most  fruitful  of  all  revolutions  which  have 
lighted  up  the  page  of  history." 

The  Communal  Revolution,  inaugurated  by  the  people  on 
the  18th  of  March,  opens  a  new  era  of  experimental,  positive,  and 
scientific  politics.  It  is  the  end  of  the  old  world,  governmental 
and  clerical,  the  end  of  militarism  and  the  system  of  public 
functionaries,  of  the  exploitation  of  the  people  and  of  serfage,  of 
the  monopolies  and  privileges  to  which  the  common  people  owe 
their  slavery  and  our  country  its  misfortunes  and  disasters. 

During  all  this  time  the  Commune  was  carefully  keeping 
from  the  people  the  defeats  daily  met  with  by  their  soldiers  in  the 
forts  around  Paris. 

A  curious  episode  of  these  days  was  an  appeal  to  the  Com- 
mune on  the  part  of  the  Freemasons,  asking  that  further  blood- 
shed might  be  avoided.  The  popular  demonstration  on  the 
occasion,  the  cries  of  the  Masonic  delegates,  their  speeches  and 
the  banners  given  and  received,  seem  to  show  a  full  and  working 
sympathy  between  the  great  secret  society  and  the  principles  of 


5   en 


338  THE  PARIS   COMMUNE   OF  1871. 

the  Commune.  Naturally  enough,  the  Masonic  heads  may  have 
disgusted  the  singular  leaders  of  the  present  movement  with  their 
philosophic  pretensions. 

At  the  end  of  April  all  the  schools  of  the  Christian  Brothers 
were  transformed  into  irreligious  schools  taught  by  lay  masters ; 
the  crucifix  was  taken  from  the  walls  and  instead  of  the  opening 
prayer  the  Marseillaise  was  sung.  The  children  were  not  in 
sympathy  with  this  movement,  and  in  several  schools  there  were 
disorders  serious  enough  to  demand  the  presence  of  the  National 
Guards.  In  one  place  the  scholars  hastily  left  the  room,  shouting 
to  the  disconcerted  master  as  they  ran,  "  Down  with  the  Com- 
mune !"  Meanwhile  the  Brothers  were  kept  under  guard  in 
their  house,  and  some  of  their  number  who  were  in  charge  of  an 
Orphanage  in  the  suburbs  were  brought  to  a  prison  in  the  city. 

At  the  same  time  the  schools  kept  by  the  Sisters  of  Charity 
were  closed  by  order  of  the  Commune,  to  the  great  dissatisfaction 
of  many  a  poor  mother.  The  new  school-mistress  in  one  of  these 
establishments  began  her  instruction  with  the  words :  "  Children, 
there  is  no  longer  any  God ;  there  are  no  more  prayers ;  let's  sing 
the  •  Marseillaise !"  It  was  well  known  that  in  many  of  the 
classes  the  women  appointed  by  the  Commune  to  replace  the 
Sisters  had  been  taken  from  one  of  the  public  prisons. 

All  this  was  not  calculated  to  reassure  even  the  most  ignorant 
of  the  populace ;  and  the  Commune  found  it  necessary  to  increase 
its  rigors  against  all  that  was  Christian  and  to  defame  more  and 
more  the  good  name  of  priests  and  religious. 

The  house  of  the  Capuchins  was  sacked.  A  neighboring 
Hospital  was  invaded,  and  the  Mother  Superior  was  summoned 
to  call  down  the  whole  community,  even  to  the  sick  patients  in  the 
wards.  She  was  a  venerable  Sister  known  in  the  whole  quarter 
as  the  "  Good  Mother."  She  answered  bravely  :  "  It  is  impossi- 
ble that  all  those  in  the  house  should  come  down  into  the  court- 
yard. I  have  here  sick  patients  who  cannot  leave  their  beds 
without  danger  to  their  lives.  As  for  ourselves,  we  shall  neither 
jump  through  the  windows  nor  go  out  by  the  roof;  the  door  is 
wide  enough  for  us.  If  I  am  deceiving  you,  you  may  take  my 
head  and  carry  it  to  the  Commune." 


THE  PARIS   COMMUNE   OF   1871.  339 

These  calm  words  made  some  impression  on  the  Captain  of 
the  inspecting  squad  and  he  contented  himself  with  visiting  the 
house.  With  a  light  degree  of  malice,  the  Mother  Superior 
insisted  on  their  searching  every  part  of  the  house  and  painfully 
opened  for  them  every  corner  and  cupboard.  The  inspection 
lasted  for  six  hours.  When  it  was  over,  she  spoke  boldly  to  the 
thoroughly  wearied  men,  who  were  now  somewhat  ashamed  of 
themselves.  Even  the  Captain  gratefully  accepted  for  himself  a 
pious  medal,  and  said  words  which  showed  how  painfully  con- 
scious these  poor  creatures  of  the  Commune  secretly  were  of  the 
probable  outcome  of  their  hopeless  attempt :  "  Perhaps  I  shall  be 
sent  to  Cayenne  [the  place  of  transportation  for  French  criminals]  ; 
if  this  is  to  be  my  fate  I  recommend  to  you,  Reverend  Mother,  my 
wife  and  my  children." 

The  Mother  took  advantage  of  his  good  dispositions  to 
smuggle  into  the  prison  where  the  Archbishop  was  detained  a 
supply  of  linen  and  other  necessaries.  Taking  courage  from  this 
first  success,  she  spoke  with  equal  boldness  to  the' Commandant  of 
the  District  who,  on  the  report  of  his  Captain,  came  to  thank  her 
for  the  kind  attentions  she  had  shown  to  the  soldiers  who  were 
occupying  the  neighboring  house  of  the  Capuchins.  She  gained  a 
like  influence  over  him,  and  was  able  to  send  out  of  Paris  through 
his  means  five  Capuchin  Fathers  and  forty-six  ecclesiastics.  It  is 
impossible  to  say  how  many  priests  she  was  thus  the  means  of 
saving  from  the  horrible  massacre  which  was  now  slowly  but 
surely  preparing. 

On  the  1st  of  May  the  Commune  publicly  acknowledged 
that  it  was  no  longer  competent  for  the  direction  of  public  affairs. 
Accordingly  it  constituted  a  Committee  of  Public  Safety  composed 
of  five  members.  The  one  who  proposed  this  change  openly 
declared  that  the  Commune  was  henceforth  obliged  to  take  every 
means  necessary  for  maintaining  its  authority,  and  that  it  would 
not  shrink  even  before  the  necessity  of  cutting  off  heads.  The 
doughty  member  who  proposed  this  was  an  ex-druggist ;  and, 
gloomy  as  the  times  were,  one  of  the  newspapers  could  not  help 
remarking  that  this  proposal  no  longer  concerned  pharmacy  but 
was  downright  surgery. 


34O  THE  PARIS   COMMUNE   OF   1871. 

The  churches  were  now  transformed  into  popular  clubs. 
Not  the  men  alone,  but  the  women  as  well,  were  seen  to  mount 
into  the  pulpit  and  give  forth  their  ribald  discourse.  The  vener- 
ated Church  of  Our  Lady  of  Victories  was  despoiled  and  the 
priests  arrested.  All  the  rich  offerings  of  piety  were  seized  by  the 
first  comers.  A  canteen-woman  the  next  day  offered  for  sale  a 
cross,  adorned  with  precious  stones,  which  had  fallen  to  her  share. 
Other  women  of  the  same  class,  along  with  their  male  companions, 
clothed  themselves  with  the  priestly  vestments  and  went  through 
a  horrible  mockery  of  religious  ceremonies  at  the  very  altar.  It 
was  plain  into  what  hands  this  Communal  Revolution  which  was 
to  "  inaugurate  a  new  era  "  had  fallen. 

Of  this  whole  period  a  responsible  writer  says  : 

The  papers  of  the  Commune  give  the  clearest  proof  of  a 
terrible  truth  which  many  right-thinking  people  do  not  even 
dream  of.  They  have  the  simplicity  to  imagine  that  circumstances 
alone  may  make,  men  guilty.  When  we  speak  of  the  Commune, 
we  understand  those  members  of  the  Government  which  had  its 
seat  at  the  H6tel-de-Ville,  and  not  the  wretched  National  Guards 
who  knew  only  how  to  drink  and  eat  and  sleep.  Now  the  life 
which  these  gentlemen  led  during  the  whole  time  their  frightful 
rule  continued  was  worthy  in  every  point  of  the  most  brutal 
savages  of  the  American  wilderness.  It  was  the  animal  life  in  all 
that  is  most  abject. 

Marshal  MacMahon,  at  the  head  of  the  regular  troops,  was 
daily  making  the  position  more  difficult.  The  Committee  clearly 
saw  that  their  time  of  rule  could  be  prolonged  but  for  a  few  days 
at  most.  With  the  violence  of  despair  they  managed  to  concen- 
trate in  these  few  days  crimes  not  surpassed  by  the  Terror  of  the 
first  French  Revolution.  They  began  by  destroying  the  great 
historical  monuments  of  the  city.  The  first  to  fall  was  the 
famous  Column  Vendome,  made  of  cannon  taken  from  the 
Russian  and  Austrian  armies  by  the  first  Napoleon.  This  was  on 
the  16th  of  May.  On  the  21st,  the  regular  army  under  Mac- 
Mahon entered  Paris  and  the  Commune  was  driven  back  behind 
its  barricades.  The  Communists  now  began  that  incendiary  work 


FATHER  CAUBERT, 

JESUIT  MAKTTR  OF  THE  COMMUNE, 

26  May,  1871. 


342  THE  PARIS   COMMUNE   OF   1871. 

which  in  a  few  hours  ruined  what  it  had  taken  centuries  to  build. 
Their  conflagrations  destroyed  alike  the  giant  storehouses  of  modern 
commerce  and  the  sumptuous  palaces  of  the  ancient  monarchy. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  describe  these  ruins  of  Paris.  But 
the  four  last  days  of  power  of  this  government  "  of  the  new  era  " 
were  taken  up  by  sanguinary  massacres  which  will  long  prevent 
the  Commune  and  its  system  from  being  forgotten  by  the  Christian 
people. 

During  their  long  imprisonment  the  "  hostages/'  as  they  were 
called,  had  had  many  a  foretaste  of  what  was  in  store  for  them. 
The  Archbishop,  with  the  priests  and  religious,  had  prepared 
themselves  for  almost  certain  martyrdom.  They  had  the  happi- 
ness of  seeing  united  with  their  own  Christian  dispositions  many  of 
the  soldiers  and  laymen  who  were  their  fellow-prisoners,  but  who 
had  not  in  every  case  been  happy  enough  to  preserve  the  practice 
of  the  Christian  faith.  Mr.  Washburne,  thanks  to  his  position  as 
Minister  of  the  great  American  Republic,  was  enabled  to  penetrate 
into  the  cell  of  the  Archbishop.  He  was  the  first  one  seen  by  the 
venerable  prisoner  since  his  arrest,  excepting  his  guard  and  the 
Judges  of  the  Commune.  On  the  recommendation  of  Mr.  Wash- 
burne, an  American  lady  was  also  enabled,  under  pretext  of  pro- 
viding the  prisoners  with  little  necessaries,  to  send  them  various 
messages ;  and  finally  the  Holy  Communion — the  great  comfort 
for  their  last  journey,  Viaticum — was  brought  in  concealed  under 
the  false  bottom  of  a  jar  of  cream.  This  manner  of  receiving  the 
Last  Sacrament  is  a  vivid  reproduction  of  what  is  well  known  in 
the  lives  of  the  early  Christian  Martyrs.  There  is  more  than  one 
family  resemblance  between  the  persecution  of  the  Paris  Commune 
and  that  of  Nero. 

The  details  of  these  last  days  have  been  more  than  once 
narrated.  Even  the  guards  were  affected  almost  beyond  endur- 
ance by  the  scenes  going  on  before  them.  The  Archbishop's 
beard  had  grown  during  his  imprisonment.  One  of  the  Guards, 
in  his  rude  simple  manner,  placed  his  cap  on  the  prelate's  head 
and,  offering  him  his  own  great  coat,  insisted  that  he  should 
escape  under  this  disguise.  The  Archbishop  nobly  answered : 


THE  PARIS   COMMUNE  OF  1871.  343 

"  But  they  would  know  that  it  was  you  who  had  helped  me  to 
escape,  and  you  would  be  shot.  Now  you  are  the  father  of  a 
family  and  have  your  wife  and  children  to  support.  My  good 
friend,  I  cannot  throw  away  the  lives  of  others  in  this  manner, 
and  I  shall  remain  where  I  am." 

On  the  24th  of  May  the  members  of  the  Commune  finally 
gave  their  order.  "  The  bandits  of  Versailles  " — this  is  the  name 
they  gave  to  the  army  of  the  legitimate  Government — "  have  killed 
several  officers  of  the  Commune  at  the  barricades ;  accordingly 
the  Commune  demands  that  sixty-eight  hostages,  chosen  especially 
among  the  priests,  shall  be  massacred  on  the  spot."  This  order 
was  conveyed  to  the  Prison  of  La  Roquette,  where  the  Arch- 
bishop with  many  others  had  been  confined.  The  authorities  of 
the  prison  vigorously  declared  themselves  against  the  execution 
of  sixty-eight  hostages,  to  avenge  two  or  three  victims  at  most. 
At  last  it  was  settled  that  the  number  should  be  reduced  to  six. 
These  six  were  to  be  Archbishop  Darboy,  the  Parish  Priest  of 
the  Madeleine,  the  two  Jesuits,  Ducoudray  and  Clerc,  from  the 
scientific  school  at  the  Rue  des  Postes,  the  Abb6  Allard,  who  had 
been  a  hospital  chaplain  during  the  war,  and  M.  Bonjean,  a  civil 
official  of  high  position — in  all  five  priests  and  one  layman. 

At  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  the  "Avengers  of  the  Com- 
mune," as  they  called  themselves,  entered  noisily  into  the  corridor 
of  the  prison.  Their  captain  spoke  in  a  voice  so  loud  that  all  the 
prisoners  could  hear  him  from  their  cells :  "  We  must  make  an 
end  of  this." 

One  of  his  companions  answered :  "  Yes,  and  this  time  we 
will  lay  them  out !" 

They  continued  their  march  to  the  very  end  of  the  corridor. 
Then  one  cried,  "Attention,  citizens,  and  answer  to  the  call  of 
your  names. — Citizen  Darboy  !" 

The  Archbishop  with  firm,  emphatic  tone  made  answer, 
"  Present !"  His  cell  was  opened  and  he  passed  forth  into  the 
hands  of  those  who  were  to  lead  him  to  death.  The  five  other 
victims  were  called  forth  in  the  same  manner.  With  their  exe- 
cutioners they  moved  out  to  the  courtyard  where  the  prisoners 


FATHER  DE  BENGY, 

JESUIT  MARTYR  OF  THE  COMMUNE, 

26  May,  1871. 


THE  PARIS   COMMUNE   OF   1871.  345 

were  in  the  habit  of  taking  their  daily  exercise.  The  guards  of 
the  prison  were  deeply  touched ;  they  were  not  allowed  to  be 
present  at  the  last  scene.  As  the  Archbishop  stepped  out  into 
the  night  air  he  turned  and  gave  them  his  blessing. 

The  six  chosen  victims  were  stationed  in  a  line  a  few  feet 
from  the  wall  of  the  court,  and  almost  immediately  fell  under  a 
running  fire  from  the  muskets  of  the  "Avengers."  It  was  about 
half-past  eight  o'clock.  Soon  after,  the  assassins  came  trooping 
up  to  the  cells  of  their  victims  in  search  of  spoil.  At  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning  the  corpses  were  taken  off  to  the  Cemetery 
of  Pere  La  Chaise,  and  buried  without  shroud  or  coffin  or  cere- 
mony in  a  trench  dug  for  the  purpose.  This  was  the  morning  of 
Thursday.  The  following  Sunday  they  were  found,  with  the 
ghastly  marks  of  the  bullets  still  fresh  upon  them.  The  cross 
and  ring  of  the  Archbishop,  as  well  as  his  watch  and  shoes,  had 
been  appropriated  by  the  "Avengers."  Three  balls  had  wounded 
him  in  the  body,  and  the  thumb  and  forefinger  of  the  right  hand 
were  blown  away,  as  though  he  had  died  in  the  act  of  blessing  his 
executioners. 

Thursday,  the  25th,  was  to  continue  the  scenes  of  martyr- 
dom, but  no  longer  within  the  prison  walls.  During  the  late 
siege  of  Paris,  the  Dominican  Fathers  had  turned  their  great 
school  of  Arcueil,  which  was  almost  within  range  of  the  Prussian 
cannon,  into  an  ambulance,  in  which  over  1500  wounded  soldiers 
had  been  cared  for.  During  the  present  siege  they  received  in 
like  manner  the  wounded  soldiers  of  the  Communist  battalions. 
But  now  the  good  Fathers  were  to  have  the  reward  of  their 
charity — a  reward  which  seems  to  be  of  special  bestowal  on  the 
part  of  those  holding  the  principles  of  the  Commune. 

On  the  evening  of  Friday,  the  19th  of  May,  the  Citizen 
Delegates  of  the  Commune  of  Paris,  wearing  the  red  scarf  of  their 
dignity,  appeared  at  the  door  of  the  school  while  a  battalion  of 
guards  surrounded  the  house.  A  half-hour  was  given  to  the 
members  of  the  community  to  prepare  themselves  to  accompany 
the  Delegates.  The  Fathers  were  divided.  Some  were  sent  to  a 
prison  where  they  were  soon  released  by  the  entrance  of  the 


346  THE  PARIS   COMMUNE  OF  i87i. 

regular  troops  into  that  part  of  the  city.  The  others  were  sent  to 
the  Fort  of  Bicetre,  of  ill-famed  renown  during  the  first  French 
Revolution.  Here  they  were  searched  and  deprived  of  whatever 
they  bore  about  them,  even  to  their  breviaries,  and  confined  in  a 
common  cell.  They  were  to  leave  it  only  for  their  death. 

On  this  Thursday,  the  25th  of  May,  at  daybreak — shortly 
after  the  bodies  of  the  Archbishop  and  his  companions  had  been 
thrown  into  the  ground — an  armed  troop  presented  itself  at  the 
door  of  their  prison  cells.  Order  was  given  to  the  captives  to  set 
out  at  once  for  Paris. 

"  You  are  free,"  said  the  Captain,  "  but  we  cannot  leave  you 
in  the  hands  of  the  troops  of  Versailles.  You  must  go  into  Paris, 
and  then  you  can  go  where  you  choose." 

The  way  was  long  and  painful.  One  of  the  Fathers,  whose 
beard  had  grown  and  who  was  dressed  as  a  layman,  succeeded  in 
escaping.  The  others  were  brought  into  the  city,  but  were  not 
released.  "  You  would  be  massacred  by  the  people,"  said  the 
Captain.  At  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  a  man  in  a  red  shirt 
suddenly  opened  the  door  of  the  hall  where  the  captives  had  been 
placed.  "  Priests,"  he  said,  "  get  up.  We  are  going  to  take  you 
to  the  barricade." 

They  were  brought  to  the  nearest  barricade,  where  rifles 
were  given  them  and  they  were  ordered  to  take  their  place  among 
the  soldiers.  "We  are  priests,"  they  said,  "and  besides  we  are 
in  charge  of  a  hospital-ambulance.  We  cannot  take  up  arms  ;  but 
we  will  take  care  of  your  wounded  and  will  gather  your  dead." 
At  these  words  they  were  taken  back  to  the  prison. 

All  foresaw  what  was  to  come  ;  they  made  their  confession 
and  received  absolution,  and  knelt  together  for  the  last  time  in 
prayer.  At  half-past  four  o'clock  they  could  hear  the  soldiers  of 
the  battalion,  in  the  narrow  defile  before  the  prison,  loading  their 
firearms.  Out  on  the  Avenue  the  Colonel  of  the  soldiers  was 
seated  carelessly  in  a  carriage  with  a  woman  beside  him.  Quite 
as  carelessly,  perhaps  in  the  true  spirit  of  the  Commune,  he  gave 
the  word  of  command  :  "  Let  them  come  out,  one  by  one,  into 
the  street !"  Father  Captier  turned  to  his  companions  and  said  : 
"  Let  us  go,  my  friends — for  the  good  God's  sake  !" 


THE  PARIS  COMMUNE  OF  1871.  347 

The  first  to  step  forth  fell  mortally  wounded  on  the  spot. 
The  second  was  hit  in  the  leg,  but  went  a  distance  of  more  than  a 
hundred  yards  before  he  fell  in  death,  pierced  by  a  second  bullet. 
The  three  other  Fathers,  with  two  laymen  and  five  servants,  met 
the  same  fate.  The  assassins  threw  themselves  with  fury  on  the 
dead  bodies,  stripping  them  and  mutilating  them  with  shameless 
rage. 

In  a  few  minutes  the  regular  troops  had  forced  the  barricade 
and  driven  the  Communists  before  them.  They  stopped  for  a 
moment  to  gather  up  the  rosaries  of  the  dead  Fathers,  and  shared 
them  grain  by  grain  as  so  many  precious  relics  of  these  martyrs  of 
the  Order  of  St.  Dominic. 

The  most  frightful  massacre  of  all,  however,  still  remained  to 
signalize  the  two  last  days  of  power  of  this  modern  government 
which  was  "  to  inaugurate  a  new  era." 

Friday,  the  26th,  opened  with  rain,  and  the  prisoners  at  La 
Roquette  were  obliged  to  take  their  noon-day  exercise  walking  to 
and  fro  in  the  passage  beside  their  cells.  Suddenly  a  Delegate  of 
the  Commune  appeared  among  them,  holding  a  list  in  his  hand. 
He  announced  very  simply  that  he  would  call  fifteen  names, 
neither  more  nor  less ;  and  each  of  those  called  should  answer  to 
his  name.  The  first  was  that  of  Father  Olivaint ;  he  answered 
resolutely  and  stepped  forth  to  begin  the  rank  of  victims.  Father 
Caubert  was  the  second,  and  Father  de  Bengy  the  third.  The 
name  of  the  latter  had  been  badly  written  and  was  badly  pro- 
nounced, but  the  Father  recognized  it  and  answered  with  his 
usual  simplicity  and  good-nature.  Some  of  the  condemned  men 
asked  leave  to  enter  their  cells  to  prepare  themselves  for  the  way, 
as  they  were  in  slippers  and  without  hats.  "  You  are  quite  right 
as  you  are,"  was  the  answer,  and  they  were  led  away. 

From  the  prison  the  convoy  marched  forward  through  the 
densely  peopled  quarter  of  Belleville.  A  man  standing  on  a  cart, 
with  a  red  flag  in  his  hand,  announced  to  the  swarming  crowd  the 
meaning  of  this  procession.  "  Citizens,  the  devotedness  of  the 
people  is  worthy  of  a  recompense.  Behold,  we  bring  you  host- 
ages to  pay  you  for  your  long  sacrifices  !" 


348  THE  PARIS  COMMUNE  OF  i8jt. 

With  these  boastful  words  the  procession  went  on  for  nearly 
two  miles,  as  far  as  the  Rue  Haxo.  Here,  beside  a  long  building 
which  had  served  as  military  quarters  during  the  siege  and  was 
now  appropriated  to  the  Commune,  there  was  a  long  open  field, 
ending  behind  in  a  high  unbroken  wall.  It  was  originally 
designed  to  be  covered  with  trellis-work  and  to  be  used  as  an 
open-air  dancing  place.  The  heroines  of  the  Commune  were  not 
wanting  to  the  occasion.  With  blasphemy  in  their  mouths  and 
some  with  revolvers  in  their  hands,  these  furies  followed  after  the 
convoy  so  that  the  guards  had  to  use  violence  to  prevent  the 
intended  victims  from  being  massacred  before  their  time.  The 
number  of  victims  had  been  increased  in  other  parts  of  the  prison 
to  fifty.  They  were  now  pushed  brutally  into  this  open  space 
and  ranged  without  order  along  the  great  wall  at  the  foot. 

It  was  nearly  six  o'clock  in  the  evening.  There  was  no  pre- 
tence of  military  order,  but  a  canteen-woman  gave  the  signal  by 
firing  her  revolver.  For  a  quarter  of  an  hour  nothing  was  heard 
but  the  confused  din  of  this  promiscuous  assassination.  By  seven 
o'clock  everything  was  over.  The  dead  had  been  stripped  and 
mutilated  with  ball  and  bayonet,  and  the  next  day  they  were  all 
thrust  together  into  an  out-of-the-way  pit  by  way  of  ignoble 
burial. 

Among  the  many  victims,  besides  the  three  Jesuits,  were 
four  Fathers  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Sacred  Hearts  of  Jesus 
and  Mary,  commonly  known  from  their  chief  house  of  Picpus, 
a  priest  from  one  of  the  parishes  of  the  city,  another  who  was 
the  director  of  an  institution  of  charity  established  in  behalf 
of  the  workingmen — as  whose  enemy  he  was  now  killed — and  a 
saintly  young  ecclesiastic  of  the  Sulpician  Seminary.  The  lives 
of  all  these  victims  have  been  written,  and  show  conclusively 
that  they  had  prepared  for  an  heroic  death  by  the  practice  of 
every  Christian  virtue  during  life.  Here,  indeed,  would  be  the 
true  application  of  a  saying  falsely  attributed  to  another  massacre 
— "  God  knew  His  own  !" 

The  Commune  had  decreed  that  none  of  the  so-called  host- 
ages should  be  spared.  The  time  was  short,  for  a  few  hours 


THE  PARIS   COMMUNE  OF  i8-ji.  349 

would  now  bring  the  siege  of  Paris  to  an  end  and  terminate  the 
short  career  of  this  government  of  the  "  new  era."  The  next 
morning — Saturday,  the  27th  of  May — the  soldiers  of  the  Com- 
mune once  more  entered  the  Prison  of  La  Roquette,  opening  all 
the  cells  and  bidding  the  prisoners  to  come  out.  "  If  you  don't 
come  out/'  they  said,  "you  will  be  killed.  We  are  going  to 
blow  up  the  prison."  There  were  still  four  priests  among  the 
prisoners.  They  went  out  of  the  prison  gate  hoping  to  find  some 
refuge.  But  one  of  them,  with  a  lay  friend,  was  at  once  pitched 
upon  by  the  National  Guard.  They  were  led  away  and,  at  a 
short  distance  from  the  prison  they  had  just  quitted,  shot  down 
and  thrown  into  a  trench.  The  two  others  were  shot  shortly  after 
in  the  same  neighborhood.  Another  took  refuge  in  a  shed  near 
the  prison  itself,  and  from  there  was  an  unwilling  witness  of  the 
assassination  of  his  friend  Monseigneur  Surat,  the  first  to  be  killed 
on  that  day.  All  of  these  victims  had  foreseen  their  death  from 
the  day  before.  One  of  them,  the  Abbe  Becourt,  wrote  a  few  last 
words  on  a  slip  of  paper,  which  was  afterward  found  in  his  cell. 

I  die  in  the  love  of  my  God,  with  submission  to  His  Holy 
Will.  .  .  . 

I  pardon,  I  pardon  with  Jesus  Christ  on  the  Cross. 

I  die  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven  years  and  some  days.  If  I  had 
but  profited  by  them  !  Yet  I  have  confidence  in  the  intercession 
of  my  Mother  Mary  notwithstanding  my  own  sins. 

For  the  last  two  days,  I  make  my  sacrifice  from  hour  to 
hour.  Blessed  is  he  whom  Faith  supports  in  this  terrible 
moment ! 

Meanwhile,  a  similar  bloody  massacre  had  all  but  taken 
place  at  the  other  great  Prison  of  Mazas.  Here  there  were  forty 
Christian  Brothers  and  a  number  of  seminarians,  with  others 
amounting  to  750  in  all.  When  the  order  of  the  Commune,  how- 
ever, came,  the  prison  guards  themselves  revolted,  seized  the  Com- 
munist Director,  locked  him  in  a  cell,  and  gave  their  liberty  to  all 
the  prisoners.  It  was  during  the  last  days  of  the  Commune,  and 
there  was  no  question  of  seizing  them  again. 

All  danger,  however,  was  not  over,  and  one  Christian  Brother 


350 


THE  PARIS  COMMUNE  OF  1871. 


was  to  lose  his  life.  He  was  looking  for  a  place  of  refuge  with  a 
companion,  when  a  Delegate  of  the  Commune  covering  them  with 
his  revolver  ordered  them  to  work  at  the  barricades.  Meanwhile 
the  regular  troops  were  advancing  and  shells  were  bursting  around 

them  at  every  moment. 
Good  Brother  N6omede 
said  forebodingly  to  his 
companion  :  "  The  end 
has  come  for  us ;  our 
death  is  certain ;  may  the 
will  of  God  be  done !" 
These  were  his  last  words. 
At  three  o'clock  on  the 
fatal  25th  of  May,  a  shell 
burst  at  his  side  and  he 
was  instantly  killed. 

Two  days  later  the 
regular  troops  broke 
down  the  barricades  and 
so  terminated  the  man- 
oeuvres of  this  "Com- 
munal Revolution,  inaug- 
urated by  the  people  on 


the  18th  of  March  and 
opening  a  new  era  of 
experimental,  positive, 
and  scientific  politics." 


TOMB  OF  JESUIT  MARTYRS  OF  COMMVNE 

(In  a  Chapel  of  the  Gesit,  Paris). 


At  the  Rue  Haxo,  the  field  of  the  massacre  has  been  bought 
and  a  chapel  opened.  In  the  Jesuit  Church  of  the  Rue  de  Sevres, 
whatever  could  be  found  of  the  remains  of  the  Fathers  martyred 
by  the  Commune  is  carefully  preserved,  and  over  their  tomb  is 
the  inscription  full  of  hope  :  "  In  this  place  their  bones  are  rest- 
ing— until  they  be  placed  beneath  God's  altar." 


A  MARTYR   OF   THE   COMMUNE. 
FATHER  PETER  OLIVAIXT, 

Priest  of  the  Society  of  Jesus. 
i 
IT  was  the  opening  day  of  the  classes  at  the  Jesuit 

College  of  Vaugirard  in  Paris,  in  the  early 
autumn  of  1857.  The  new  Rector  of  the  College 
had  addressed  the  students,  and  the  parents  and 
friends  of  the  boys  as  they  left  the  Chapel  were 
discussing  the  sermon.  "  I  do  not  know  the  Father  who  preached 
that  sermon/'  said  one,  a  man  of  great  distinction  at  that  time  in 
France,  "  but  he  is  a  man."  The  preacher  was  Father  Olivaint, 
and  the  secret  of  the  influence  he  then  began  to  wield,  an  influence 
which  grew  with  years  and  which  he  still  exerts  through  the  writ- 
ings he  has  left  us,  is  to  be  found  in  this  saying.  The  Father 
was  a  man,  in  every  sense  of  the  word.  He  was  moreover  a 
typical  product  of  the  time  in  which  he  lived,  and  an  example  of 
how  God  finds  His  chosen  ones  everywhere  and  moulds  them  to 
His  will,  in  despite  of  their  surroundings  and  of  all  adverse 
influences. 

Father  Olivaint' s  father,  a  soldier  of  Napoleon,  who  had  won 
his  lieutenant's  commission  at  Moscow,  had  all  that  hatred  and 
contempt  for  religion  and  its  ministers,  that  was  so  common  in 
France  in  the  early  years  of  this  century  and  still  exists  among 
so  many.  His  mother  a  woman  of  great  tact  and  tenderness,  but 
withal  of  courage  and  energy  equal  to  her  husband's,  was  scarcely 
more  than  in  name  a  Catholic. 

In  the  home  of  his  early  years,  God  had  no  place.  In  the 
heart  of  Catholic  France,  the  future  martyr  of  the  Commune 
was  brought  up  little  better  than  a  pagan. 

Father  Olivaint  was  sent  when  he  was  twelve,  to  the  College 
Charlemagne,  once  a  Professed  House  of  that  Society  of  Jesus  of 
which  he  was  one  day  to  be  the  glory.  But  so  little  was  he  drawn 

351 


FATHER  OLIVAINT, 
JESUIT  MARTYR  OP  THE  COMMUNE, 

26  May,  1871. 


A   MARTYR  OF   THE  COMMUNE.  353 

to  the  Society  at  this  time,  that  we  find  him  writing  to  a  com- 
panion :  "  I  am  going  to  leave  school,  I  cannot  put  up  with  our 
Jesuit  any  longer,  all  he  lacks  is  the  soutane"  The  Jesuit  in 
question  was  a  young  lay  professor  at  the  College.  There  was 
not  much  of  the  Jesuit  spirit  or  the  spirit  of  the  martyr  in  these 
lines ;  but  God  prepares  souls  for  long  years  before  requiring 
great  things  of  them,  and  traces  of  this  preparation  are  easily 
found  in  the  records  we  have  of  these  early  college  years. 

First  of  all  young  Olivaint  was  remarkable  for  his  purity. 
In  1850,  when  at  last  his  sacrifice  was  almost  complete,  in  the 
Jesuit  Scholasticate  of  Laval,  he  could  say  to  a  companion  one 
day  with  emotion  :  "  Thanks  be  to  God,  in  the  matter  of  morals,  I 
have  always  preserved  my  baptismal  innocence,  and  to  the  Blessed 
Virgin  I  owe  this  integrity  of  body  and  soul."  Side  by  side  with 
this  instinctive  purity,  was  a  great  love  and  reverence  for  his 
father  and  mother.  One  day  speaking  of  his  parents,  he  said  :  "  I 
love  my  father  and  I  love  my  mother ;  however  there  is  a  shade 
of  difference  in  my  love  for  them.  Let  us  suppose  my  father  was 
in  danger  of  death,  and  to  save  him,  it  was  necessary  for  me  to 
take  poison  ;  I  would  ask  :  *  Is  there  no  other  way  of  saving  him  ?' 
If  the  answer  were,  no !  I  would  drain  the  cup.  If  however  it 
were  my  mother's  life  was  in  question,  I  would  swallow  the 
poison  without  a  word." 

To  these  two  virtues,  so  beautiful  in  a  child  and  which 
draw  so  many  blessings  on  the  first  years  of  life,  there  was  added 
a  maturity  of  thought  and  a  generous  disposition  which  are  not  so 
often  found  in  early  boyhood.  "  With  me,"  he  would  say, 
"  sacrifice  is  a  passion ;"  and  again  :  "  If,  which  is  impossible,  I 
were  a  priest,  I  would  wish  to  be  a  missionary,  and  if  I  were  a 
missionary,  to  be  a  martyr."  These  were  the  thoughts  of  the  boy, 
but  it  was  not  in  religion  that  he  found  inspiration.  The  love  of 
Jesus  Christ,  afterwards  so  great  an '  influence  in  his  life,  was  not 
there  to  prompt  him.  He  made  his  first  Communion  during  these 
days  at  the  College  Charlemagne,  but  as  a  matter  of  form,  as  far 
as  can  be  gathered,  without  sufficient  instruction,  without  fitting 
preparation,  and  as  was  to  be  expected  without  fruit.  Of  this 


354  A  MARTYR  OF  THE  COMMUNE. 

period,  which  extended  to  his  twentieth  year,  he  afterwards  wrote  : 
"  I  can  recall  my  training,  the  anti-religious  passions  that  were 
mine  on  leaving  college ;  how  I  plunged  into  the  new  paganism, 
and  how  glad  I  would  have  been  to  have  combated  with  the 
sword  and  with  the  word  against  Jesus  Christ  and  His  Church  ! 
And  in  this,  I  would  have  thought  myself  rendering  a  service  to 
God." '  His  young  friends,  however,  with  that  instinct  which  is  so 
often  found  in  college  boys,  saw  in  him  what  he  himself  had  not 
yet  perceived,  and  one  day,  to  his  great  indignation,  he  read 
scrawled  in  his  exercise  books,  "  Pierre  Olivaint,  CureV5  His 
dream  at  this  time  was  "  to  purify  his  own  heart,  so  the  better  to 
labor  for  the  regeneration  of  his  country."  A  noble  dream  and 
one  which,  in  a  measure,  he  lived  to  realize. 

In  1835  his  father  died,  without  any  of  the  consolations  of 
the  religion  which  in  life  he  had  despised.  His  mother,  left  with 
two  other  children,  Jules  and  Marie  Nathalie,  looked  on  her  oldest 
son  now  as  head  of  the  family.  It  was  necessary  for  him,  then, 
to  choose  a  profession  which  would  put  him  in  a  position  to  help 
his  mother.  His  success  in  the  last  year  at  the  Lyc6e  Charle- 
magne, had  been  brilliant,  and  the  career  which  seemed  naturally 
to  open  before  him  was  that  of  the  Professor. 

In  the  beginning  of  October,  1836,  he  entered  as  competitor 
for  a  scholarship  at  the  Normal  School,  and  was  successful.  The 
Director  of  the  Normal  School  at  the  time  was  Victor  Cousin. 
The  influence  of  this  man,  whose  reputation  was  then  at  its  height, 
was  what  we  should  expect  from  one  whose  boast  was  that  he  had 
hindered  the  historian,  Michelet,  "  from  throwing  himself  into  the 
arms  of  Christianity."  "  The  Normal  School,"  he  used  to  say, 
"  is  the  reflex  of  the  University,  as  the  University  is  of  France. 
No  religious  barrier  here,  no  strait  obligation  in  contradiction  with 
the  spirit  of  our  customs  and  our  institutions.''  In  other  words,  the 
Normal  School  was  a  theatre  in  which  all  influences  and  all 
theories  had  free  play,  provided  they  were  opposed  to  the  religion 
of  Christ.  Christian  influences  were  alone  proscribed. 

From  an  unchristian  home  to  an  unchristian  school  and  from 

1  Journal  des  Retraites,  t.  i,  p.  50. 


A  MARTYR   OF   THE  COMMUNE.  355 

there  to  surroundings  such  as  those  of  the  Normal  School,  it  must 
be  confessed,  that  young  Olivaint's  chances  of  becoming  a  Jesuit, 
a  saint  and  a  martyr,  were  not  bright ;  but  God  was  preparing  at 
this  time  great  graces  for  France,  and  young  Olivaint  was  to  profit 
by  them. 

In  1835  Lacordaire  was  raised  up  to  meet  the  hazy, 
insidiously  unchristian  systems  of  philosophy,  which  were  being 
advanced  on  all  sides,  to  meet  them  on  their  own  ground,  and 
to  show  how  deeply  philosophical  the  religion  of  Christ  is. 
Father  Ravignan,  after  being  trained  in  the  school  of  prayer  and 
mortification  and  silence,  was  just  entering  on  the  great  work  that 
awaited  him.  Frederic  Ozanam  and  his  young  companions  were 
then  beginning  to  edify  infidel  Paris,  and  to  lead  the  van  in  the 
war  on  human  respect  and  the  miserable  weakness  which  were 
keeping  so  many  from  serving  God.  The  shrine  of  Our  Lady  of 
Victories  was  beginning  to  attract  pious  souls,  and  daily  were  the 
reports  of  conversions  made  through  Mary's  intercession  and  of 
favors  granted. 

The  atmosphere  of  divine  grace  which  enveloped  Paris  before 
1840  could  not  but  be  felt  by  a  soul  in  which  so  many  favorable 
dispositions  existed  as  in  that  of  Peter  Olivaint.  He  could  not 
accept  the  systems  of  the  day,  they  lacked  a  basis  and  consistency ; 
he  could  not  bring  himself  to  seek  by  a  life  of  pleasure  and 
debauchery  to  silence  the  cravings  of  his  higher  nature.  "To 
devote  himself  to  a  cause  "  was  his  passion,  he  said,  as  a  boy ;  and 
the  need  to  satisfy  that  passion  was  strong  on  him  now,  but  there 
was  no  cause  which  appealed  to  both  mind  and  heart.  His  heart 
ill  at  ease,  his  mind  full  of  doubts,  he  grasped  at  everything  that 
seemed  to  promise  light  and  strength,  save  the  one  true  source  of 
both. 

At  this  time  Peter  Olivaint  had  two  close  friends,  fellow 
students  at  the  Normal  School,  Felix  Pitard  and  Charles 
Verdiere.  He  was  drawn  to  these  young  men  as  they  to  him,  by 
the  same  qualities  of  mind  and  heart,  and  alas !  by  the  same 
doubts  and  prejudices.  All  three  were  passing  through  the  same 
crisis.  Charles  was  the  first  to  make  his  peace  with  God,  and 


356  A  MARTYR   OF  THE  COMMUNE. 

Olivaint  was  the  next.  Pitard  was  not  so  easily  won  ;  not  that  he 
was  so  far  from  God,  but  in  him  as  in  so  many  at  that  time 
human  respect  was  strangely  powerful,  and  with  it  there  was  in 
his  heart  a  great  fear  and  repulsion  for  confession,  a  relic  no 
doubt  in  him  as  in  others  of  Jansenistic  prejudices  and  training 
and  of  the  abandonment  of  the  Sacraments  for  nearly  a  whole  gener- 
ation. The  excellent  character  of  young  Pitard  may  be  judged 
from  this  trait.  Unable  to  settle  the  state  of  his  conscience  him- 
self, he  had  recourse  to  his  young  sister  and  opened  his  whole 
heart  to  her,  that  she  might  examine  his  conscience.  "What 
troubled  him,"  she  said,  "was  that  he  did  not  know  what  a 
mortal  sin  was." 

Something  of  the  same  difficulty  did  Peter  Olivaint  find. 
But  he  had  recourse  to  Father  Ravignan.  His  first  visit  to  the 
austere  Father  Ravignan  was  rather  a  surprise  to  him.  The 
young  student  began  in  a  constrained,  embarrassed  way,  to  pro- 
pose his  difficulties  and  to  ask  explanations. 

"  My  friend "  said  Father  Ravignan,  "  go  to  confession  first, 
afterwards  we  shall  see — " 

But  young  Olivaint  was  not  prepared  for  such  an  ordeal. 
He  had  not  been  to  confession  since  his  first  Communion ;  and  so 
he  withdrew,  silent  and  sad,  and  a  trifle  indignant  at  such  a  recep- 
tion. But  Father  Ravignan  understood  his  case.  Olivaint  was 
to  discover  what  many  another  wanderer  has  found,  "  that  the 
road  to  the  Credo  lies  often  through  the  Confiteor."  After  a 
week's  reflection,  Olivaint  returned  to  the  cell  of  Father  Ravignan 
and  very  humbly  made  his  confession. 

It  would  seem  that  the  only  obstacle  that  had  been  delaying 
the  action  of  God's  grace  in  his  soul  was  now  removed.  His 
progress  after  this  was  rapid  and  solid.  Every  good  work,  every 
chance  that  offered  of  laboring  for  God  was  eagerly  seized. 

Human  respect  was  thrown  to  the  winds.  With  his  two 
companions,  he  had  for  some  time  to  endure  the  taunts  and  the 
ridicule  of  his  fellow  students.  The  "  Band  of  Gulls  "  as  they 
were  nicknamed  had  much  to  endure  for  the  faith  that  they  pro- 
fessed; but  their  courtesy  and  kindliness,  and  the  brightness  of 


A  MARTYR  OF  THE  COMMUNE.  357 

their  wit,  and  above  all  the  manliness  they  displayed  and  their 
charity  ended  by  winning  for  them  the  respect  of  all.  At  the 
Normal  School  at  this  time  was  a  young  man  who  was  subject  to 
epileptic  fits.  At  night  especially  were  these  fits  frequent  and 
painful.  At  the  first  cry,  Peter  Olivaint  was  at  the  poor  sufferer's 
bedside.  Quickly  following  usually  came  a  young  Protestant 
from  Geneva.  The  sentiment  of  sympathy  and  of  charity  which 
brought  these  young  men  to  the  aid  of  their  suffering  companion 
brought  them  also  closer  together,  and  nicknames  and  raillery 
were  quickly  felt  to  be  out  of  place. 

The  Society  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  had  just  entered  upon  its 
beautiful  work.  Young  Olivaint  was  soon  associated  with  its 
founders,  and  to  him  the  Mother  Conference  owes  much  of  its 
progress.  It  was  he  who  drew  up  the  first  "  General  Report  on 
the  Origin  of  the  Society  and  its  Labors  up  to  the  end  of  1841," 
which  appeared  in  1845,  and  is  now  incorporated  in  the  Manual 
of  the  Conferences.  To  the  end  of  his  life,  his  interest  in  this 
Society  was  ever  active. 

Now  that  Olivaint  was  converted,  the  passion  he  felt  to  sacri- 
fice himself  had  an  object  worthy  of  all  that  was  good  in  him ; 
and  it  could  only  be  a  question  of  time  when  he  would  leave  all 
behind  and  follow  his  Divine  Master. 

In  September,  1838,  the  Univers  of  Paris  printed  on  its  first 
page  in  large  characters :  A  NEW  CONSOLATION  FOE  THE 
CHURCH.  Father  Lacordaire  had  succeeded  in  obtaining  the 
sanction  of  the  Holy  See  to  the  re-establishment  of  the  Dominican 
Order  in  France,  and  he  was  on  his  way  home,  to  gather  around 
him  a  few  generous  souls  who  should  return  with  him  to  Rome 
and  after  their  novitiate  become  the  nucleus  of  the  new  establish- 
ment in  France.  This  news  was  sweet  to  Olivaint.  He  received 
it  as  a  sign  of  God's  will  in  his  regard,  and  he  was  one  of  the  first 
to  offer  himself  to  Father  Lacordaire.  But,  however  generous  his 
offer  was,  the  designs  of  God  in  the  first  place,  and  then  the  con- 
ditions of  his  family  affairs,  prevented  him  from  carrying  his 
resolution  into  effect.  •  It  was  not  among  the  devoted  sous  of  St. 
Dominic  that  Father  Olivaint's  place  was. 


358  A  MARTYR  OF  THE  COMMUNE. 

His  course  at  the  Normal  School  was  now  ended.  An 
appointment  to  a  professor's  chair  at  Grenoble  was  given  him,  and 
he  set  out  at  once  to  open  his  classes.  He  remained  nearly  a  year 
at  Grenoble,  and  the  pious  and  venerable  widow  with  whom  he 
lodged  during  his  stay  insisted  ever  after  that  she  had  entertained, 
not  unawares  however,  "  an  angel  of  heaven  "  in  the  young  pro- 
fessor. One  of  his  first  acts  was  to  establish  a  Conference  of  St. 
Vincent  de  Paul.  The  illness  and  death  of  his  sister  brought 
him  back  to  Paris,  and  for  awhile  he  taught  at  the  College  Bour- 
bon; but  his  teaching  in  the  University  only  lasted  these  two 
years. 

Two  things  were  sources  of  preoccupation  for  him  now  :  how 
to  follow  the  vocation  which  he  felt  was  his,  and  how  especially  to 
reconcile  this  evident  call  of  God  with  his  duty  to  his  mother,  who 
had  no  resource  but  him.  To  secure  his  mother  from  want  in  her 
old  age,  he  accepted  the  post  of  private  tutor  to  the  youngest  son 
of  the  Duke  de  la  Rochefoucauld-Liancourt.  To  fulfil  this 
charge,  he  had  to  renounce  the  brilliant  future  a  University  career 
held  out  to  him,  but  this  was  little;  what  was  much  harder  to 
bear  was  that  he  had  to  delay  for  four  years  the  sacrifice  he  so 
ardently  longed  to  make  of  himself  to  God  in  religion. 

For  four  years  he  lived  in  the  house  of  the  Duke  at  Mont- 
mirail.  During  these  years  his  charity  was  not  inactive.  The 
Society  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  was  soon  established  in  the  little 
town,  and  his  young  pupil  became  Vice- treasurer.  Every  night 
when  the  people  of  the  Chateau  were  in  bed,  Olivaint  descended  to 
the  Chapel  and  there  with  a  fervent  priest,  then  the  assistant  of 
the  parish  priest,  he  spent  hours  in  prayer.  One  morning  the  two 
friends  were  surprised  lying  prostrate  before  the  Altar.  They 
had  spent  the  night  before  the  Blessed  Sacrament. 

In  the  exercise  of  charity  and  piety  and  under  the  full 
influence  of  that  passion  for  self-sacrifice  which  was  so  marked 
in  Father  Olivaint's  life,  the  four  years  of  his  trial  and  probation 
finally  neared  a  term.  He  could  now  leave  his  mother  without 
danger  of  her  suffering  want. 

A  change  had  come  over  his  views  however.    He  no  longer  felt 


A  MARTYR   OF   THE  COMMUNE.  359 

the  same  attraction  drawing  him  to  the  white  robe  of  St.  Dominic. 
The  spirit  of  the  soldier  he  had  inherited  from  his  father  and 
which  he  had  manifested  as  a  boy,  drew  him  in  another  direction. 
The  Society  of  Jesus  was  in  1845  the  object  of  attack.  The 
revolution  of  1848  which  was  then  brewing,  like  those  that  went 
before  and  that  have  come  since,  made  the  Jesuit  the  first  to  feel 
its  hatred.  In  the  Chambers  and  in  the  daily  press,  on  the 
placards  that  appeared  on  dead  walls  and  fences,  in  the  songs  that 
were  sung  by  strolling  beggars  on  the  street  corners,  the  Society 
of  Jesus  came  in  for  its  full  share  of  abuse  and  open  attack. 
It  required  no  little  force  of  character  at  such  a  time  to  join  the 
hated  and  despised  Jesuits,  then  on  the  point,  as  was  threatened, 
of  expulsion  from  France.  But  it  was  in  the  ranks  of  what  its 
holy  Founder  loved  to  call  the  least  Society  of  Jesus,  that  God 
wished  Father  Olivaint  to  take  his  place.  On  May  2d,  1845, 
he  entered  the  novitiate  of  the  Society  at  Laval.  The  same 
year  two  of  his  companion  martyrs  of  the  Commune  also  entered — 
Father  John  Caubert,  July  10,  and  Father  Anatole  de  Bengy, 
November  12. 

Of  the  seven  years  of  obscurity  that  followed,  little  need 
be  said.  They  were  years  of  prayer,  of  mortification  and  of 
silence,  years  of  preparation,  all  too  short  for  the  work  that 
awaited  him.  How  seriously  he  devoted  himself  to  this  task  of 
preparation !  How  clearly  he  conceiv®:!  the  end  at  which  he 
should  aim,  and  how  faithfully  he  availed  himself  of  the  means 
Providence  offered  him !  "To  conquer  oneself  and  no  one  else. 
.  .  .  Who  is  the  tyrant,  the  Goliath?  The  body?  The 
heart  ?  The  will  ?  The  mind  ?  Courage  and  confidence.  The 
victory  must  be  won.  .  .  .  The  battle  will  last  as  long  as 
life." 

"My  heart  is  like  a  sea  which,  unlike  all  other  seas,  is 
without  natural  barriers  to  its  waves.  But  there  is  a  dike  which 
no  waves,  even  the  most  furious,  can  overtop,  a  strong  will  united 
to  prayer ;  this  is  the  non  ultra."  To  conquer  self,  to  struggle 
along  in  God's  ways  until  life  should  end,  with  the  help  of  a 
strong  will  and  the  strength  that  is  found  in  prayer,  this  was 


36O  A  MARTYR   OF   THE   COMMUNE. 

assuredly  a  noble  programme,  worthy  of  the  crown  that  awaited 
it  at  the  Rue  Haxo. 

On  September  21,  1850,  Father  Olivaint  was  ordained  priest. 
His  first  mission  was  at  the  Rue  des  Postes.  One  day — it  is  the 
Brother  Sacristan  who  tells  the  story — Sister  Rosalie,  so  well  known 
in  the  Annals  of  the  Daughters  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  made 
the  remark  that,  if  her  Sisters  could  only  hear  Mass  at  five  o'clock, 
they  would  all  of  them  gain  one  additional  hour  a  day  for  the 
service  of  the  poor.  Now  it  was  winter,  and  to  enable  the  Sisters 
to  hear  Mass  so  early  a  priest  would  have  to  go  to  them  each 
morning,  for  it  was  out  of  the  question  for  them  to  pass  through 
the  streets  at  so  early  an  hour  and  in  bad  weather.  An  appeal 
was  made  by  Sister  Rosalie  to  the  Fathers  of  the  Rue  des  Postes, 
and  Father  Olivaint  at  once  volunteered  for  this  work.  "  I  went 
more  than  once  with  him  to  serve  the  Mass,"  said  the  Brother, 
"  and  one  day  he  turned  to  me  and  said :  '  What  profit  we  are 
reaping  from  this,  dear  Brother !  Fifteen  to  twenty  extra  hours 
passed  in  doing  good  work  by  the  Sisters  of  Charity  in  this  quarter. 
Why,  that's  immense.'  "  It  was,  perhaps,  a  little  thing  this ;  but 
it  brings  out  the  spirit  of  sacrifice  that  animated  Father  Olivaint 
at  all  times,  and  how  the  supernatural  side  of  things,  more  than 
any  other,  won  his  attention  and  inspired  his  action. 

From  1852  to  1865  Father  Olivaint  was  connected  with  the 
College  at  Vaugirard.  His  first  charge  was  that  of  the  Sodality 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  the  Class  of  History ;  later  he  was 
made  Prefect  of  Studies  and  in  1857  Rector.  His  share  in  giving 
a  character  to  the  teaching  of  this  justly  famous- college  was  very 
great.  Himself  trained  in  what  was  then  the  greatest  training 
school  in  the  world  perhaps,  1'Ecole  Normale  at  Paris,  and 
with  the  sounder  views  on  doctrine  and  methods  of  teaching 
which  are  a  tradition  in  the  Society  of  Jesus,  he  was  well  fitted 
at  all  points  to  accomplish  the  task  he  set  himself  in  his  new 
career.  "  Give  me  your  son  and  I  will  make  a  man  of  him,"  he 
said  to  a  friend.  His  idea,  however,  was  not  to  form  in  his 
young  charges  a  spirit  of  vanity  and  of  false  independence.  On 
the  contrary,  he  asked  of  them  two  things ;  and  on  the  develop- 


A  MARTYR   OF  THE  COMMUNE.  361 

ment  in  their  hearts  of  these  two  things  he  based  his  hopes  of 
making  them  men ;  the  first  was  a  spirit  of  generous  obedience, 
and  the  second  a  spirit  of  faith  well  grounded  in  reason  and  free 
from  weakness.  "  To  obey  is  to  exert  one's  will,  that  is,  with  full 
deliberation,  under  the  inspiration  of  faith  and  of  reason,  to  con- 
form the  will  to  the  divine  will,  made  manifest  by  one  having 
legitimate  authority.  To  be  able  so  to  use  the  will  is  to  be  a 
man."  "  What  are  we  aiming  at,  then,  in  this  work  of  education. 
One  word,  dear  children,  will  reveal  all.  We  are  trying  to  teach 
you  to  use  your  wills.  Yes,  here  in  the  presence  of  God,  in  view 
of  His  glory  and  in  the  interest  of  your  souls,  we  have  felt  that 
in  a  time  like  ours  we  should  continually  have  as  our  aim 
strength  of  character :  to  strengthen  your  wills,  to  form  in  you 
devoted  hearts  and  noble  characters." 

This  was  a  sublime  end  truly,  and  more  than  one  testimony  to 
the  success  of  Father  Olivaint  and  his  brethren  has  come  to  us  from 
those  who  grew  up  under  this  strong,  virile  heart  that  could  infuse 
into  others  something  of  its  own  generosity  and  love  of  God. 

While  fully  discharging  his  duty  as  Rector  at  Vaugirard, 
Father  Olivaint  found  time  for  other  works  of  zeal  and  charity. 
In  the  great  capital  of  France,  numbers  of  poor  children,  girls 
especially,  were  left  wholly  uncared  for  as  regards  religion.  One 
of  the  great  works  in  Paris,  still  existing  and  doing  a  very  great 
good,  owes  its  existence  to  Father  Olivaint.  Guided  again  by 
supernatural  views,  it  occurred  to  him  that  there  could  be  no 
better  means  of  drawing  a  blessing  on  the  boys  intrusted  to  him 
than  by  getting  their  mothers  interested  in  the  religious  training 
of  the  waifs  of  Paris.  A  Soul  for  a  Soul,  was  his  motto.  "  If 
you  would  have  your  sons  preserved  to  you,  good  and  devoted 
Catholics,"  he  said  to  the  mothers,  "  do  what  lies  in  you  to  bring 
other  souls  to  God."  The  seed  thus  sown  developed  into  the 
"  Work  of  the  Infant  Jesus,  for  the  First  Communion  of  poor 
Young  Girls."  Up  to  1877  this  pious  Association  had  received 
7785  young  girls,  2045  of  whom  were  instructed  and  received 
their  first  Communion,  1142  were  settled  in  homes,  and  30  joined 
different  religious  communities. 


362  A  MARTYR   OF   THE  COMMUNE. 

The  workmen  of  the  parish  around  Vaugirard  were  not 
neglected.  Father  Olivaint  established  for  them  the  Society  of 
St.  Francis  Xavier.  Under  his  direction,  the  little  Society  grew, 
and  on  the  feast  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  one  year  he 
gathered  about  him  over  three  hundred  workmen,  who  each 
placed  his  family  under  the  patronage  of  the  Blessed  Mother  of 
God.  "May  the  Blessed  Virgin,"  was  their  prayer,  "cause  to 
descend  on  us  and  our  families  the  blessings  of  her  Son." 

Thus  passed  thirteen  years  of  a  well  filled  life.  In  1865 
Father  Olivaint  was  changed  to  the  Rue  de  Sevres,  where  he 
remained  until  the  disastrous  days  of  1870-71.  During  the 
siege  of  Paris,  the  house  at  the  Rue  de  Sevres  was  turned  into  a 
hospital,  and  the  Fathers  and  Brothers  stationed  there  devoted 
themselves  to  the  care  of  the  wounded.  Father  Olivaint  was  as 
usual  foremost  in  the  work  of  charity.  He  had  even  conceived  a 
plan  for  an  Orphanage  for  the  children  of  those  who  had  died  in 
the  war,  a  project  which  has  since  been  realized.  But  this 
charity  of  the  Jesuits  could  not  conjure  the  storm  that  was  gather- 
ing for  years.  Early  in  January,  1870,  Father  Olivaint  said : 
"  The  persecution  is  at  our  doors ;  it  will  be  a  terrible  one  ;"  and 
as  the  person  to  whom  he  spoke  seemed  to  cast  some  doubt  on  the 
imminence  of  the  danger,  he  added  :  "  My  child,  we  shall  have  to 
pass  through  a  baptism  of  blood." 

The  siege  of  Paris  had  been  raised ;  the  Prussians  had  with- 
drawn and  for  awhile  there  was  peace,  but  it  was  only  a  lull  in  the 
storm.  "  We  sleep  here  as  on  the  borders  of  the  ocean,"  he  wrote 
a  few  days  before  the  Commune  was  declared,  "knowing  full  well 
that  the  storm  may  awake  us  at  any  moment ;  still  we  sleep 
.  .  .  and  the  Lord  guards  us  and  Mary  extends  her  hands — 
Confidence !" 

On  April  3,  1871,  the  storm  finally  burst,  the  school  of  St. 
Genevieve  was  forcibly  entered  by  the  Communists,  and  the 
Rector,  Father  Ducoudray,  with  Fathers  de  Bengy  and  Clerc,  were 
taken  and  held  as  hostages  for  the  safety  of  the  miscreants  who 
had  been  taken  prisoners  by  the  government  of  Versailles.  The 
next  day  it  was  the  turn  uf  the  Fathers  at  the  Rue  de  Sevres, 


A  MARTYR   OF   THE  COMMUNE.  363 

Father  Olivaint  and  Father  Caubert.  The  Mazas  prison  closed 
on  the  five,  but  they  were  not  alone.  The  venerable  Archbishop 
of  Paris,  Monseigneur  Darboy  and  M.  Bonjean,  a  distinguished  lay- 
man, and  over  fifty  others  were  imprisoned  with  them.  For  awhile 
the  powers  of  hell  were  unchained,  and  it  was  the  priests  and  the 
Jesuits  against  whom  their  fury  raged  most  fiercely.  But,  undis- 
turbed by  the  storm  without,  Father  Olivaint,  the  very  night  of  his 
entry  into  the  prison,  began  the  Spiritual  Exercises  and  continued 
them  for  forty-one  days.  From  this  union  with  God  he  drew  the 
fund  of  cheerful  confidence  and  strength  which  he  displayed  all 
through  his  captivity  and  in  his  last  moments.  "To-day,"  he 
wrote  in  one  his  letters,  "  I  am  one  month  in  the  Mazas.  I  never 
thought  I  should  be  here.  But  after  all,  when  one  lives  with 
God,  one  can  make  out  even  in  the  Mazas."  Another  time  he 
says  :  "  Six  Sundays  passed  in  retirement !  What  a  length  of  time 
without  saying  Mass.  Ah,  it  is  when  one  is  deprived  of  a  good, 
that  he  begins  to  realize  its  value  I"  Although  he  could  not  say 
Mass,  the  Master  he  served  did  not  forget  him.  Heroic  women 
were  found  in  the  city  ready  to  risk  all  to  serve  the  prisoners,  and 
Providence  used  them  to  carry  the  Blessed  Sacrament.  Care- 
fully hidden  away  in  a  little  pot  of  cream,  the  great  treasure  was 
brought  to  Father  Olivaint  and  his  companions  more  than  once. 
On  May  22d  the  captives  were  to  be  taken  from  the  Mazas  to  La 
Roquette ;  and  on  that  day,  for  the  last  time  by  a  disposition  of 
Providence,  four  Hosts  were  brought  to  each  of  the  Fathers. 

In  the  Mazas  the  prisoners  had  been  isolated,  in  their  new 
abode  they  were  allowed  free  intercourse.  Of  Father  Olivaint 
and  his  companion,  an  eyewitness  speaks  thus:  "I  have  seen 
your  Fathers  and  have  spoken  to  them;  they  were  calm  and 
smiling  at  the  evening  of  their  life,  as  if  it  were  the  dawning  of 
a  fair  day.  Father  de  Bengy  has  lost  none  of  his  self-poise  or  of 
his  gaiety,  nor  Father  Caubert  of  his  sweet  and  modest  recollec- 
tion. Father  Clerc  was  as  brave  and  joyous  as  ever ;  Father 
Ducoudray  showed  the  same  manly  simplicity  and  dignity,  and 
Father  Olivaint  was  all  life  and  energy  and  radiant  with  peace/' 

May  24  was  a  memorable  day  for  the  captives,  for  it  saw  the 


364  THE  NIGHT-BLOOMING   CEREUS. 

first  of  their  number  pass  from  death  to  life.  The  Archbishop,  the 
Senator  Bonjeau,  M.  Duguerry,  the  Cur6  of  the  Madeleine,  Fathers 
Clerc  and  Ducoudray  and  the  Abb6  Allard  were  shot  hardly  two 
hundred  yards  from  the  prison. 

At  length  the  morning  of  the  26th  dawned.  It  was  a  Friday 
and  raining.  About  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  summons 
came.  The  first  whose  name  was  called  was  Father  Olivaint. 
With  fifty-one  others,  including  Fathers  de  Bengy  and  Caubert, 
he  set  out  for  the  Rue  Haxo,  where  all  were  massacred  and  their 
bodies  thrown  into  a  common  pit.  When  the  bodies  were  dis- 
interred that  of  Father  Olivaint  was  found  with  a  ball  through  the 
heart.  He  had  gone  to  his  death  rejoicing  to  be  able  to  suffer 
for  the  name  of  Jesus.  He  had  said  as  a  boy  :  "  If  the  impossible 
were  to  happen  and  I  were  a  priest,  I  would  be  a  missionary  and 
a  martyr."  The  impossible  came  to  pass  in  his  case.  He 
became  a  priest  and  a  missionary,  and  his  noble  life  was  crowned 
by  the  reward  of  the  martyr. 


O 


THE   NIGHT-BLOOMING  CEREUS. 

By  Adrian  W.  Smith. 

'ER  desert  wastes  that  mock  the  traveller's  fate, 
Where  death  seems  regnant,  life  an  idle  jest, 
On  rugged  cliffs  thrown  wild, 
Of  trackless  vales  the  child, 
The  hardy  cactus  lifts  its  careless  crest. 


When  night  upon  these  fields  her  blessing  sheds, 
And  ocean's  breeze  from  stormy  wand'ring  dies, 

Her  last  caressing  breath 

Is  come  to  kiss  in  death 
A  bloom  that  is  too  precious  for  day  skies. 


THE  ANNUNCIATION. 

No  sun  has  pierced  its  pure  ecstatic  depths ; 
Its  chalice  trembles  with  the  night's  cold  tears ; 

The  moon,  more  gently  bright, 

Is  pouring  veiled  light 
On  this  pulsating  wonder-work  of  years* 

A  saintly  life  is  like  this  modest  plant, 
In  garish  day  a  thing  of  little  worth, 

Until  the  soul  in  prayer 

Exhales  its  perfume  rare, 
A  secret  grace  invoking  on  the  earth. 


365 


THE  ANNUNCIATION. 

By  P.  J.  Coleman. 


THWART  the  lilies  in  that  silent  place 
A  splendor  fell,  and  Mary  was  aware 
Of  Gabriel  in  glory  standing  near, 
Like  to  the  sun  in  folded  wings  and  face. 
Great  fear  possessed  her  heart  a  little  space, 
Because  of  the  bright  presence,  standing  there. 
Then  sweet  and  low  as  music  in  the  air, 
The  great  evangel  came,  "  Hail  !  full  of  grace !" 

Expectant  earth  stood  still  for  Mary's  word ; 

Upon  her  breath  in  balance  hung  our  fate ; 
And  eyes  of  unborn  ages  looked  to  her. 
Then  she,  "  Behold  the  handmaid  of  the  Lord !" 
That  hour  the  sin  of  Eve  was  expiate, 

And  glad   to  Heaven  returned  the  Messenger. 


LAR'  DASE. 
I. 

ITHIN  a  very  few  days  after  his  birth  he  had  been 
christened  Lawrence  on  account  of  his  mother's 
ardent  devotion  to  the  patriot  Saint  who  once  ruled 
over  the  diocese  of  Dublin — St.  Lawrence  O'Toole. 
But  it  must,  in  all  fairness,  be  admitted  that  the 
mother's  skill  in  pronouncing  the  name  of  the  Saint  had  not  kept 
pace  with  her  devotion.  So  it  came  to  pass  that  she  always  called 
her  baby  Larrence.  More  than  that,  she  gloried  in  the  name, 
never  dreaming,  poor  woman,  that  she  was  guilty  of  the  least 
irreverence  toward  His  Grace  of  Dublin. 

Larrence  was  her  only  son  and,  like  the  woman  of  Nairn,  she 
was  a  widow — the  father  having  died  a  few  weeks  before  the  birth 
of  the  child.  No  wonder,  then,  that  Larrence  filled  a  large  space 
in  her  existence,  or  that  his  name  was  so  often  on  her  lips  and  his 
beauties  and  merits  so  often  proclaimed  among  her  neighbors. 
Indeed  her  knowledge  of  her  theme  and  her  readiness  of  speech 
grew  to  be,  in  the  passing  of  the  days,  a  source  of  annoyance  to 
some  women  of  her  neighborhood,  who  were  either  too  wanting  in 
sympathetic  allowance  for  the  poor  widow's  exuberant  eloquence, 
or  too  prone  to  imagine  that,  in  the  constant  display  of  the  infan- 
tile beauties  and  achievements  of  Larrence,  their  own  accomplished 
babies  were  overlooked  or  slighted.  Prize  babies,  as  a  rule,  have 
not  a  mission  to  promote  kindly  feelings  among  the  mothers  of 
little  ones  who  have  drawn  blanks !  But  however  that  may  be, 
certain  it  is  that  there  were  doubts  and  misgivings,  little  by  little, 
taking  shape  as  to  the  grounds  of  "  Mrs.  Dase's  bragging  about 
Larrence." 

"Musha,"  said  dame  Judy  Lynch,  "I'm  growin'  sick  and 
tired  of  hearin'  her  always  talkin'  about  Larrence's  eyes  and 
Larrence's  hair  and  Larrence's  teeth,  and  his  noticin'  and  smilin' 

366 


LAK   DASE.  367 

and  crowin',  when  afther  all  what  is  he  but  a  little  lump  o'  dough 
as  brown  as  gingerbread  or  a  winther  pear." 

"  Judy  Lynch  !"  broke  in  Mrs.  Flanagan,  who  had  had  the 
benefit  of  a  year's  residence  in  Dublin,  whilst  bound  to  a  "  manty- 
maker,"  and  who  was  remarkable  for  Christian  charity  and  ele- 
gance of  speech — "Judy  Lynch,  you  ought  to  be  asheemed  of 
yourself,  for  every  one  admits  that  Lorence  is  a  very  foine  and 
a  very  noice  child,  and  his  mother  is  quoifce  justifoiable  in  spakin' 
iv  him  as  she  does." 

"  Yis,  agra,"  quoth  the  irrepressible  Judy,  "  but  she  spakes 
the  laist  bit  too  much  of  him." 

"  Who  are  the  Dases  anyhow  ?  That's  what  I  want  to  ax," 
said  sour-visaged  Mary  Grimes,  the  only  spinster  in  the  party. 

"  Bedad,  Mary,"  said  Mrs.  McHugh,  "  you're  more  at  home 
in  thrackin'  a  family  than  y'are  in  givin'  an  opinion  upon  sich  a 
crather  as  Larrence." 

"  Well,  and  what  if  I  am  ?  Jist  tell  me  who  they  are,  and 
what  claim  have  they  to  disturb  the  whole  three  counties  about 
their  widdys  and  their  Larrences." 

It  becomes  my  duty  as  a  faithful  chronicler  to  answer  this 
question  fairly,  instead  of  leaving  it  under  discussion  among  the 
"  rustic  cacklers."  All  the  more  so,  as  the  poor  widow  had  no 
pretences  and  never  spoke  about  Larrence  except  from  the  prompt- 
ings of  a  mother's  love  for  her  first-born  and  only  child.  She  was 
not  familiar  with  genealogies  and  could  not  even  read  JSurke's  Peer- 
age to  find  her  proper  family  coat-of-arms.  In  reality  her  name 
was  Dease,  but  the  neighbors  always  pronounced  it  Dose  ;  and  her 
ancestral  pride  was  never  disturbed  when  a  friendly  voice  reached 
her  ear  with  the  salutation :  "  How  do  you  do,  Mrs.  Dase  ?'' 
That  was  the  name  she  went  by,  and  the  mother's  name  was  good 
enough  for  the  son.  She  was  poor  in  this  world's  goods,  but 
youthful,  healthy  and  contented ;  and  accordingly  Master  Larrence 
in  his  unreflecting  infancy  was  just  as  well  oif  as  if  his  mother  had 
owned  half  of  Leinster.  She  fulfilled  a  mother's  duty  toward  him 
perfectly.  And  he  waxed  fat  and  hearty  and  grew  in  size  and 
strength  amazingly.  He  kept  on  growing,  so  that,  at  the  age  of 


368  LAK   DASE. 

six,  he  was  like  the  "  ugly  duckling"  of  the  fable — a  young  swan 
among  creatures  of  a  lower  species.  Even  Mary  Grimes  admitted 
his  superiority  over  the  youngsters  of  his  age,  but  "  all  she  wanted 
was  an  end  of  this  eternal  braggin'  about  the  Dases." 

When  eight  years  old,  Larrence  was  accustomed  to  play 
among  his  cotemporaries  and,  as  boys  will  have  it,  they  found  it 
convenient  to  shorten  his  name.  If  Joseph  was  to  be  known  as 
Joe  and  Philip  as  Phil1,  why  shouldn't  Larrence  be  Lar'?  So 
they  concluded ;  even  though  they  may  not  have  passed  through 
the  process  of  comparative  reasoning  on  the  subject.  Forever- 
more  he  was  to  be  Lar*  Dose  to  all  the  world,  except  his  poor 
mother  who  devoutly  clung  to  the  name  given,  as  she  thought,  in 
Baptism — Larrence. 

II. 

Mrs.  Dase  had  no  knowledge  of  letters  and  she  did  not  seem 
to  be  in  frantic  haste  that  her  Larrence  should  supply  that 
deficiency  either  for  her  or  for  himself.  He  had  no  schooling, 
nor  even  any  special  training  in  religious  knowledge,  beyond  the 
gentle  life  and  example  of  his  hard-working  mother  and  an 
occasional  encouragement  to  well-doing  briefly  given  by  Father 
Haley  at  the  first  Mass  on  Sundays.  The  widow  was  wont  to 
say : 

"  Sure,  an'  it's  glad  I'd  be  to  have  Larrence  get  the  book 
larnin'  like  the  best  o'  thim,  but  I  haven't  the  clothes,  asthore,  I 
haven't  the  clothes  for  him." 

Whence  it  followed  that  a  dearth  of  bodily  raiment  stood  as 
the  potent  reason  why  the  mental  adornment  of  poor  Larrence  was 
doomed  to  be  of  the  scantiest.  Shock-headed,  large  of  frame, 
with  a  russet-brown  skin,  soft  blue  eyes  and  a  cheery  smile,  he 
seemed  at  the  age  of  fifteen  like  a  tropical  plant  which  had  very 
little  to  be  admired  in  it  but  the  rapidity  of  its  growth  and  the 
luxuriant  softness  of  its  vitality. 

Yet  Lar'  Dase  was  a  favorite  with  his  playmates.  The 
little  fellows,  accustomed  to  scamper  over  moor  and  bog,  to  play 
"  hunt  the  hare "  and  "  rounders,"  had  keen  powers  of  analysis 


LAK   DASE.  369 

and  plenty  of  opportunity  to  discover  in  one  another  the  ring  of 
the  true  metal.  They  all  regarded  Lar'  as  a  true  friend,  an 
honest  foe,  a  good-tempered  and  long-enduring  competitor  in  their 
games  and  a  fellow,  as  one  of  them  said,  "the  thrack  of  whose 
tongue  was  never  found  wherever  the  hard  word  was  passed  upon 
any  of  those  who  wint  wid  'im."  And  this,  be  it  said,  was  a  first- 
class  certificate  of  excellence  for  the  lone  widow's  son.  The  court 
had  jurisdiction,  the  witnesses  were  not  tampered  with,  the 
evidence  was  complete  and  the  verdict  was — well,  it  was  a  joy  to 
Mrs.  Dase's  heart  and  a  solace  in  her  sad  bereavement.  To 
know  that  everybody  liked  her  boy  and  that  he  was  always  so 
gentle  and  so  dutiful  to  her  was  enough  to  make  her  forget  the 
gloom  of  the  struggling  present  and  look  forward  in  hope  to  the 
coming  of  the  bright  future.  Already,  even,  the  clouds  began  to 
lift :  for  there  were  rumors  in  the  air  that  Miss  Mary,  who  had 
just  come  home  from  a  three  years'  pursuit  of  accomplishments 
and  the  extras  in  a  great  convent,  was  looking  out  for  a  likely 
boy  to  "  drive  her  own  car  and  post  her  own  letters  and  carry  her 
own  messages,"  and  good  Mrs.  Dase  had  grounds  for  hoping  that 
the  choice  might  fall  upon  Larrence. 

But  who  was  Miss  Mary  ? 

She  was  the  only  child  of  the  "strongest  farmer  in  the 
barony,"  Mr.  Plunket ;  whose  strength,  it  may  be  observed,  was 
not  estimated  by  his  rural  judges  according  to  the  power  of  thews 
and  muscles,  but  rather  according  to  the  abundance  of  his  earthly 
possessions  and  to  his  supposed  security  of  holding  on  to  them. 
He  was  "  well  off  but  not  the  laste  bit  uppish,"  was  the  unanimous 
opinion  about  him  among  his  neighbors.  Always  a  large 
employer  and  a  "  good  pay "  and  a  kind  master,  he  had  many  a 
prayer  going  up  for  him  and  his  from  many  a  rude  fireside,  where 
the  warmth  of  the  "  turf"  was  as  nothing  to  the  glowing  devoted- 
ness  of  the  hearts  which  treasured  the  memory  of  his  good  deeds. 
Small  wonder,  then,  that  Miss  Mary  started  out  in  life  as  a 
favorite,  or  that  coming  from  such  a  stock  she  found  it  an  easy 
matter  to  reign  as  queen  of  hearts  among  her  country  neighbors. 

"  You  wouldn't   guess  what  ?"  said   Judy  Lynch  to  Mary 


37O  LAK   DASE. 

Grimes  one  morning  as  they  came  out  from  the  nine  o'clock  Mass, 
with  the  holy  water  still  glistening  like  dew-drops  upon  their 
foreheads. 

"  What  ?"  said  the  other,  snappishly. 

"  Well,  I  can't  tell  fortunes,  nor  I  can't  ravel  dhrames  but, 
betune  you  and  me,  Mary,  it's  a  moral  that  Lar'  Dase  is  goin'  to 
dhrive  Miss  Mary's  car ;  for  Miss  Mary  herself  was  there  yisther- 
day,  and  whin  she  was  goin'  over  the  stile,  sez  she  to  Mrs.  Dase : 
'  send  him  up  anyhow  and  I'll  see '." 

"  Musha,  thin,  I  don't  care  if  they'd  make  him  Lord  Liftin- 
nint  o'  the  land,  av  I  can  only  have  my  ears  rested  from  this 
ding-dong  and  hullabulloo  about  Lar'  Dase  and  his  mother  every 
day  iv  me  life.  Purty  coachman  he'll  make,  won't  he,  wid  a 
face  on  him  as  freckled  as  a  stone  o'  bran  !" 

"  But  don't  you  think  he's  a  likely  boy,  Mary  ?" 

"Well,  likely  enough,  for  that  matther,  but  I  want  to  be 
done  o'  thim." 

Scarcely  had  the  words  passed  from  the  dyspeptic,  or  the 
disappointed,  Mary  Grimes,  when  down  the  road  came  at  a  rattling 
pace  a  handsome  "Croydon"  with  a  splendid  Cushendall  pony 
between  the  shafts  and  Lar'  Dase  holding  the  reins,  as  if  he  were 
driving  for  record  and  reputation  at  the  same  time. 

"  There  he  is,  sure  enough  !"  said  Judy  Lynch,  "  as  bowld  as 
a  ram  and  as  handy  as  a  jockey  in  the  way  he  sits  and  howlds  the 
reins." 

"Arra,  much  good  it'll  do  him  in  the  performance ;  but  wait 
till  you  see  what'll  cum  ov  it." 

Miss  Mary,  in  her  handsome  Croydon,  and  with  her  splendid 
cream-colored  pony,  "twelve  hands  high  with  black  mane  and 
tail,"  had  driven  in  to  Stephen  Byrne's  harness  shop  to  get  a 
suitable  outfit  for  Lar'  Dase.  And,  as  luck  would  have  it,  there 
was  on  hand  just  the  rig  that  suited — a  suit  of  pilot-blue  with 
brass  buttons  and  every  quill  in  the  cockade  of  his  hat  set  in  order. 
Emerging  from  the  harness-maker's,  Lar'  was  perfect,  and  Miss 
Mary  was  more  than  delighted  with  his  appearance  and  his 
demeanor.  Whatever  Mary  Grimes  had  to  say  about  the  Dase 


LAK   DASE.  371 

family  concerned  her  not :  she  was  satisfied  with  Lar'  Dase  in 
particular.  He  drove  well  and,  in  his  livery,  looked  well :  his 
unlettered  condition  she  would  change  and  upon  his  supposed 
ignorance  she  would  make  war. 

in. 

But  did  Miss  Mary  know  what  she  had  to  confront?  Yes, 
and  no.  She  knew  that  he  was  ignorant  and  uneducated,  but  she 
had  had  no  means  of  estimating  how  far  oif  the  poor  fellow  was 
from  all  that  she  had  been  led  to  consider  as  the  heritage  of  the 
most  ignorant.  He  did  not  know  even  the  letters  of  the  alphabet. 
However,  from  the  very  first  lesson  that  she  gave,  two  things 
became  very  clear  to  Miss  Mary  :  poor  Lar'  was  intensely  eager  to 
learn,  and  he  was  in  downright  earnest  about  asking  the  Lord  to 
help  him  in  the  struggle.  With  these  two  powerful  aids,  and  with 
so  patient  a  guide,  the  opening  of  the  campaign  against  ignorance 
was  promising.  Regularly  every  evening,  for  about  two  hours, 
the  drilling  went  on,  and  very  soon  the  most  gratifying  results  had 
been  attained.  Lar'  Dase,  with  the  help  of  a  "  pointer  "  or,  as  he 
called  it,  a  "feck,"  could  steer  his  way  through  a  column  of 
spelling  or  through  the  "Read-o'  med'  aisy,"  with  a  certain  amount 
of  security,  but  yet  with  as  much  need  of  caution  as  Napoleon 
had  when  crossing  the  Alps.  The  way  was  rocky  and  steep 
and  unfamiliar. 

There  was  one  branch  of  knowledge  in  which  his  progress 
was  not  only  rapid  but  marvellous.  The  innocent  life  of  rustic 
simplicity  that  he  had  led,  his  filial  obedience  and  his  unbroken 
gentleness  of  thought  and  speech,  had  prepared  the  way  for  relig- 
ious training  by  keeping  the  soul  free  from  the  worst  obstacles  to 
divine  grace.  His  prayers  and  catechism  were  learned  with  ease 
and  accuracy ;  so  that,  at  the  end  of  the  first  year  of  Miss  Mary's 
tuition,  when  the  Bishop  came  to  give  Confirmation  in  the  parish, 
Lar'  answered  every  question  put  to  him  in  such  a  way  as  to  win 
warm  approval  from  Father  Haley  and  his  Lordship. 

I  must  mention  here  that  in  a  spiritual  retreat  which  Miss 
Mary  had  made  during  her  last  year  in  the  convent,  good  Father 


372  LAK   DASE. 

Ronan  had  spoken  most  touchingly  about  a  book  quite  recently 
published  by  Father  Ramiere,  and  about  the  great  part  which  the 
Apostleship  of  Prayer  was  to  take  in  spreading  the  devotion  to 
the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus.  She  became  the  owner  of  a  copy  of 
that  great  book,  and  also  of  a  Manual  of  Devotion  to  the  Sacred 
Heart.  From  both  she  skilfully  culled  little  items  of  instruction 
for  her  delighted  pupil ;  explained  the  devotion  as  carefully  as  she 
could,  and  taught  him  ever  so  many  short  prayers  and  ejaculations. 
Indeed,  he  became,  in  a  short  while,  quite  an  adept  in  pious  lore. 
And  his  piety  was  of  that  wholesome,  cheery  kind  which  made 
him  better  in  every  way.  In  work  and  at  play ;  with  his  mother, 
his  employer,  his  companions,  he  was  always  the  soul  of  earnest- 
ness and  a  pattern  of  good-heartedness. 

But,  alas !  upon  the  hitherto  unclouded  path  of  Lar'  Dase's 
life  a  terrible  shadow  was  soon  to  fall.  His  good  and  devoted 
mother  was  taken  suddenly  ill  during  Mass  one  morning,  and  the 
doctor  had  decided  that  her  life  could  be  counted  upon  for  a  few 
days  at  most.  The  son  hurried  at  once  to  her  bedside  and  the 
friendly  women  assembled  there  laughed  with  genuine  delight 
through  their  tears  of  sorrow,  when  they  saw  the  delicate  skill 
and  the  soothing  love  with  which  the  big  fellow  endeavored  to 
comfort  his  mother.  There  was  none  of  that  wild  untamable 
anguish  which  is  oftentimes  so  great  a  cruelty  in  a  sick-room  :  but, 
of  course,  there  is  no  blame  attached  when  grief  dislodges  self- 
control.  Here  was  this  large-framed  young  man,  just  verging 
upon  nineteen  years,  in  whom  the  teaching  and  example  of  a 
zealous  Christian  maiden  had  wrought  truly  marvellous  effects. 

Entering  the  room  with  gentle  step,  he  soothed  his  mother's 
brow  with  a  loving  hand,  and  spoke  to  her  in  that  muffled,  crooning 
sound  of  condoling  affection  which  a  mother  uses  toward  a  suffer- 
ing child.  And  such  words  as  he  spoke,  so  full  of  encouragement 
and  sympathy  !  And  such  beautiful  little  prayers  as  he  whispered 
into  her  ear  !  He  repeated  to  her,  at  well-timed  intervals,  many 
of  the  ejaculations  Miss  Mary  had  taught  him ;  and  he  spoke  of 
the  merciful  love  of  the  Sacred  Heart  for  us,  and  the  unbounded 
confidence  we  ought  to  have  in  that  love.  The  mother,  suffering 


LAK   DASE.  373 

in  body  but  overjoyed  in  her  soul,  stood  him  out  at  arm's-length 
from  her  and,  gazing  on  him  with  the  steady  intentness  of  a  dying 
person,  said : 

"  Larrence,  my  darlin'  boy,  the  pride  o'  my  life  and  the  joy 
o'  my  heart,  where  did  you  learn  all  the  beautiful  things  you're 
after  sayin'  to  me  ?  Sure,  an'  I  could  die  contint  if  I  thought  my 
boy  'ud  be  always  what  he  is  now." 

"  Well,  Mother  dear,  you  know  that  after  yourself  there's 
only  one  person,"  said  he,  pointing  in  the  direction  of  Plunket's 
house,  "  that  would  have  done  so  much  for  me  and  you.  And 
here  I  kneel  before  you  and  promise  that  I  will  always  be  to  you 
what  I  am  to-day.  And  may  the  Lord  enable  me  to  keep  my 
promise  !" 

Then  the  pious  mother,  fast  fading  away,  laid  both  her 
hands  in  silent  blessing  upon  the  head  of  her  son.  Tears  of 
reverent  sorrow  rolled  down  the  cheeks  of  the  beholders ;  and 
Lar'  Dase  all  broken  with  intense  grief  stole  quietly  from  the 
room,  so  as  not  to  disturb  his  dying  mother  by  the  vehemence  of 
his  outburst.  When  he  came  back  again,  after  half  an  hour's 
absence,  she  had  passed  into  the  house  of  her  eternity. 

Standing  by  the  bed  of  death,  like  a  ministering  angel — 
pale,  composed,  sorrowing  but  serene  and  preternatural ly  calm — 
was  Miss  Mary.  Turning  toward  him,  as  he  entered,  she  spoke 
to  him  like  an  inspired  prophetess  : 

"  Poor  boy,  if  I  have  ever  taught  you  anything  true  or  good, 
now  is  the  time  to  show  that  you  have  learned  it.  A  dreadful 
sorrow  has  fallen  upon  you,  but  prepare  for  others ;  for  sorrow 
never  comes  to  one  singly." 

She  spoke  no  other  word,  but  strode  from  the  chamber  of 
death,  under  the  admiring  gaze  and  whispered  blessings  of  the 
beholders. 

The  widow  Dase  was  laid  peacefully  in  the  village  church- 
yard ;  and  the  immense  throng  of  people  who  had  come  from  all 
the  country  around,  as  a  tribute  of  respect  to  the  widow  and  her 
son,  stood  with  uncovered  heads,  whilst  Father  Haley  sprinkled 
her  grave  with  holy  water  and  prayed  the  last  prayer  of  the 
Church :  "  Let  her  rest  in  peace." 


374  LAK   DASE. 

IV. 

Lar'  Dase  bore  up  like  a  Christian  hero  and,  early  next 
morning,  waited  upon  Miss  Mary  to  learn  of  her  what  shape  his 
next  sorrow  was  to  wear. 

She  proved  to  be  on  this  occasion,  as  at  all  times,  both  brief 
and  clear  in  the  information  she  had  to  impart.  Her  good  father, 
through  an  overweening  friendship  for  his  struggling  neighbors, 
had  been  accustomed,  for  years,  to  indorse  notes  of  accommodation 
varying  in  value  from  a  twenty-pound  note  to  five  hundred ;  and 
now  the  end  had  come,  and  the  bank  was  about  to  foreclose  its 
mortgages.  She,  of  course,  was  about  to  practise  a  strict  economy 
and  would  no  longer  stand  in  need  of  his  services. 

"But,  Miss  Mary,"  said  the  poor  heart-broken  fellow, 
"  I  will  stand  by  you  and  the  master  forever,  without  any  wages 
at  all." 

"  No,"  she  said,  "  you  will  do  nothing  of  the  kind  :  you  will 
go  seek  better  fortune  in  a  happier  land." 

"  Well,  Miss,"  said  he,  "  it  wouldn't  seem  natural  for  me  to 
go  agin'  anything  you  say." 

"Here,  then,"  she  said  as  if  expecting  such  ready  com- 
pliance, "  is  an  intermediate  passage  ticket  by  the  steamship  City 
of  Rome  for  New  York,  and  here,  also,  is  a  draft  for  forty  dollars 
upon  Henderson  Brothers — your  own  money  earned  by  faithful 
and  devoted  service  to  me  and  my  father.  More  than  this,  I  give 
you  a  letter  to  Father  McKillion,  of  New  York,  who  will  befriend 
you  in  every  way  possible." 

"  Miss  Mary,"  said  the  astounded  Lar5  whom  the  rapidity 
and  multitude  of  details  had  almost  stricken  dumb — "  Miss 
Mary,  I'll  stand  by  your  advice  to  the  letter,  but  there's  just 
one  thing  I'd  like  to  have  before  goin'  so  far  away.  You  were 
always  an  angel  of  light  to  me  and  now — I  want — your — bless- 
ing," said  he,  dropping  reverently  upon  his  knees. 

"  Oh  !"  said  she,  with  an  effort  at  merriment  in  her  tone, 
"  you  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  yourself  kneeling  to  me.  Ask  the 
Lord  to  bless  you  and,  I  am  sure,  He  will.  There,  God  bless 
you  !"  She  shook  him  warmly  by  the  hand  and  was  gone. 


LAK   DASE.  375 

Lar'  Dase,  in  due  time,  sailed  on  the  magnificent  City  of 
Rome  and  reached  New  York  without  any  incident  worth  record- 
ing, save  the  splendid  reputation  he  had  won  among  the  passengers 
for  his  fine  physical  strength  and  great  regularity  of  devotion 
every  day.  He  called  without  delay  on  Father  McKillion  and 
found  that  gentleman  as  kind  to  him  as  if  he  were  Miss  Mary's 
brother. 

"  Now,"  said  he,  "  I  don't  know  what  I  can  do  for  you  just 
at  present.  If  you  could  drive  a  lady's  carriage  I  could  get 
you  a  splendid  position,  right  away,  at  fifty  dollars  a  month  and 
found." 

"  Your  Reverence,"  said  Lar',  "  if  I  can't  drive  a  lady's  car- 
riage, there  isn't  any  ladies  livin',  because  I  used  to  be  drivin' 
Miss  Mary  and,  I'm  sure,  New  York  hasn't  her  equal." 

"That's  first-rate,"  said  Father  McKillion ;  "just  you  call  at 
this  address  and  hand  in  my  card." 

He  did  call  and  was  engaged  forthwith.  Very  soon  he  had 
learned  the  names  of  the  streets  and  proved  himself  to  be  one  of 
the  finest-looking  and  most  careful  coachmen  in  New  York. 
Always  good-tempered,  smiling  and  accommodating,  he  delighted 
his  employer ;  and  Nora,  from  the  kitchen,  was  able  to  tell  her 
mistress : 

"  Bedad,  Ma'am,  you  have  a  grand  coachman  at  last.  He's 
kindness  itself  to  all  of  us  and  he's  just  as  good  and  pious  as  a 
monk." 

His  days  passed  pleasantly  enough,  though  he  sighed  for 
the  old  land  and  would  fain  drop  a  tear  on  the  grave  of  his 
mother. 

And  thus  two  years  went  by.  One  day,  however,  whilst  he 
sat  on  his  box  outside  a  fashionable  milliner's  on  Sixteenth  Street, 
he  saw  a  lady  crossing  the  street  toward  the  church,  whilst  an 
express-wagon  was  coming  along  at  a  furious  pace.  The  woman 
halted,  wavered,  moved  on  blindly — and  the  shaft  of  the  wagon 
struck  her  !  Immediately,  there  was  a  crowd  assembled,  and  in  the 
crowd  was  Father  McKillion  himself.  He  was  eagerly  asking : 
"  Is  she  a  Catholic  ?"  just  as  Lar'  Dase,  who  had  rushed  from  his 


376  THE  MORNING   OFFERING. 

box  and  cast  one  look  of  astonishment  at  the  prostrate  figure,  cried 
out: 

"  My  God,  Father,  it's  Miss  Mary  herself :  she's  an  angel !" 
She  was  taken  up  and  tenderly  cared  for.     For  some  days 
she  lingered  between  life  and  death ;  and  every  day  one  faithful 
friend  called  to  inquire  about  her  condition.     During  her  conva- 
lescence, she  said,  with  a  smile,  to  her  spiritual  consoler : 

"Well,  Father,  I  am  a  living  proof  of  the  truth  of  the 
promise  made  to  Blessed  Margaret  Mary.  I  tried  to  promote 
devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart  in  one  soul,  and  now  I  am  indebted 
for  the  blessing  of  the  last  Sacraments  and  for  many  other 
blessings  to  the  providential  presence  of  my  former  pupil,  Lar' 
Dase." 


THE  MORNING   OFFERING. 
A  FIFTH  DIALOGUE. 

DlSCIPLE.  I  am  almost  afraid  to  go  on  asking  questions 
about  this  wonderful  Morning  Offering.  The  more  I  learn  of  it, 
the  more  I  see  how  it  reaches  down  to  the  most  mysterious  depths 
of  life. 

Teacher.  It  is  very  wonderful,  as  you  say;  and  this  is 
because  of  the  mystery  of  life.  We  are  here  in  the  midst  of 
things  which  we  see ;  and  it  would  seem  that  these  visible  things 
should  take  up  all  our  attention.  A  Morning  Plan  to  manage 
the  affairs  of  the  day  would  naturally  be  more  to  our  purpose 
than  a  Morning  Offering ;  but  just  because  there  are  invisible 
things  surrounding  us  at  every  moment,  quite  like  the  air  we 
breathe,  and  drawing  us  to  themselves  by  a  subtle  influence 
which  we  scarcely  feel,  there  is  need  of  this  Morning  Offering. 
Every  man  wills  for  the  day  which  is  seen,  but  the  Christian  walls 
also  for  the  day  which  is  not  seen.  To  use  St.  Paul's  image,  he 
is  on  one  side  of  the  veil ;  as  he  walks  along  through  life  he  can 


THE  MORNING   OFFERING.  377 

reach  out  with  his  hand  and  almost  touch  the  folds  which  screen 
the  unseen  life  from  his  gaze.  Within  the  veil  he  knows  that  the 
true  life  is  Jived,  and  by  his  will  and  desire  he  reaches  out  to  it. 
The  Morning  Offering  is  an  effort  to  sum  up  all  the  activity  of 
the  will  for  each  coming  day  and  to  project  it,  as  it  were,  into 
that  mysterious  but  true  life  which  is  so  near  us,  yet  hidden  from 
us,  but  to  which  we  hope  to  come. 

Disciple.  I  have  begun  seeing  something  of  this,  and  I  am 
much  struck  with  the  seeming  simplicity  of  life  from  this  point 
of  view.  Everything  seems  to  be  brought  back  to  the  activity  of 
the  will. 

leacher.  Yes,  and  in  more  ways  than  one.  The  will  of 
man  unites  with  the  wills  of  men  around  him  and  of  Saints  and 
Angels  above  him  in  one  common  reaching  out  to  the  great  will 
of  God,  which  is  in  all  things  and  in  all  times.  This  is  the 
summing  up  of  the  spiritual  life  made  by  the  famous  Franciscan 
Saint,  Brother  Giles, — una  Uni — "  the  one  soul  to  the  one  God." 

All  the  rest  of  our  life  is  more  or  less  a  matter  of  necessity. 
Our  natural  character,  at  the  beginning  at  least,  depends  on  the 
body  we  have  received  ;  our  health  depends  on  food  and  weather 
and  occupation ;  and  our  education  and  training  for  active  life 
come  largely  to  us  without  any  will  of  our  own.  So  that  all 
which  is  really  ours  is  the  action  of  our  will  in  the  thousand  and 
one  particular  occasions  of  each  day  where  we  have  the  choice  of 
doing  this  or  that,  or  simply  of  doing  nothing,  set  before  us. 
The  working  of  our  will  is  therefore  everything  to  us,  so  far  as 
we  are  men ;  just  as  the  working  of  God's  will  is  everything  in 
creation. 

Now  the  Morning  Plan  would  provide  only  for  the  working 
of  the  will  in  things  which  are  merely  of  time  and  pass  with  the 
day  itself.  But  the  Morning  Offering  provides  for  the  working 
of  the  will  where  it  reaches  out  to  God's  own  eternity  and  to 
things  that  do  not  pass.  This  is  why  the  Morning  Offering  really 
amounts  to  a  union  of  our  own  will  with  all  that  is  good  in  the 
universe,  with  the  will  of  God  everywhere  working,  with  the  will 
of  Saints  and  Angels — the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect,  and 


378  THE  MORNING   OFFERING. 

imperfect  souls  striving  after  good  here  on  earth — the  one  soul 
giving  all  the  actions  of  its  will  to  unite  with  all  the  activity  of 
God's  universe  in  glorifying  the  one  God.  Now  the  glory  of  the 
one  God  is  the  working  out  of  the  one  Divine  "Will. 

Disciple.  I  should  like  to  take  up  that  thought.  And  a& 
this  is  the  month  of  May,  which  is  consecrated  to  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  could  you  not  work  out  for  me  the  application  of  your 
principle  in  those  words  of  the  Morning  Oifering  by  which  our 
"  prayers,  works  and  sufferings "  are  presented  to  our  Lord 
"through  the  Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary"? 

Teacher.  This  is  a  true  example  of  our  will  reaching 
within  the  veil  by  faith,  and  of  the  union  of  created  wills  in  the 
desire  of  working  out  the  infinite  will  of  God  the  Creator.  This 
has  been  given  us  by  St.  Paul  as  the  foundation  of  our  Apostle- 
ship  of  Prayer.  I  desire,  therefore,  first  of  all  that  supplications,, 
prayers,  intercessions,  and  thanksgivings  be  made  for  all  men  :• 
.  for  this  is  good  and  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  God  our 
Saviour,  Who  will  have  all  men  to  be  saved,  and  to  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth.  For  there  is  one  God,  and  one  Mediator  of 
God  and  men,  the  Man  Christ  Jesus,  Who  gave  Himself  a  redemp- 
tion for  all.  .  .  .  I  will,  therefore,  that  men  pray  in  every 
place  (I.  Timothy,  ii.). 

Disciple.  That  seems  to  me  a  very  beautiful  reason  why  the 
Blessed  Mother  should  unite  her  intercession  with  ours — -for  all 
men — since  she  is  the  Mother  of  Him  Who  gave  Himself  a  redemp- 
tion for  all. 

Teacher.  Yes,  this  is  at  the  foundation  of  our  devotion  to- 
the  Blessed  Virgin.  It  is  a  devotion  of  fellow-feeling,  as  for  a 
tender  mother  who  is  all  our  own.  She  is  of  our  own  family,  and 
shares  in  all  our  interests ;  and  through  her  alone  are  we  blood- 
relations  of  Jesus  Christ.  "Whatever  we  do  in  union  with  her,  we 
do  as  one  of  the  great  family  of  mankind — along  with  all  our 
brethren  and  for  every  man  that  comes  into  the  world,  even  for 
those  pagan  kings  for  whom  St.  Paul  bade  the  Christians  pray. 

Disciple.  It  has  always  struck  me  there  was  a  special 
Providence  in  spreading  certain  devotions  to  the  Blessed  Virgin, 


THE  MORNING   OFFERING.  379 

among  Christians — they  so  bring  her  example  down  into  our 
common  every-day  life.  There  is  the  prayer  of  the  Angelus,  for 
instance.  The  texts  which  make  it  up  are,  I  suppose,  as  well 
known  by  ordinary  Catholics  as  any  words  of  Scripture.  Now 
they  remind  us  precisely  of  the  fact  that  the  great  God  Himself 
treats  with  the  free  will  of  His  creatures,  and  does  not  force  even 
Jesus  Christ,  His  Son,  upon  us  against  our  wills.  The  Angel  is 
sent  to  declare  to  Mary  that  the  Son  of  God  shall  be  born  of  her. 
But  this  is  not  to  be  done  until  she  has  given  her  free  consent. 
Then  she  answers  :  Behold  ike  handmaid  of  the  Lord,  be  it  done 
to  me  according  to  thy  word.  In  Father  Pinamonti's  book  on 
The  Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary,  which  you  have  published,  I  see 
that  you  have  added  a  note  on  this  very  point.  I  have  taken  the 
pains  to  copy  it. 

This,  though  in  infinitely  less  measure,  is  the  history  of  the 
workings  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  meritorious  acts  of  every 
Christian.  First,  by  God's  great  goodness  the  Christian  has  been 
put  in  the  state  of  grace.  Then  the  actual  grace  of  God  is 
bestowed  on  him,  enlightening  the  understanding  and  giving 
strength  to  the  will.  But  after  all  this  the  free  will  must  act  and 
consent,  as  did  the  Blessed  Virgin,  to  be  the  servant  of  the  Lord. 
For  this  reason,  perhaps,  Providence  has  put  these  words  of  Mary, 
on  which  her  merit  is  based,  in  the  mouths  of  all  Christians  in  the 
daily  prayer  of  the  Angelus. 

Teacher.  You  would  find  in  the  same  book  certain  words  of 
the  author  which  show  that  he  too  had  in  his  mind  the  importance 
of  bringing  back  all  our  devotion  and  piety  to  the  exercise  of  the 
will.  They  throw  considerable  light  on  the  meaning  of  the  word 
"  heart "  in  various  practices  of  piety.  They  are  in  his  Introduc- 
tion. 

What  do  we  understand  here  by  "heart"? 

In  the  Sacred  Scriptures  the  heart  is  often  taken  for  the  will, 
and  at  times  for  all  the  inner  faculties  of  the  soul.  This  is  the 
moral  sense  of  the  word ;  and  we  shall  often  use  it  to  signify  the 
will  and  interior  dispositions  of  the  Blessed  Virgin. 

This   is  also  the  way  of  treating   the   true   Christian  life 


38O  THE  READER. 

adopted  by  the  Saints.     You  will  find  it  in  this  handsome  new 
volume  of  the  English  translation  of  St.  John  of  the  Cross : 

I  cannot  find  a  better  authority  than  that  contained  in 
Deuteronomy :  Thou  shall  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  thy  whole 
heart,  and  with  thy  whole  soul,  and  with  thy  whole  strength.  This 
is  all  that  the  spiritual  man  ought  to  do — and  all  that  I  am  teach- 
ing him — that  he  may  truly  draw  near  unto  God  in  the  union  of 
the  will  with  God  in  love.  Man  is  here  bidden  to  employ  for 
God  all  his  faculties  and  desires,  all  the  functions  and  affections  of 
the  soul,  so  that  all  the  skill  and  all  the  strength  of  the  soul  may 
minister  to  no  other  end  than  this,  as  the  Psalmist  says :  I  will 
keep  my  strength  to  Thee.  The  strength  of  the  soul  consists  in  its 
powers,  passions  and  desires,  all  of  which  are  governed  by  the 
will.  But  when  the  will  directs  these  powers,  passions  and 
desires  to  God,  and  turns  them  away  from  all  that  is  not  God,  it 
then  keeps  the  strength  of  the  soul  for  God,  and  loves  Him  with 
its  whole  strength. 


THE   READER. 


Mr.  Caryl  Coleman  has  woven,  for  the  May-month,  the  fol- 
lowing Garland  for  Our  Lady/rom  Non-Catholic  Hands. 

There  are  practices  and  customs  to  be  found  among  men  of 
every  nation,  which  involve  Catholic  doctrines  of  great  moment, 
although  unknown  to  those  performing  them. 

When  some  one,  who  is  dear  to  the  living,  is  called  away 
from  this  life,  the  survivors  spontaneously  follow  the  beloved 
beyond  the  portals  of  death  with  kind  wishes  for  the  eternal 
welfare  of  the  departed  :  "  God  have  mercy  upon  him  !"  • "  May 
he  be  happy  !"  v 

What  is  this  but  prayers  for  the  dead  ? 

When  the  soul  is  weighed  down  with  sin,  and  the  conscience 
is  awake  to  its  enormity,  the  sinner  voluntarily  turns  to  those 
whom  he  believes  to  be  good  and  pure  in  the  sight  of  God,  asking 
them  to  pray  for  him. 


THE  READER.  381 

What  is  this  but  the  invocation  of  Saints  ?  For  it  is  clear 
that  the  invocation  of  Saints  stands  or  falls  with  the  doctrine  of  the 
mediatorship  of  prayer.  Truly  the  only  difference  between  asking 
a  living  saint  to  pray  for  us  and  a  dead  one  is  the  difference  of 
location. 

When  men,  non-Catholics,  have  a  sincere  love  for  the 
Redeemer,  when  our  Blessed  Lord  is  the  Man  Jesus :  the  Incar- 
nate God  to  them  and  not  an  idea,  an  image  existing  only  in  their 
mind,  they  naturally  love  all  He  loved,  therefore  they  often  turn 
to  our  Lady  in  praise  and  song. 

What  is  this  but  the  beginning  of  devotion  to  the  Holy 
Mother  of  God? 

With  the  poets  this  inceptive  devotion  wells  up  freely  from 
their  hearts,  like  the  crystal  waters  of  some  sequestered  mountain 
spring,  making  all  about  green  with  graceful  ferns  and  pied  with 
many  a  bright  colored  flower. 

This  was  brought  forcibly  to  my  mind  of  late  when  scanning 
a  number  of  poetry  books  written  by  non-Catholic  poets ;  and 
there,  in  the  sweet  garden  of  poesy,  I  saw  many  a  flower  lifting 
its  head  in  praise  toward  our  dear  Mother,  ones  that  would  take 
their  place  in  a  chaplet  of  prayer  as  readily  as  if  they  were  the 
outcome  of  Catholic  minds. 

Here  is  one  of  them,  from  Donne,  upholding  the  Immaculate 
Conception  and  setting  forth  the  power  of  the  Virgin  Mother  with 
her  Divine  Son : 

In  that,  0  Queen  of  Queens,  thy  birth  was  free 

From  that  which  others  doth  of  Grace  bereave, 

When  in  their  Mother's  womb  they  life  receive, 

God,  as  His  sole-born  Daughter,  loved  thee. 

For  that  fair  Blessed  Mother-Maid— whose  flesh  redeemed  us ; 

Our  zealous  thanks  we  pour.    As  her  deeds  were 

Our  help,  so  are  her  prayers ;  nor  can  she  sue 

In  vain,  who  hath  titles  unto  you. 

And  another,  from  Keble,  showing  that  Mary  was  well  fitted  to 
be  the  Mother  of  the  Lamb  of  God  : 

His  Throne,  thy  bosom  blest, 

O  Mother  undented — 

That  throne,  if  aught  beneath  the  skies, 

Beseems  the  Sinless  Child. , 


382  THE  READER. 

Then  again  he  says : 

Thy  vision — (whoso  chides  may  blame 

The  instinctive  Teachings  of  the  Altar-flame) 

Shows  thee  above,  in  yon  eternal  air, 

A  holier  Mother,  rapt  in  more  prevailing  prayer. 

On  the  Motherhood  and  womanhood  of  our  Lady  the  poet 
Wordsworth  sings  in  the  following  beautiful  lines : 

Mother !   whose  virgin  bosom  was  uncrost 
With  the  least  shade  of  thought  to  sin  allied ! 
Woman  !  above  all  women  glorified  ; 
Our  tainted  nature's  solitary  boast ; 
Purer  than  foam  on  central  ocean  tost ; 
Brighter  than  Eastern  skies  at  daybreak  strewn 
With  fancied  roses,  than  the  unblemish'd  moon 
Before  her  wane  begins  on  heaven's  blue  coast ; 
Thy  image  falls  to  earth. 

Now  if  we  turn  to  prayers,  what  could  be  more  Catholic 
than  this  one  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  addressed  to  the  "  Refugium 

peccatorum"? 

' 

Ave  Maria  !   maiden  mild  ! 

Listen  to  a  maiden's  prayer ; 

Thou  canst  hear  though  from  the  wild, 

Thou  canst  save  amid  despair. 

Safe  may  we  sleep  beneath  thy  care, 

Though  banished,  outcast,  and  reviled — 

Maiden  !  hear  a  maiden's  prayer  ; 

Mother,  hear  a  suppliant  child ! 

Ave  Maria ! 

Or  what  could  be  sweeter  than  this  hymn  by  Edgar  Allen 

Poe? 

At  morn — at  noon — at  twilight  dim 
Maria  !   thou  has  heard  my  hymn 
In  joy  and  woe— in  good  and  ill- 
Mother  of  God,  be  with  me  still ! 
When  the  hours  flew  brightly  by 
And  not  a  cloud  obscured  the  sky 
My  soul,  lest  it  should  truant  be. 
The  grace  did  guide  to  thine  and  thee ; 
Now,  when  storms  of  Faye  o'ercast 
Darkly  my  Present  and  my  Past, 
Let  my  Future  radiant  shine 
With  sweet  hopes  of  thee  and  thine. 


THE  READER.  383 

Lastly  listen  to  Ken's  description  of  the  glorious  mystery  of 
the  enthronement  of  the  Queen  of  Heaven : 

When  to  the  grave  she  should  resign  her  clay, 
Exulting  when  the  world  she  was  to  leave 
And  her  Divine  Viaticum  receive, 
Fell  sick  and  died  of  an  excess  of  love, 
Hastening  to  her  restoratives  above. 
Heaven  with  transcendent  joys  her  entrance  graced, 
Next  to  His  throne  her  Son  His  Mother  placed, 
There  below,  now  she's  of  Heaven  possessed, 
All  generations  are  to  call  her  blessed. 

Oh  happy  Virgin  undefiled 
Blessed  Mother  of  a  Blessed  Child. 

As  Shelley  says,  our  Mother  is  a  mirror, 

In  whom,  as  in  the  splendor  of  the  Sun, 

All  shapes  look  glorious  which  thou  gazest  on 

and  every  Catholic  soul  will  understand  the  following  words  of 
Robert  Browning : 

There  is  vision  in  the  heart  of  each, 

Of  Justice,  Mercy,  Wisdom,  Tenderness 

To  wrong  and  pain,  and  knowledge  of  their  cure ; 

And  these  imboded  in  a  Woman's  form, 

That  best  transmits  them  pure,  as  first  received 

From  God  above  her  to  mankind  below ! 

If  those  who  are  outside  the  One  Fold  of  God  can  bring  to 
the  feet  of  the  "  Immaculate  and  Unspotted  Virgin "  a  garland 
of  flowers  of  so  much  beauty,  what  must  we  do,  who  are  of  the 
Household  of  Faith  ?  If  we  are  poets  or  artists  what  a  field  we 
have  before  us.  Even  if  we  are  but  every  day  mortals,  we  can 
at  least  bring  to  her,  who  loves  us  all,  a  garland  of  good  deeds 
bound  together  with  the  ribbon  of  a  pure  life,  and  giving  forth 
the  sweet  perfume  of  a  living  faith. 

*  * 

We  have  at  last  found  a  tale  which  we  can  recommend  to 
every  college  lad,  a  tale  worthy  in  a  measure  to  be  put  side  by  side 
with  that  classic  which  has  charmed  so  many  generations  of  school- 
boys, Tom  Brown  at  Rugby.  Fresh  and  varied  in  incident,  full  of 
a  spirit  of  sturdy  purity  and  manliness,  without  a  bit  of  sermouiz- 


384  THE  EXERCISES  OF  ST.  IGNATIUS. 

ing,  yet  with  a  moral  in  every  chapter,  and  a  moral  drawn  from 
the  teaching  and  the  practices  of  our  holy  religion,  Percy  Wynn 
or  Making  a  Man  of  Him,  is  a  tale  that  every  boy  should  read  and 
which  he  will  be  very  much  the  better  for  having  read.  It  gives 
us  real  pleasure  to  call  the  attention  of  those  in  charge  of  schools 
and  who  will  so  soon  be  choosing  premiums  for  those  under  their 
charge  to  Percy  Wynn.  Every  boy  should  have  a  chance  to 
become  acquainted  with  the  boys  of  St.  Maur,  and  the  heroes  of 
this  tale,  Percy  Wynn  and  Tom  Playfair.  The  book  is  published 
by  Benziger  Bros.,  New  York. 


THE   EXERCISES  OF   ST.   IGNATIUS, 

AND  THE 

DEVOTION  TO  THE  SACRED  HEART  OF  JESUS. 
(From  the  Spanish  Messenger.} 

IV. 

'  T)LESSED  is  he  who  knows  what  it  is  to  love  Jesus  and  to 
L)  despise  himself  for  the  sake  of  Jesus."1  The  profound 
meaning  of  these  words  of  the  author  of  the  Imitation,  it 
may  be  affirmed,  is  practically  explained  and  developed  throughout 
the  whole  book  of  the  Exercises.  The  love  of  Jesus  is  the  object 
upon  which  the  gaze  of  St.  Ignatius  chiefly  rests,  so  much  so  that 
when  it  would  seem  he  should  say  least  to  us  of  His  love,  when 
he  presents  to  us  the  devouring  flames  of  hell  to  awaken  in  our 
souls  a  holy  fear  of  God,  he  reminds  us  in  simple  but  pathetic 
words  that,  even  in  face  of  the  appalling  chastisement  with  which 
God  threatens  the  sinner,  we  must  not  forget  the  love  of  Jesus. 
What  a  loving  petition  is  that  which  he  places  at  the  end  of  the 
meditation  on  hell ! 

"  The  second  prelude :  I  shall  ask  of  God  a  lively  sense  of 
1  Thomas  a  Kempis,  Book  II.  c.  7. 


THE  EXERCISES  OF  ST.  IGNATIUS.  385 

the  pains  of  hell,  so  that  if  ever  on  account  of  my  faults  I  should 
cease  to  be  mindful  of  the  eternal  Lord,  at  least  the  fear  of  tor- 
ments may  deter  me  from  sin."  Golden  words,  upon  which  we 
refrain  to  comment,  not  to  be  too  lengthy  and  that  we  may  be  able 
to  dwell  longer  upon  the  colloquy  of  the  first  meditation  on  sin. 

The  terrible  and  appalling  punishment  of  the  rebel  angels, 
the  fatal  and  bitter  consequences  of  the  sin  of  our  first  parents, 
which  we  as  their  descendants  all  experience,  and  the  eternal  mis- 
fortune of  a  soul  who  by  one  mortal  sin  finds  itself  condemned  to 
the  dark  prison  of  hell  without  hope  of  release,  are  three  points  of 
this  meditation  which,  when  well  made,  cannot  do  less  than  deeply 
impress  the  soul  and  excite  in  him  who  meditates  great  confusion 
and  shame  because  of  his  sins  and  faults.  And  here  is  where  St. 
Ignatius  shows  us  his  exquisite  prudence  and  delicate  skill ;  here 
is  where  he  proves  to  us  clearly  and  evidently  that  the  aim  of  his 
Exercises  is  the  love  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus.  The  exercitant 
frightened  by  the  echo  of  such  terrible  chastisement,  overwhelmed 
by  the  weight  of  his  sins  which  have  excited  the  anger  of  God, 
ready  perhaps  to  launch  upon  the  culprit  the  thunderbolt  of 
divine  wrath,  might  be  overtaken  by  discouragement  and  assailed 
by  despair.  But  St.  Ignatius  hastens  to  his  aid,  and  to  protect 
him  from  this  peril  tells  him,  "  Look  at  thy  Jesus,  contemplate  thy 
Redeemer  fastened  by  three  nails  to  the  holy  wood  of  the  cross. 
Look  well  at  Him  ;  dost  thou  see  Him  ?  His  arms  extended  as 
if  to  tell  thee  that  He  lovingly  awaits  thee  ;  His  head  bowed  to 
give  thee  the  kiss  of  peace  and  pardon ;  His  Heart  open  to  receive 
thee  within  It  and  shelter  thee  from  divine  justice.  For  thee,  thy 
Creator  became  Man ;  for  thee,  Life  and  the  Author  of  all  life 
died  on  the  cross.  This,  and  much  more  has  Christ  done  for  thee, 
and  thou,  what  hast  thou  done  for  Him  ?  What  art  thou  doing  ? 
What  thinkest  thou  to  do  in  the  future  ?  Hast  thou  not  frequently 
offended  Him  ?  Wast  thou  not  ungrateful  for  His  benefits  ?  Hast 
thou  not  repaid  all  this  love  with  disdain  ?  .  .  .  Then  weep  for 
thy  sins,  fear  His  chastisements,  but  above  all  let  thy  breast  be 
rent  with  sorrow,  and  love  with  all  thy  heart  Him  Who  shows  thee 
His  own,  wounded  not  so  much  by  the  lance'of  Longinus,  as  by  the 


386  THE  EXERCISES  OF  ST.   IGNATIUS. 

piercing  dart  of  divine  love."  All  this  and  much  more  which 
might  be  added,  and  which  inflamed  the  breast  of  St.  Ignatius,  this 
lover  of  Jesus  says  to  us  at  the  end  of  this .  meditation,  in  the 
colloquy  placed  on  the  lips  of  the  exercitant. 

We  cannot  resist  giving  the  Saint's  own  w^ords.  They  will 
show  that  we  have  fallen  far  short,  and  that  we  are  above  all  very 
tepid  in  our  interpretation  of  the  sentiments  and  affections  with 
which  they  are  replete : 

"  Colloquy :  Imagining  Christ  our  Lord  before  me,  and 
hanging  on  the  cross,  I  shall  consider  how  He,  the  Creator, 
became  Man ;  He,  Life  eternal,  suffered  temporal  death  and  died 
for  my  sins.  Then  turning  my  eyes  upon  myself,  I  shall  consider 
what  I  have  done  for  Christ ;  and  then  beholding  Him  fastened  to 
the  cross,  I  shall  express  the  sentiments  that  arise  in  my  heart." 

If  St.  Ignatius  thus  incites  and  enkindles  the  love  of  Jesus 
Crucified,  when  the  matter  of  the  meditation,  the  fruit  to  be 
derived,  and  the  primary  object  of  all  the  first  week  neither  ask 
nor  require  it,  what  will  he  do  in  the  series  of  meditations 
expressly  directed  to  knowing  Jesus  Christ,  to  contemplating  the 
enchanting  beauty  of  His  virtues  and  His  perfections,  in  order 
that  we  may  be  inclined  to  follow  the  true  life,  that  we  may  be 
enamored  of  His  Divine  Person,  and  in  a  word  that  we  may  love 
Him  and  increase  more  and  more  in  this  love  which  constitutes 
our  present  glory  and  happiness  as  well  as  our  perfection  and  is 
the  surest  pledge  of  eternal  happiness  ?  Once  we  have  resolved, 
in  the  admirable  meditation  of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ,  to  follow 
and  imitate  in  all  things  this  Divine  Monarch  of  Heaven  and 
earth,  the  intention  of  our  spiritual  guide  is  no  other  than  to 
centre  all  the  means  and  resources  with  which  the  book  abounds 
upon  one  object,  and  this  object  is  clearly  expressed  in  the  third 
prelude  or  petition  of  all  the  meditations.  "  What  must  I  ask  of 
God  as  the  practical  fruit  of  the  meditation  belonging  to  the 
second  week  which  includes  the  private  life  of  Christ?"  St. 
Ignatius  tells  us — knowledge  of  the  interior  of  Jesus  that  we  may 
love  and  follow  Him.  Then  if  the  love  must  correspond  to  the 
knowledge,  and  this  knowledge  as  we  have  already  shown  per- 


THE  EXERCISES  OF  ST.   IGNATIUS.  387 

tains  to  the  interior  of  Christ,  to  His  divine  Heart,  it  clearly 
follows  that  our  love  must  find  its  centre  and  its  rest  in  this  same 
divine  and  adorable  Heart. 

It  follows  no  less  clearly  from  the  words  of  St.  Ignatius  that 
in  the  contemplations  of  the  third  week,  the  principal  theme  of 
which  is  the  Passion  of  Christ,  the  fruit  we  have  to  propose  is  to 
give  strength  and  consistency  to  the  resolutions  we  have  formed 
in  the  second  week,  strengthening  and  confirming  in  our  souls  the 
love  of  Jesus  Christ. 

"  Third  prelude.  I  must  ask  for  that  which  I  want :  the 
especial  grace  I  must  ask  in  the  Passion  is  sorrow  with  Christ  in 
sorrow,  anguish  with  Christ  in  anguish,  tears  and  interior  pain  for 
the  pain  Christ  has  suffered  for  me."  Sorrow  with  Christ  in 
sorrow !  Whither  flows  the  angry  tide  of  pain  and  suffering 
endured  by  Christ?  Into  His  sorrowful  Heart.  And  the 
anguished  sighs  of  the  deep  sadness  which  possessed  the  soul  of 
Christ,  where  do  they  echo  with  sad  resonance  ?  In  His  loving, 
tender  Heart. 

Tears  and  interior  pain  for  the  pain  Christ  has  suffered  for 
me!  Whence  is  the  fount  of  these  precious  tears?  Where  is 
the  bed  of  these  bitter  waters  of  the  sufferings  of  Jesus  ?  In  His 
divine  Heart.  And  what  is  it  to  ask  and  to  desire  to  feel  all  this 
if  it  is  not  to  love  Jesus  with  a  tender,  a  profound  and  efficacious 
love  in  this  symbol  of  His  ardent  charity  for  all  men  ?  We  find 
then,  from  these  fruitful  words  of  St.  Ignatius,  that  the  meditation 
of  the  third  week  may  serve  marvellously  to  enkindle  more  and 
more  in  us  love  of  the  loving  Heart  of  Jesus,  and  that  without 
wresting  the  sense,  but  rather  by  attending  to  the  spirit  of  the 
same  words  of  St.  Ignatius,  we  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion  which 
we  proposed  to  draw. 

Similar  reasoning  will  bring  us  to  the  same  conclusion  in 
treating  of  the  fourth  week,  in  which  are  meditations  upon  the 
glorious  mysteries  of  Christ.  Here  our  guide  desires  that  we 
make  the  following  petition  :  "  Third  prelude :  I  must  ask  for 
that  which  I  want.  I  shall  beg  grace  to  be  intensely  glad  and  to 
rejoice  in  such  great  glory  and  joy  of  Christ  our  Lord."  It  is 


388  THE  EXERCISES  OF  ST.   IGNATIUS. 

clear  that  as  the  suffering,  the  pain,  the  anguish,  the  sorrow  of 
Jesus  reverberated  in  His  Sacred  Heart,  so  the  joy  and  gladness  of 
His  glorious  Resurrection  could  not  but  rejoice  and  flood  It  with 
delight  and  happiness,  so  that  our  Saviour  could  truly  say  like  the 
prophet  king,  "  My  Heart  and  my  flesh  have  rejoiced  in  the  living 
God."  And  as  it  belongs  to  love  to  unite  hearts  in  one  and  the 
same  affection  so  that  when  one  suffers  the  other  suffers,  and  when 
one  rejoices  the  other  rejoices,  we  must  infer  that  love  for  the 
Heart  of  Jesus  will  be  no  less  enkindled  in  us  by  participation  in 
Its  joys  than  by  the  communication  of  Its  sorrows :  in  fact,  the 
soul  rejoicing  in  the  joys  of  the  Heart  of  Jesus,  and  plunged  in 
this  divine  Ocean  of  unutterable  joy  and  ineffable  delight  has 
attained  the  highest  stage  of  the  unitive  life,  the  term  to  which  St. 
Ignatius  would  have  us  aspire  and  to  which  he  guides  us,  detach- 
ing us  from  ourselves,  our  desires  and  our  own  will  to  lead  us  to 
the  summit  of  love  of  God. 

The  contemplation  for  obtaining  love,  with  which  the  author 
of  the  Spiritual  JExercises  concludes  the  meditations  of  the  fourth 
week,  is  one  of  the  most  precious  jewels  of  this  admirable  book. 
Rather  it  is  the  eminently  practical  synthesis  of  the  whole  work. 
In  it  St.  Ignatius  offers  us  at  one  time  the  highest,  the  richest,  the 
most  sublime  sanctity,  which  is  the  love  of  God,  and  the  most 
efficacious  and  conducive  means  of  acquiring  this  precious  pearl. 

In  order  to  do  away  with  every  shadow  of  deception,  and 
solidly  strengthen  him  who  aspires  to  this  exercise  of  divine  love, 
the  flower  and  fruit  of  the  unitive  life,  St.  Ignatius  hastens  to  warn 
him  of  two  things.  First,  that  love  should  be  manifested  more  by 
works  than  words.  Leaving  all  that  might  be  said  by  way  of 
illustration  and  commentary  of  these  words,  permit  us  to  observe 
that  St.  Ignatius  makes  love  consist  also  in  words.  He  does  not 
affirm  absolutely  that  it  must  be  in  words,  only  that  it  must  be 
more  in  works  than  in  words.  And  such  it  is  in  fact.  Divine  love 
is  such  that  it  cannot  be  contained  within  the  narrow  limits  of  the 
human  heart,  it  must  be  revealed  exteriorly.  The  divine  praise  is 
nothing  more  than  the  spontaneous  result,  so  to  speak,  of  this  same 
love,  translated  into  words  which  burst  from  our  lips.  The 


THE  EXERCISES  OF  ST.  IGNATIUS.  389 

second  warning  is  that  "  love  consists  in  the  reciprocal  communi- 
cation of  all  good  things  between  the  persons  who  love  each  other." 
This  communication  of  goods  is  the  consequence  of  love,  which  is 
of  itself  essentially  communicative.  How  much  might  be  said  on 
this  subject !  We  resist,  however,  the  desire  to  paraphrase  the 
words  of  the  author,  as  also  the  impulse  to  do  the  same  with 
the  whole  contemplation,  an  effort  which  would  carry  us  beyond 
the  limits  we  have  prescribed  ourselves. 

How,  according  to  St.  Ignatius,  is  the  love  of  God  to  be 
acquired?  By  recalling  not  only  the  benefits  which  God  has 
bestowed  upon  me  and  each  day  bestows  upon  me,  but  also  His 
ardent  desire  to  give  Himself  to  me  in  so  far  as  He  can  according 
to  His  divine  ordinance ;  beholding  God  present  in  all  creatures 
and  within  myself;  considering  the  solicitude  and  care  of  His 
loving  Providence  which  labors,  so  to  speak,  for  my  good  and 
profit ;  reflecting  finally,  that  all  the  perfections  in  me  and  in  all 
creatures  emanate  from  God,  as  the  rays  of  light  from  the  sun, 
as  streams  from  their  source,  as  cause  from  effect,  as  principles 
from  consequences.  We  have  here  a  summary  of  the  four  points 
into  which  this  contemplation  is  divided  and  which  form  other 
equally  powerful  and  efficacious  motives  with  which  to  excite  in 
our  souls  the  fire  of  divine  love.  But  all  this,  as  the  Saint  warns 
us,  must  be  meditated  and  pondered  with  much  affection.  I  will 
inwardly  reflect  what  I  ought  on  my  side,  with  great  reason  and 
justice,  to  offer  and  give  to  His  divine  Majesty.  In  this  way  one 
becomes  inflamed  with  the  love  of  God  and,  not  being  able  to 
contain  within  his  breast  the  ardent  affection  which  consumes  him, 
he  breaks  out  into  this  fervent  prayer  of  St.  Ignatius  : 

"  Take,  O  Lord,  and  receive  all  my  liberty,  my  understand- 
ing, and  all  my  will,  all  that  I  have  and  possess.  Thou  hast 
given  it  to  me ;  to  Thee,  O  Lord,  I  restore  it ;  all  is  Thine,  dispose 
of  it  according  to  Thy  will.  Give  me  Thy  love  and  Thy  grace, 
for  this  is  enough  for  me." 


GENERAL  INTENTION 

FOR  MAY,    1891. 

Designated  by  His  Holiness,  Leo  XIII. ,  with  his  special  blessing,  and  given  to  His 
Eminence  the  Cardinal  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda — the  Protector  of  the 
League  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  called  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer — -for  recom- 
mendation to  the  prayers  of  the  Associates. 

CHRISTIAN   ARTISTS. 

r  I  ^HE  province  of  Art  is  to  give  expression  to  the  beautiful. 
All  around  us  lie  created  things  whose  beauty  delights  us, 
and  from  which  in  God's  designs  we  are  to  be  led  up  to 
the  knowledge  of  how  much  the  Lord  of  them  is  more  beautiful  than 
they :  for  the  first  Author  of  beauty  made  all  those  things.1  It 
belongs  to  Art  to  recognize  these  traces  of  the  beauty  of  the 
Creator,  and  to  reproduce  them  in  her  works.  Art  then,  if  it  be 
true  to  itself,  has  an  Apostolic  work.  It  is  to  speak  to  us  of  God. 
Not  that  necessarily  it  should  confine  itself  to  themes  distinctively 
pious,  but  that  from  all  its  productions  an  influence  should  come 
into  our  souls,  to  lift  us  above  the  earth  and  all  that  is  of  the 
earth,  earthy,  and  attune  our  minds  and  hearts  to  the  high  thoughts 
of  the  sons  of  God.  This  in  theory  at  least  is  the  high  function  of 
the  Artist,  and  if  we  cannot  exact  from  every  Artist  the  full  reali- 
zation of  his  mission  and  of  the  responsibilities  his  God-given 
talent  or  genius  involves,  we  can  at  least  expect  him  not  to  throw 
in  his  influence  with  those  who  are  drawing  men  away  from  God, 
by  obscuring  the  truth,  or  by  debauching  those  faculties  of  the 
soul  by  which  man  reaches  God,  Who  is  the  True,  the  Good,  the 
Beautiful. 

I. 

The  intention  of  this  month  is  then  not  least  in  importance 
of  those  that  have  been  recommended  to  us  these  past  months. 
Error  and  immorality,  however  skilfully  cloaked  over,  have  many 

1  Wisdom,  xiii.  3. 

390 


GENERAL   INTENTION.  391 

barriers  to  break  down  before  they  gain  an  undisputed  lodgment 
in  the  heart  of  man.  But  Art  is  able  to  carry  the  outposts  of  the 
heart  at  the  first  assault.  Men  will  stop  and  examine  error, 
especially  if  it  be  opposed  to  long-cherished  beliefs,  and  the 
struggle  is  no  slight  one,  which  results  in  an  entire  or  even  a 
partial  abandonment  of  the  principles  of  morality  which  conscience 
endorses  as  true  and  binding ;  but  a  picture,  or  a  statue,  or  a 
musical  composition,  first  leads  the  senses  and  the  imagination 
captive,  and  through  these  the  message  of  the  Artist  is  carried 
warm  and  vivid  to  the  mind  and  the  heart.  If  the  message  be 
pure  and  elevating,  if  it  appeal  to  the  better  side  of  human  nature, 
a  distinct  good  is  done  to  all  who  receive  it ;  they  are  brought  so 
much  nearer  to  God.  If  on  the  contrary  the  message  is  lowering 
and  debasing,  immoral  or  unmoral,  addressed  to  the  lower  instincts 
of  human  nature,  then  a  great  evil  is  done.  For  what  comes  to 
us  through  the  senses  directly  is  at  once  seized  upon,  our  grasp  of 
it  is  strong  and  vivid,  and  so  it  leaves  deep  impressions  on  our 
souls,  which  we  would  oftentimes  give  much  to  be  able  to  remove 
but  cannot. 

II. 

The  ancients  understood  this  thoroughly.  They  had  divined 
the  educational  possibilities  of  Art  and  so  in  the  cities  of  Egypt 
and  of  Greece,  to  speak  but  of  these  two  nations  of  antiquity,  the 
eye  was  met  on  every  side  by  monuments  which  spoke  of  the  hopes 
or  at  least  of  the  ideals  of  the  people,  monuments  which  marked 
the  level  of  culture  and  refinement  the  nation  had  reached  and 
mutely  warned  the  passer-by  of  the  duty  that  was  on  him  to  live 
up  to  these  ideals,  and  not  to  degenerate  from  the  standards  which 
ruled  the  conduct  of  his  fellows. 

And  so,  in  mediaeval  days,  who  can  deny  the  influence  on 
faith  and  morals  of  those  cathedral  piles  whose  pointed  arches  or 
expanded  domes  spoke  each,  in  its  own  way,  of  God  and  heaven, 
where  carved  stalls  and  fretted  arches,  frescoes  and  canvas,  each 
told  a  tale,  each  contributed  a  share  towards  lightening  men's  cares, 
inspiring  fortitude,  arousing  hope,  and  enkindling  charity. 


392  GENERAL   INTENTION. 

ni. 

Art  then  can  do  very  much  to  help  men.  It  can  also  lend 
very  material  aid  to  those  whose  aim  is  to  alienate  men  from  God. 
Which  is  it  doing  ?  As  we  pass  through  the  streets  our  eyes  are 
offended  by  the  monstrous  piles  of  brick  and  mortar  or  stone,  dull, 
dead  and  uniform,  or  plastered  over  with  garish  ornamentation, 
meaningless  and  uninspiring.  Our  churches  are  many  of  them 
barns,  with  no  pretentious  to  fitness  for  the  great  mysteries  that 
are  enacted  within  them,  or  if  they  are  beautiful  without,  the 
altars  within  and  the  interior  in  general  are  such  as  to  shock  and 
disgust  many  and  to  inspire  no  one  with  devotion. 

What  shall  w,e  say  of  our  church  music — not  to  speak  of 
music  in  general?  Instead  of  strains  grave  or  joyous,  as  befits 
time  and  season,  capable  of  moving  the  devout  worshipper  to  tears, 
as  the  church  music  of  his  tune  did  St.  Augustine,  how  often 
the  awful  act  of  Consecration  is  accomplished  amid  the  din  and 
uproar  of  many  voices,  certainly  not  uplifted  in  prayer,  or  else  has 
to  be  postponed,  while  priest  and  adoring  Angels  and  men  wait  for 
the  end  of  the  fugues  and  roulades  of  so-called  sacred  music !  Is 
there  no  mission  here  for  the  Christian  Artist? 

But  these  in  their  way  are  lesser  evils,  because  their  effects 
on  the  soul  are  not  so  palpable.  Our  museums  of  Art  and  our 
schools  of  painting,  are  they  doing  nothing  to  debauch  the  senses  of 
men,  and  to  pave  the  way  for  the  great  apostasy  which  shall 
involve  the  faith  and  the  morals  of  so  many  ?  Only  a  few  weeks 
ago  a  public  protest  was  made  in  one  of  our  large  cities  against 
certain  pictures  exhibited  in  its  Art  Museum.  The  protest  came 
from  Christian  mothers,  and  the  evil  they  deplored  was  the  break- 
ing down  of  the  sense  of  modesty  in  their  sons  and  daughters.  It 
is  idle  to  say  that  Art  has  nothing  to  do  with  morals,  that  Art  is 
unmoral.  It  is  debasing  to  Art  to  say  that  its  sole  aim  is  to 
reproduce  what  is,  and  that  the  more  painstaking  and  minute  the 
reproduction,  the  truer  the  Art.  You  may  have  symmetry  of 
parts  and  perfect  proportion  and  balance  in  a  composition,  draw- 
ing and  coloring  may  leave  nothing  to  desire,  but  if  it  is  repulsive 
to  the  pure-minded  or  the  innocent,  if  it  stirs  the  blood  and  the 


GENERAL  INTENTION.  393 

animal  man  to  life  and  activity,  it  is  not  beautiful  and  it  is  not 
art.  We  might  point  out  also  the  harm  that  sometimes  is  done  by 
illustrated  papers  and  by  the  advertising  placards  and  illustrations 
that  meet  us  everywhere,  in  which  the  aim  of  the  advertisers  seems 
to  be  to  go  as  near  as  they  dare  to  what  is  openly  suggestive  of 
evil. 

IV. 

All  this  marks  a  period  of  decay.  Art  is  being  perverted 
and  made  to  do  the  work  of  the  evil  one.  The  Holy  Father 
points  out  the  sole  remedy  that  is  left  to  Christian  people :  it  is 
prayer  that  God  may  raise  up  men  to  lead  a  crusade  against  false 
Art,  against  debasing  theories,  and  low  standards  of  taste.  What 
we  need  are  men  like  Fra  Angelico,  like  Palestrina.  The  pendu- 
lum has  swung  very  far  in  the  direction  of  error ;  if  we  are  to 
come  back  to  the  just  medium,  it  must  swing  as  far  forward  in 
the  direction  of  the  true  Ideal,  the  Eternal  Word,  the  first 
beginning  and  the  last  end  of  all  created  things. 

The  first  expression  of  the  beauty  and  the  perfection  of  the 
Godhead  was  the  Eternal  Word,  the  brightness  of  the  Father's  glory 
and  the  figure  of  His  substance.3  And  from  the  one  Word  are  all 
things,  says  the  Imitation,  and  all  things  speak  this  One.4  The 
Eternal  Word  is  the  great  Exemplar  according  to  Which  God 
fashioned  all  things,  and  the  beauty  of  creatures  is  borrowed  from 
Him.  And  Art  which  ignores  the  Word,  which  does  not  draw  its 
inspiration  from  the  Man-God,  or  does  not  come  directly  or 
indirectly  under  His  influence,  will  never  elevate  or  regenerate  the 
world. 

OFFERING  FOR  THE  INTENTIONS  OF  THE  MONTH. 

O  Jesus,  through  the  Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary,  I  offer 
Thee  all  the  prayers,  work,  and  sufferings  of  this  day  for  all  the 
intentions  of  Thy  Divine  Heart,  in  union  with  the  Holy  Sacrifice 
of  the  Mass,  in  reparation  for  all  sin,  and  for  all  requests  pre- 
sented through  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer :  and  in  particular, 
for  Christian  Artists. 

"Hebrews,  i.  3.  4Book,  I.  c.  iii. 


ANSWER   OF  THE   DIRECTOR  GENERAL 
ABOUT  THE  GENERAL  COMMUNION  OF  REPARATION. 

N  important  decision  has  been  given  by  the  Director  General 
011  a  subject  of  immediate  practical  interest  to  all  our 
Reverend  Local  Directors,  and  which  has  been  the  subject 
of  many  inquiries. 

The  doubt  proposed  was  this :  Can  the  Local  Director,  whose 
office  it  is  to  fix  the  day  of  the  month  for  the  General  Communion 
of  Reparation,  use  this  privilege  so  as  to  appoint  separate  days  for 
different  sections  of  the  congregation ;  as  for  example,  to  name  the 
First  Sunday  for  the  Communion  of  the  men,  the  second  for  the 
women,  the  third  for  the  boys,  the  fourth  for  the  girls ;  and  this 
without  losing  the  Plenary  Indulgence  granted  by  the  Holy  See  ? 
Moreover,  can  the  Indulgence  on  the  day  fixed  be  gained  at  any 
Mass,  or  can  it  only  be  gained  at  the  one  appointed  ? 

The  answer  is  :  the  Local  Director  can,  by  the  powers  granted 
to  him,  appoint  separate  days  for  different  sections  of  the  people, 
according  to  the  example  mentioned  in  the  question,  without  preju- 
dice to  the  Indulgence.  But  the  Indulgence  can  be  gained  at  only 
one  Mass,  as  the  motive  of  the  Indulgence  stated  in  the  Rescript, 
is  the  edification  given  by  all  approaching  Holy  Communion 
together  in  a  body. 

Those  who  are  unable  to  attend  the  Mass  appointed  for  the 
General  Communion  should  remember  that  amongst  the  many 
Plenary  Indulgences  of  the  League,  besides  the  one  for  one  Friday 
at  each  one's  choice,  there  is  also  granted  one  for  another  day  at 
choice,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  Handbook. 

This  authoritative  decision  will  facilitate  for  the  Local 
Directors  in  charge  of  large  Centres  the  introduction  of  the 
monthly  General  Communion  of  all  the  Associates.  It  comes, 
too,  at  an  opportune  moment,  for  it  will  greatly  aid  in  instituting 
the  General  Monthly  Communions  of  Children  in  parishes  which 
the  League  is  now  endeavoring  to  start  in  our  American  Centres. 
The  Manual  containing  instructions  for  this  practice  will  be  ready 
with  this  issue  of  the  MESSENGER. 

394 


APOSTLESHIP  n  ttHHQr  Fl    NOTICES. 


NEW  APPROBATION.  —  The  Right  Reverend  Bishop  of 
Winona,  Minnesota,  has  given  his  gracious  approbation  for  the 
propagation  of  the  League  of  the  Sacred  Heart  in  the  diocese. 

RECENT  AGGREGATIONS. — To  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer, 
League  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  (March  12  to  April 
12,  1891). 

(Name  of  diocese  in  italics,  before  parish  or  community  aggregated.) 

Alton,  Illinois :  Immaculate  Conception  Church,  Shelby ville. 

Baltimore,  Maryland :  St.  Ann's  Church,  Baltimore. 

Brownsville,  Texas :  Incarnate  Word  Convent,  Brownsville. 

Brooklyn,  New  York :  St.  Michael's  Church,  Brooklyn. 

Buffalo,  New  York :  St.  Mary's  Church  and  Sts.  Peter  and 
Paul's  Church,  Elmira. 

Cheyenne,  Wyoming :  St.  Mary's  Cathedral,  Cheyenne. 

Chicago,  Illinois :  Holy  Angels'  Church,  Chicago. 

Columbus,  Ohio :  Immaculate  Conception  Church,  Dennison  : 
St.  John's  School  (Sisters  of  Nazareth),  Bellaire ;  Sts.  Peter  and 
Paul's  Church,  Wheelersburg. 

Denver,  Colorado :  Mercy  Home  (Sisters  of  Mercy),  Denver ; 
St.  Patrick's  Church,  Pueblo. 

Detroit,  Michigan :  Our  Lady  of  the  Rosary  Church,  Detroit. 

Duluth,  Minnesota :  St.  Patrick's  Church,  Hinckley. 

Fort  Wayne,  Indiana:  St.  Rose's  Academy  (Sisters  of  the 
Holy  Cross),  Laporte. 

Grand  Rapids,  Michigan:  St.  Joseph's  Convent  (Domini- 
can Nuns),  Bay  City. 

Idaho,  Idaho :  St.  Stanislas'  Church,  Lewiston. 

395 


396 


APOSTLESHIP  NOTICES. 


Louisville,  Kentucky :  St.  Bridget's  Church,  Louisville. 

Marquette,  Michigan :  St.  Ann's  Church,  Mackinac  Island. 

Milwaukee,  Wisconsin :  St.  John's  Church,  Byron. 

Mobile,  Alabama :  St.  Patrick's  School  (Sisters  of  St. 
Joseph),  Mobile. 

Newark,  New  .  Jersey :  St.  Joseph's  Church,  Newark ;  St. 
Mary's  Academy  (Sisters  of  Charity),  Jersey  City;  Convent  of 
Franciscan  Sisters,  Guttenberg. 

New  Orleans,  Louisiana:  St.  Michael's  Church  and  Sacred 
Heart  Church,  New  Orleans ;  St.  Helena's  Church,  Amite  City ; 
St.  Joseph's  Church,  Pontichoula. 

New  York,  New  York  :  St.  Joseph's  Institute  for  Deaf  Mutes, 
Fordham. 

Portland,  Maine :  Convent  of  Mercy,  Bangor. 

St.  Paul,  Minnesota:  St.  James'  Church  and  St.  Joseph's 
Church,  St.  Paul. 

Springfield,  Massachusetts:  St.  Joseph's  Convent  (Sisters  of 
St.  Anne),  North  Adams. 

Wheeling,  West  Virginia :  St.  Joseph's  Church,  St.  Joseph. 

THE  TREASURY  OF  THE  SACRED  HEART. 

Associates  can  gain  100  days'  Indulgence  for  each  action  offered  for  the 
Intentions  of  the  League. 


Offerings  for  the  Intentions 


of  the  Sacred  Heart,   received  from  March  12  to 
April  12,  1891. 


1.  Acts  of  Charity  .      . ,.  . 

2.  Beads 

3.  Stations  of  the  Cross     . 

4.  Holy  Communions    .    . 

5.  Spiritual  Communions  . 

6.  Examens  of  Conscience 

7.  Hours  of  Labor  .... 

8.  Hours  of  Silence    .    .    . 

9.  Pious  Reading   .... 
10.  Masses  Celebrated     .    . 

Total  . 


No.  OF  TIMES. 

254,069  11.  Masses  Heard    .... 

252,718  12.  Mortifications    .... 

77,104  13.  Works  of  Charity     .    . 

102,340  14.  Works  of  Zeal  .... 

2,774,328  15.  Prayers 

131,163  16.  Charitable  Conversation 
822,924  17.  Sufferings  or  Afflictions 
467,559  18.  Self-Conquest     .... 
78,832  19.  Visits  to  B.  Sacrament 
3,743  20.  Various  Good  Works   . 
10,598,006 


No.  or  TIMES. 

133,964 

201,405 

75,295 

68,917 

3,250,910 

35,698 

37,647 

1,091,131 

260,522 

477,747 


The  above  returns  represent  four  hundred  and  thirty-eight  Centres. 


COMf  TOMf«rALLVDU  THAT  LABOUMND  ARE  BURDENED*AND  I  Will  REfPtSM  YOU 


IN  THANKSGIVING   FOR  GRACES   OBTAINED. 

TOTAL  NUMBER  OF  THANKSGIVINGS  FOE  LAST  MONTH,  77,183. 

Blessed  be  God   Who  hath  not  turned  away  my  prayer  nor  His  mercy  from 

me  (Psalm  Ivx.  20). 

Los  ANGELES,  CAL.,  MARCH  13. — I  wish  to  return  thanks  for 
the  conversion  of  a  friend  to  the  true  faith  and  also  for  a  temporal 
favor. 

ST.  Louis,  Mo.,  MARCH  13. — Last  December  I  became 
afflicted  with  the  dreadful  disease,  cancer.  I  put  all  my  trust 
in  the  Sacred  Heart  and  promised  to  have  one  hundred  Masses 
read  in  Its  honor  for  the  most  abandoned  souls  in  Purgatory  to 
obtain  my  cure.  I  am  entirely  cured  and  wish  to  have  my  cure 
published  in  the  MESSENGER,  as  it  may  help  to  promote  devotion 
to  the  Sacred  Heart. 

DANBURY,  CONN.,  MARCH  14. — Thanks  through  the  MES- 
SENGER for  two  favors  received  from  the  Sacred  Heart  the  past 
month ;  one  a  position  obtained  for  my  brother  and  the  recovery 
of  a  child  who  was  dangerously  ill. 

,  NEW  YORK,  MARCH  14. — Return  most  grateful  thanks 

to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  facilities  almost  wonderfully  obtained  for 
doing  a  great  work  for  Almighty  God's  greater  glory. 

CANANDAIGUA,  N.  Y.,  MARCH  14.— I  wish  to  return  thanks 
for  a  situation  obtained  through  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  for  my 
brother.  The  petition  was  recommended  only  once  and  last  night 
a  telegram  announced  a  situation  to  begin  at  noon  to-day. 

397 


398  IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES   OBTAINED. 

GREENCASTLE,  IND.,  MARCH  15. — Please  thank  the  Sacred 
Heart  for  the  following  great  favor  obtained  through  the  prayers 
of  the  League.  My  brother  was  out  of  employment  for  nearly  a 
year.  I  recommended  his  case  to  the  League  (though  he  is  not  a 
Catholic),  and  last  Friday  he  obtained  a  most  desirable  position. 

PAWTUCKET,  R.  I.,  MARCH  19. — To  fulfil  a  promise  made 
to  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  last  January  we  return  our  most 
grateful  and  heartfelt  thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of  our  dear 
Lord  for  the  perfect  recovery  of  one  of  our  little  boys.  In  conse- 
quence of  a  fright  he  lost  the  use  of  the  right  side  and  could  not 
speak,  and  all  we  could  do  brought  no  improvement.  His  grand- 
mother placed  a  Badge  of  the  Sacred  Heart  on  his  side  and  he 
wore  it  only  a  few  days  and  nights  when  he  got  the  use  of  his  leg 
and  arm,  and  of  his  speech,  and  was  able  to  go  to  school. 

CHELSEA,  MICH.,  MARCH  20. — Heartfelt  thanks  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  for  success  in  two  examinations.  My  two  petitions 
of  last  month  were  answered  this  month. 

,  MARCH  22. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  con- 
version of  a  man  over  sixty  years  of  age — a  high  Freemason — 
who  was  recently  received  into  the  Church.  He  had  been  con- 
stantly recommended  to  the  prayers  of  the  Apostleship.  We  beg 
prayers  for  his  perseverance.  Also  thank  God  for  the  conversion 
of  a  young  woman  and  her  son  after  passing  through  grievous 
trials. 

TYRONE,  PA.,  MARCH  22. — Very  grateful  thanks  for  a 
special  favor  obtained  through  the  prayers  of  the  League. 

,  N.  J.,  MARCH  22. — A  Promoter  writes  :  Our  intention 

was  recommended  more  than  a  year  ago.  Hardly  eleven  months 
passed  when  my  brother  made  his  First  Communion  at  a  time 
when  we  least  expected  it.  Sincere  thanks  are  offered  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  for  his  perseverance  in  our  religion,  which  is  so  new 
to  him. 

JACKSON,  MICH.,  MARCH  24. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart 
for  two  favors  granted.  My  husband  who  was  intemperate  I 
recommended  about  six  months  ago.  He  was  then  in  perfect 
health,  but  died  a  most  happy  death  almost  as  soon  as  he  was 


IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES  OBTAINED.  399 

recommended.     The  law-suit  which  I  recommended  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  was  thrown  out. 

MARTIJSTFERRY,  O.,  MARCH  25. — A  person  came  to  me  in 
April  and  told  me  she  had  not  heard  from  her  parents  for  years. 
I  told  her  I  would  have  her  petition  recommended  to  the  Holy 
League,  and  this  week  it  was  answered. 

PLATTSMOUTH,  NEB.,  MARCH  27. — We  wish  to  return  thanks 
to  the  most  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  and  His  Blessed  Mother  for  the 
recovery  of  a  beloved  priest  who  was  attacked  with  a  severe 
illness.  All  hope  was  abandoned.  But  he  is  now  well. 

WILKESBARRE,  PA.,  MARCH  28. — A  man  that  we  recom- 
mended has  stopped  drinking,  after  being  an  habitual  drinker  for 
twelve  years. 

NASHVILLE,  TENN.,  MARCH  29. — A  young  man  whose 
health  was  failing,  and  whose  death  was  thought  to  be  imminent 
and  certain  at  Christmas  has  been  restored  and  is  now  conducting 
his  business. 

NEW  YORK,  MARCH  29. — Please  return  thanks  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  through  the  MESSENGER  for  the  unexpected  success  I  have 
met  in  raising  means  to  build  a  little  church  in  Its  honor.  The 
success  of  the  undertaking  had  been  recommended  to  the  prayers 
of  the  League  for  about  two  years.  Thanks  also  to  St.  Joseph 
and  St.  Antony  of  Padua,  to  whose  intercession  this  success  is  in 
a  great  measure  due. 

NEW  YORK,  MARCH  30. — Heartfelt  thanks  are  given  to 
the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  return  to  the  practice  of  their  religious 
duties  of  two  young  men  after  more  than  fifteen  years.  The 
intention  had  been  recommended  to  the  League  for  some  months 
past.  A  picture  of  the  Sacred  Heart  with  a  light  kept  constantly 
burning  before  it  has  brought  within  a  short  space  of  time  many 
blessings  to  their  home  besides  the  granting  of  this  signal  favor. 

ACADEMY,  IND.,  MARCH  30. — A  pupil  wishes  to  return 
sincere  thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  a  special  favor  received 
through  the  Holy  League. 

SUPERIOR,  "VVis.,  MARCH  30. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of 
Jesus  for  the  conversion  of  nay  husband  who,  though  baptized  into 


4OO  IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES  OBTAINED. 

the  Church  years  ago,  had  never  practised  his  religion,  and  also  for 
his  having  obtained  the  grace  to  give  up  drinking  after  having 
indulged  to  excess  for  years. 

MOBILE,  ALA.,  MARCH  31. — I  wish  to  return  thanks  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus,  through  the  MESSENGER,  for  the  conver- 
sion of  my  brother  who  was  often  recommended  to  the  prayers  of 
the  League.  He  was  the  conquest  of  this  loving  Heart  in 
answer  to  the  Nine  First  Fridays  which  I  finished  this  month. 

HADDINGTON,  PA.,  APRIL  1. — One  of  the  favors  that  I 
received  was  work  for  my  father.  He  started  to  work  on  Mon- 
day, the  first  he  had  got  since  August. 

ASHLAND,  MONTANA,  APRIL  2. — Special  thanksgiving  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  for  a  number  of  conversions  obtained  through  the 
prayers  of  the  League. 

SCRANTON,  PA.,  APRIL  6. — The  League  was  started  here  on 
Jan.  25th,  1891.  At  this  time  the  father  of  a  family  addicted  to 
intemperance  and  practically  a  non-Catholic  for  years  was  recom- 
mended week  after  week  to  the  prayers  of  the  League.  A  few 
weeks  ago  he  went  to  confession  since  which  time  he  is  a  model 
father  and  husband.  Thanks  to  the  loving  Heart  of  Jesus. 

WHITESTOWN,  N.  Y.,  APRIL  6. — I  wish  to  return  thanks  to 
the  League  of  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  prayers  offered  for  father's 
conversion,  which  great  blessing  was  granted  him  three  days 
before  his  death. 

VARIOUS  CENTRES.  —  A  religious  community  returns 
thanks  for  the  improvement  in  health  of  its  superior. — Thanks 
for  the  conversion  of  a  man  who  had  not  been  at  confession  or  at 
Mass  for  twenty  years. — For  the  recovery  of  a  mother  and  the 
reclaiming  of  a  brother  who  had  been  addicted  to  drinking  for  a 
number  of  years. — For  the  conversion  of  a  father  who  had 
practised  no  religion  for  sixty-nine  years. 


©F 

STANISLAS  KOSTKA,  ALOYSIUS  GONZAGA,  JOHN  BERCHMANS. 

(From  a  Design  of  the  Roman  Painter,  Gagliardi.) 


THE  MESSENGER 


SACRED  HEART  OF  JESUS 


VOL.  VI  (xxvi). 


JUNE,  1891. 


No.  6 


THE  HAVEN. 

ROM  the  green  hillsides  on  the  land 
Low-lying  tongues  of  b%rown  sea  sand 
Stretch  far  out  to  form  the  haven, 
Locked  around  by  islets  seven. 
So  the  restless,  panting  sea 
Breathes  within  full  peacefully, 
And  with  motion  halting,  weary, 
Laps  upon  the  sand-waste  dreary. 
Or,  even  when  the  tide  is  high 
And  east  winds  rising  sweep  and  sigh, 
Its  utmost  strength  but  painfully 
Crawls  to  the  lone  cypress  tree 
That  grows  upon  the  farthest  land. 


Copyright,  1*91,  by  Rev.  R.  S.  Dewey.  S.  J.    All  rights  reserved.] 


401 


402 


THE    TOMB   OF  ST.  ALOYSIUS. 


E'en  so  beside  Life's  sea  I  stand : 

Behind  are  pleasant  sun-kissed  fields, 

Around,  a  waste  that  no  fruit  yields ; 

And  wearily  the  languid  tide 

Flows,  the  Future's  rocks  beside : 

Far  out  beyond  the  islets  seven 

The  blue  sea  lies  beneath  a  bluer  heaven. 


From  the  Chapel  of  Our  Lady  of  Martyrs, 
Manresa  House  of  Retreat,  Keyser  Island, 
off  South  Norwalk,  Conn. 


experience. 


THE  TOMB   OF  ST.  ALOYSIUS. 

ILGRIMS  to  Rome  will  no  longer  find  the  old  City 
of  the  Popes.  In  years  gone  by  a  visit  to  Rome, 
for  the  ^  thoughtful  and  observing  man,  fulfilled 
Lord  Bacon's  saying  that  "  travel,  in  the  younger 
sort,  is  a  part  of  education ;  in  the  elder,  a  part  of 
The  whole  city,  with  its  every  street  and  church 
and  palace,  with  its  very  people  and  their  homes,  was  like  a 
great  university  where  the  world's  history  could  be  studied  in 
memorials  still  fresh  and  living.  There  were  many  dead  ruins, 
it  is  true ;  but  the  Rome  of  the  Popes  had  inherited  all  the  life 
of  the  past,  so  far  as  it  still  influences  the  present.  Pagan  antiq- 
uity and  the  whole  succession  of  Christian  ages  here  met  the 
traveller,  face  to  face,  in  the  very  spots  where  their  mission  in 
time  had  been  worked  out.  No  detached  museums,  with  specimens 
carefully  classified,  and  no  separate  monuments  in  the  midst  of 
incongruous  modern  life  can  take  the  place  of  what  Rome  then  was. 
But  all  this  has  been  changed  since  the  New  Italy  shut  up 
the  Popes  within  the  precincts  of  the  Vatican  and  chose  to  make 


4O4  THE   TOMB   OF  ST.  ALOYSIUS. 

of  Rome  a  mere  national  capital,  and  for  this  purpose  to  rebuild 
it  in  what  is  the  style,  at  most,  of  a  second-rate  modern  city. 
The  world-character  has  quite  disappeared.  The  greater  part  of 
the  old  monuments  still  remain,  and  the  tide  of  Christianity 
which  flows  into  the  Roman  churches  that  are  as  so  many  world- 
sanctuaries  has  not  yet  been  checked  ;  but  everything  has  lost  its 
proper  setting,  and  monuments  and  shrines  must  now  be  sought 
as  so  many  detached  pearls  lying  here  and  there  in  the  midst  of 
this  unimpressive  and  uninstructive  modern  Italian  town. 

The  travellers  who  take  advantage  of  this  Tercentenary  year 
of  the  death  of  St.  Aloysius,  Patron  of  Youth,  to  join  in  the 
pilgrimages  to  his  Tomb,  will  have  their  share,  in  the  disappoint- 
ment which  the  present  condition  of  things  must  produce  in  every 
lover  of  Christian  humanity.  Here  was  a  Saint  of  the  modern 
time,  and  the  devotion  to  him  was  never  more  universal  and 
popular  than  in  our  own  day.  His  fidelity  to  the  commandments 
and  counsels  of  God  led  him  to  acts  in  startling  outward  accord 
with  the  social  leveling  of  recent  times.  He  despised  his  Prince- 
dom for  the  sake  of  a  life  to  be  passed  in  a  religious  teaching 
body ;  and  he  finally  gave  up  his  life  in  attendance  on  the  plague- 
stricken  poor.  He  brought  about  the  marriage  of  the  brother 
to  whom  he  had  left  his  Princedom  with  a  woman  of  inferior 
condition,  in  spite  of  the  aristocratic  tradition  of  many  centuries, 
simply  because  the  Ten  Commandments  of  God  so  required. 

The  great  Roman  College  where  he  lived  and  died  is  still 
a  prominent  building  in  Rome,  and  when  United  Italy  completed 
its  seeming  union  by  the  violent  seizure  of  the  City  of  the  Popes 
the  order  to  which  the  Saint  belonged  was  still  in  possession. 
But  the  New  Italy  has  confiscated  the  venerable  edifice  for  its 
own  Royal  Lyceum  and  it  has  gathered  together  the  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  books  confiscated  here  and  elsewhere  from  religious 
houses  into  one  great  library  of  Victor  Emmanuel.  The  order 
of  the  Saint's  life — the  corridors  through  which  he  passed  silently, 
the  court  where  his  saintly  conversation  cheered  and  edified  his 
companions,  the  chapel  where  he  prayed — all  has  been  applied  to 
the  use  and  life  of  a  Young  Italy  whose  masters  would  fain 


ALTAR  IX  ST.  ALOYSIUS'  ROOM, 

ROMAN  COLLEGE. 


4O6  THE   TOMB   OF  ST.  ALOYSIUS. 

repudiate  him  and  all  the  Christian  glories  of  the  past.  Yet  this 
new  Italian  Government  has  been  shrewd  enough  not  utterly  to 
throw  down  the  old  Rome,  even  when  able  to  do  so.  It  is  no 
mean  revenue  which  is  poured  into  the  coffers  of  the  Eternal  City, 
sadly  impoverished  under  the  present  regime,  by  the  influx  of  Cath- 
olic piety.  So  the  powers  that  be  have  indeed  suppressed  schools 
and  confiscated  libraries  and  laid  violent  hold  on  the  dowries  of 
religious  ladies  who  had  supposed  themselves  sure  of  a  life-support 
when  they  devoted  their  lives  to  God  in  the  convent  of  some  religi- 
ous order ;  convents  and  colleges  have  been  plundered  and  their 
inmates  left  to  look  out  for  themselves,  often  in  bitter  destitution, 
— but  the  churches  and  shrines  that  draw  pilgrims  to  Rome  have, 
in  the  main,  been  left  unmolested.  The  pilgrim's  religion  has 
been  tolerated  lest  his  money  should  be  lost  to  United  Italy. 

The  great  Church  of  St.  Ignatius,  which  once  belonged  to  the 
Roman  College  and  in  which  St.  Aloysius  lies  buried,  is  still  open 
though  withdrawn,  so  far  as  was  possible  to  the  Civil  Government, 
from  the  Society  to  whose  founder  it  was  dedicated.  In  the  Roman 
College  itself,  the  room  where  St.  Aloysius  lived  during  the  last 
years  of  his  life  has  also  been  preserved.  It  had  long  been  a  chapel 
much  frequented  by  devout  souls ;  and  means  have  been  found  of 
providing  access  to  it  from  the  church  by  a  steep  winding  staircase 
at  the  side  which  leads  out  on  an  upper  portico  above  the  College 
Court.  In  this  way  an  important  shrine  has  been  saved,  although 
it  is  in  the  very  lieart  of  the  great  College  secularized  by  the  irre- 
ligious Government.  The  room  is  small  like  the  ordinary  cells  of 
a  religious  house  and  is  kept  as  nearly  as  possible  as  it  was  during 
the  Saint's  lifetime.  Various  relics  of  the  Saint,  manuscripts  and 
articles  of  his  personal  use,  are  framed  and  placed  about  the  room, 
and  the  door  itself  which  his  hands  opened  and  shut  is  left  always 
closed  and  kept  sacredly  untouched  in  memory  of  him.  The  present 
entrance  to  this  room  or  chapel  is  by  the  neighboring  room  which 
separates  it  off  from  a  similar  chapel  consecrated  by  the  holy  life  of 
St.  John  Berchmans,  the  Belgian  scholastic,  who  edified  the  Roman 
College  a  century  later.  The  pilgrim  who  is  not  a  mere  sightseer, 
but  has  some  intelligence  of  his  faith,  will  perhaps  find  more  to 


4O8  THE    TOMB   OF  ST.  ALOYSlUS. 

instruct  and  touch  him  in  these  two  rooms  than  in  the  great  church 
itself  where  the  Saints  lie  honored  beneath  their  altar-tombs. 

The  Church  of  St.  Ignatius  is  one  of  the  lajgest  in  this  City 
of  Churches,  after  the  great  Basilicas ;  and  it  is  also  one  of  the 
most  impressive.  Drawing  aside  the  heavy  leather  curtain  which 
forms  the  usual  portal  of  Roman  churches  when  open  to  the  public, 
you  find  yourself  at  once  in  the  vast  interior.  The  pavement  of 
the  church  is  not  encumbered  with  seats  or  pews ;  and  this,  together 
with  the  absence  of  pillars  and  arches  forming  side  aisles,  increases 
the  effect  of  height  and  breadth  which  belongs  to  its  really  noble 
nave.  The  frescoes  of  the  ceiling  add  still  further  to  the  impres- 
sion. They  are  among  the  most  noteworthy  studies  in  architectural 
perspective  and  are  the  original  work  of  the  famous  Jesuit  artist 
and  lay-brother,  Pozzi.  A  stone  in  the  pavement  below  is  marked, 
at  which  point  the  proper  effect  of  the  perspective  is  produced. 

The  handsome  high  altar,  the  chapels  on  either  side  the  nave, 
and  several  of  the  paintings  are  well  worth  examination,  which 
the  traveller  can  easily  make  under  the  detailed  direction  of  his 
guide-book.  If  he  is  wise  he  will  use  in  preference  the  volume 
specially  prepared  for  the  Roman  churches  by  a  Belgian  priest, 
De  Bleser.  It  is  written  in  French,  and  has  ground-plans  fol- 
lowed by  the  corresponding  details  of  all  that  is  noteworthy  to 
the  Catholic  traveller.  With  its  aid  he  may  find  at  his  leisure  all 
that  he  cares  to  know,  far  better  than  in  the  ordinary  Guide-book, 
which  is  apt  to  blunder,  through  ignorance  of  the  Catholic 
religion,  and  immeasurably  better  than  with  the  assistance  of  a 
gabbling  and  hurrying  cicerone. 

The  marbles  and  frescoes  with  which  the  church  is  enriched 
from  floor  to  ceiling  are  not  so  deep  in  their  coloring  as  in  many 
Roman  churches,  and  the  bands  and  scrolls  of  gilding  with  the  white 
marble  relievos,  in  the  golden  sunlight  of  Rome  which  falls  through 
colorless  window  panes  from  above,  give  a  singularly  light  and 
soothing  air  to  the  vast  interior.  The  temperature,  too,  as  in  most 
of  the  great  Roman  churches,  remains  nearly  always  the  same, 
refreshing  in  its  summer  coolness,  and  comforting  in  its  half-warmth 
in  winter ;  and  a  faint  breath  of  incense  always  clings  round  the 


ALTAR-TOMB  OF  ST.  ALOYSIUS, 
ST.  IGNATIUS'  CHURCH,  ROME. 


41O  THE   TOMB   OF  ST.  ALOYSIUS. 

columns  and  altars  and  is  wafted  through  the  great  nave.     There 
is  no  more  restful  sanctuary  in  Rome  for  wearied  soul  and  body. 

The  high  altar  stands  out  boldly  from  its  place  as  you  look 
toward  it  from  the  entrance  to  the  church.  It  is  a  bewildering 
architectural  mass  of  marble  columns  and  scroll-work  with  gilding 
and  carving,  surmounted  by  richly  colored  painting,  and  occupy- 
ing the  whole  end  of  the  nave  nearly  from  floor  to  ceiling ;  yet 
the  total  effect  is  one  of  great  simplicity.  At  the  right  side  is  the 
tomb,  chosen  by  himself,  of  Pope  Gregory  XIII.  who  so  loved 
the  Society  of  Jesus  and  from  whom  its  great  Roman  College  is 
still  called  the  Gregorian  University.  In  the  tribunes,  high  up 
on  either  side  the  Sanctuary,  are  places  for  the  organ  and  the  far- 
famed  boy  singers  of  the  Roman  College.  Now  that  the  College 
no  longer  exists,  these  boys  are  gathered  from  all  parts  of  the  city. 
The  Roman  voice  and  the  Roman  ear  are  equally  adapted  to 
music ;  and  there  is  something  thrilling  in  these  silvery  voices 
only  lightly  accompanied  by  the  instrument,  as  they  float  down 
upon  the  ears  of  'the  worshippers  far  down  below  during  some 
solemn  act  of  worship.  They  will  form  not  the  least  pleasure  of 
the  pilgrims  who  will  meet  this  year  round  the  Tomb  of  Aloysius. 

The  Tomb  of  the  Saint  is  the  great  and  lasting  attraction  of 
this  beautiful  temple,  though  it  now  shares  this  honor  with  the 
corresponding  tomb  of  his  brother  Saint  John  Berchmans  just 
across  the  church.  The  altar  of  St.  Aloysius  under  which  his 
body  reposes  is  at  the  end  of  the  transept  to  the  right,  as  you 
enter — that  is,  on  the  Epistle  side.  The  transept  is  not  long, 
forming  accurately  an  arm  of  the  cross  as  in  Gothic  churches, 
but  after  the  Latin  fashion  is  short  and  very  wide  like  a  great 
recess  pushed  immediately  back  from  the  nave.  In  this  way  the 
altar  of  the  Saint  does  not  seem  placed  in  a  mere  side  chapel  but 
forms  a  most  striking  part  of  the  church  itself.  In  fact  here  the 
"Blessed  Sacrament  is  kept  and  people  are  seen  kneeling  at  their 
"visits  "  all  the  day  long.  This,  however,  is  nothing  peculiar  to 
this  church,  for  in  the  Roman  churches  the  Blessed  Sacrament  is 
regularly  not  on  the  high  altar  but  on  a  side  altar  of  Its  own. 
The  altar  of  St.  Aloysius,  as  is  but  proper,  is  by  far  the  richest 


THE   TOMB   OF  ST.  ALOYSIUS. 


411 


and  most  splendid  of  this  church.  Devotion  to  him  began  imme- 
diately on  his  death  300  years  ago  ;  and  it  was  not  long  before  the 
devotion  was  publicly  recognized  arid  sanctioned  by  the  Church. 
From  the  time  when  his  body  was  placed  beneath  this  altar, 
Christian  devotion  has  been  busy  with  ornamenting  it  in  memory 
of  one  whbm  the  King  hath  a  mind  to  honor.  The  whole  wall  at 
the  end  of  the  transept,  up  to  the  window  which  admits  its 
shower  of  golden  rays  far  above,  is  taken  up  with  the  wrought- work 
of  the  altar.  The  marbles  that  encase  the  panelling  have  rich 
yellows  and  browns  in  their  veined  tints.  The  long  urn-shaped 
tomb  under  the  altar-table  is  of  shining  and  variegated  blue  mala- 
chite. The  lofty  contorted  pillars  that  uphold  the  altar-piece 
above  are  of  that 
flecked  and  veined 
russet  and  dove- 
colored  marble  which 
gives  so  warm  a  hue 
to  parts  of  the  interior 
of  St.  Peter's,  and  all 
this  is  blended  to- 
gether by  the  deep 
golden  sheen  of  ham- 
mered brass  framing 
and  scroll-work. 
From  the  midst  of 
this  graceful  and  har- 
monious mass  of  rich- 
est shape  and  material, 
the  great  altar-piece, 
carved  in  high  relief 
in  the  whitest  of  mar- 
ble, looks  down  from 
above  the  shining  line 
of  branching !  •  candle- 
sticks and  golden  tabernacle  upon  the  worshipper  below. 

All  the  morning  long,  well-nigh  the  year  round,  priests  from 


,     ST    ALOYSIUS. 

(Ideal  religious  design.) 


412 


THE    TOMB   OF  ST.  /tLOYSIUS. 


near  and  far  are  coming  in  turn  to  celebrate  their  Mass  at  this 
favorite  altar.     Doubtless  this  year  of  pilgrimage  will  see  their 

numbers  multiplied 
beyond  measure,  and 
he  will  be  wise  as 
well  as  happy  who 
shall  have  applied  in 
time  beforehand  for 
what  will  be  a  true 
privilege.  The  alms 
which  shall  be  gath- 
ered from  the  devout 
clients  of  the  Saint 
during  the  Tercen- 
tenary will  be  de- 
voted to  the  still 
further  adornment  of 
his  Tomb ;  and  by  his 
Tomb  will  be  placed 
the  richly-bound  vol- 
umes of  the  Album 
wherein  the  names 
of  Catholic  children 
throughout  the  world 
are  to  be  written  as 
a  consecration  to  the 
Patron  Saint  of 
Youth. 

The  pilgrim  who 
arrives  at  Rome  for 
the  Saint's  Feast,  on 
the  21st  of  June,  will  see  the  quaint  Roman  custom  of  gathering 
and  burning  letters  to  the  Saint.  In  these  missives,  often  daintily 
perfumed  and  be-ribboned,  many  a  young  heart  breathes  forth  its 
inmost  desires  ;  and  who  will  say  they  shall  not  be  granted — here 
before  the  altar-tomb  of  this  young  Saint,  so  lovely  and  loving  ? 


PRINCE  ALOYSIUS  GONZAGA 

(As  a  Knight  of  St.  James  in  Spain). 


A  SAD   CAREER. 

A  SEQUEL  TO  "THKOUGH  THICK  AND  THIN." 

By  Harry  Vincent. 

I. 

"  T  WANT  to  see  Grandpa." 

The  little  girl  who  spoke  these  words  was  a  blue- 
eyed  child,  four  years  old,  with  a  round  little  face  and 
dimpled  cheeks  bathed  in  a  cloud  of  soft,  fair,  curly  hair.  She 
stood  at  the  open  door  of  her  father's  office,  hand  in  hand  with 
her  smiling  mother,  with  her  little  body  drawn  up  in  such  an 
attitude  as  to  prevent  all  exit  from  the  room,  except  for  the  pur- 
pose of  carrying  out  her  desire  and  wish. 

And  her  father  was  none  other  than  our  old  friend  Gerald 
Coates,  whom  we  saw  expelled  from  school  and  whom  we  followed 
in  the  steamer  from  Liverpool  to  New  York  and  left  there  with 
good  prospects  of  success  in  business. 

Six  years  have  passed  since  that  time,  and  Gerald  has  con- 
tinued to  climb  higher  and  higher  up  the  ladder  of  prosperity, 
till  now  he  holds  a  good  and  secure  position. 

After  his  reconciliation  with  his  father,  he  returned  to  New 
York  to  continue  his  work  with  Mr.  Cassidy,  who  was  growing 
old  and  wanted  a  younger  pair  of  shoulders  to  carry  the  weight 
of  the  business.  It  was  shortly  after  this  that  Mr.  Byrne  was 
suddenly  called  to  his  reward  whilst  writing  in  the  ledger  he  had 
kept  so  well  and  so  long. 

"  If  his  own  ledger  is  in  as  good  a  condition  as  the  office 
ledger,"  old  Mr.  Cassidy  said,  shaking  his  head,  "  he  won't  have 
much  Purgatory  before  him." 

So  then  a  double  duty  devolved  on  Gerald,  that  of  looking 
after  the  books  as  well  as  helping  Mr.  Cassidy  in  his  management 
of  affairs,  and  then  with  the  old  gentleman's  consent,  his  father 
bought  him  an  interest  in  the  business. 

413 


414  A  SAD  CAREER. 

Lastly  had  come  the  marriage  of  Gerald  with  Maud,  Mr. 
Cassidy's  daughter,  and  a  year  afterwards  God  gave  them  a  little 
baby  girl.  It  was  this  little  girl  who  now  stood  at  the  door  of 
Gerald's  office  and  said :  "  I  want  to  see  Grandpa." 

He  rose  to  greet  his  wife  and  child.  Though  the  shoulders 
had  broadened  and  his  whole  frame  was  heavier,  it  was  the  same 
curly  head,  ruddy  face,  and  honest  blue  eyes  which  we  knew 
eight  years  ago  at  college.  He  had  that  same  honest,  straight- 
forward expression  on  his  face  which  had  gone  so  much  to  Father 
Bankson's  heart  when  he  expelled  him  from  St.  Joseph's  College, 
and  which  had  so  fascinated  Chauncey  Wolcott  on  the  hurricane 
deck  of  the  Sabellian  as  to  lead  him  to  offer  to  take  him  with  him 
to  Kansas  City  and  launch  him  in  business  in  his  own  warehouse. 
The  fact  that  he  refused  Mr.  Wolcott' s  offer  was  the  best  proof 
that  his  looks  spoke  the  truth  and  did  not  belie  him.  It  was 
that  honest,  truthful,  candid  expression  on  Gerald's  face — still 
unchanged  by  six  years'  intercourse  with  the  grasping  and  cheating 
business  men  of  a  great  commercial  city — which  made  his  father 
exclaim  at  their  reconciliation  :  "  If  I  had  remembered  my  boy's 
face,  I  should  never  have  treated  him  so  unkindly  and  unjustly." 

He  kissed  his  wife  affectionately  and  lifted  his  little  girl 
into  his  arms. 

"  So  you  want  to  see  Grandpa,  do  you  ?  Well,  he's  not  in  at 
present,  but  if  you  have  time  to  wait  a  little,  I'm  sure  he'll  be 
here." 

She  put  her  fond  little  arms  round  his  neck  and  almost 
stifled  him  with  her  kisses  and  long  curly  hair,  whilst  he  placed  a 
chair  for  his  wife. 

"  I  was  not  expecting  you  this  morning.  You  did  not  men- 
tion that  you  were  coming,  did  you  ?"  he  asked. 

"  No,"  replied  his  wife.  "  I  did  not  think  of  coming,  but 
when  we  were  down  town,  Gerty  insisted  on  coming,  because  she 
said  she  wanted  to  see  Grandpa  so  much,  and  I  thought  you  would 
be  able  to  spare  us  a  few  minutes." 

"Oh,  certainly,"  said  Gerald,  "as  many  as  you  like..  I'm 
not  particularly  busy  this  morning." 


A  SAD   CAREER.  415 

"  Will  Grandpa  have  a  few  minutes  to  spare  ?"  asked  Gerty, 
with  her  big  blue  eyes  wide  open. 

"  Of  course  he  will,  my  dear,  he  always  has  hours  to  spare 
for  you." 

"  Because,"  continued  the  child,  "  I  haven't  seen  Grandpa  for 
three  whole  days,  and  I  think  it  is  a  shame.  I  ought  to  see  him 
at  least  every  other  day,  but  I  should  like  to  see  him  every  day, 
and  for  a  long  time  each  day,  too." 

"But,"  said  Gerald,  "perhaps  you  might  grow  tired  of 
Grandpa  if  you  saw  him  every  day." 

"  Oh,  Papa,"  cried  Gerty,  "  how  can  you  say  such  a  thing  ? 
I  couldn't  get  tired  of  Grandpa,  no  matter  how  often  I  saw  him, 
and  I  don't  believe  Grandpa  would  ever  grow  tired  of  me.  I  see 
you  and  Mamma  every  day  and  I  don't  grow  tired  of  you." 

The  door  was  suddenly  opened  and  the  child  sprang  up  to 
meet  Mr.  Cassidy,  but  it  was  only  the  office  boy  with  a  telegram. 

Gerald  opened  it  and  read  it.     His  face  changed. 

"  What's  the  matter,  Gerald,"  exclaimed  his  wife,  "  is  there 
anything  dreadful  in  that  telegram  ?" 

He  turned  it  thoughtfully  over  without  answering. 

"Oh,  tell  me  quickly,  Gerald,"  she  said,  as  the  frightened 
child  nestled  up  against  her. 

"No,  no,  dear,"  he  said,  as  he  became  aware  that  she  was 
questioning  him  anxiously  about  its  contents.  "  It  is  unsigned, 
and  I  am  puzzled  as  to  who  it  is  from." 

He  passed  it  to  her,  and  she  read  these  words :  "Am  calling 
at  your  office  to  have  a  chat  this  morning.  Don't  have  any  busi- 
ness on  hand  to  stop  us." 

"  I  wonder  who  it's  from,"  she  said,  as  she  passed  it  back  to 
him. 

"  I  don't  know,  I'm  sure,"  he  replied.  "  I  can't  think  at  all. 
Very  careless  of  him  not  to  have  signed  his  name." 

"  That  may  have  been  done  on  purpose  to  raise  your  curi- 
osity." 

"  Then  he's  achieved  his  purpose  with  considerable  success," 
replied  Gerald.  "I  wonder  if  it  can  be  from  anybody  who  has 
just  arrived  from  Europe." 


416  .    A  SAD   CAREER. 

"  Certainly  not  from  your  father,"  said  his  wife.  "  He  would 
never  turn  up  in  such  a  manner.  It's  just  possible  it  may  be  from 
some  old  schoolfellow,  who  has  found  you  out  and  wants  to  drop 
in  on  you  unexpectedly." 

Gerald  stood  at  his  desk,  passing  his  fingers  through  his  curly 
hair,  with  a  decidedly  puzzled  expression  on  his  face.  He 
touched  the  bell  suddenly,  and  the  boy  came  running  in  to  answer 
his  summons. 

"  John,"  he  said,  "  are  there  any  steamers  in  to-day  ?" 

"  Yes,  sir,  the  Germanic  and  City  of  Berlin  both  arrived 
in  this  morning." 

"  Then  it  may  possibly  be  somebody  from  home,"  he  said, 
twirling  his  moustache.  "  I  wonder  who  it  can  be." 

At  this  point  Mr.  Cassidy  arrived,  and  little  Gerty  was 
.promptly  scrambling  up  his  coat  tails,  screaming  at  the  top  of  her 
voice :  "  Kiss  me  first,  please,  Grandpa,  kiss  me  first,  please." 

"All  in  good  time,  my  dear,"  he  said  kindly.  "  This  is  a 
pleasure  indeed  !  I  didn't  expect  to  find  you  here." 

"Yes,  and  we  came  on  purpose  to  see  you,"  said  Gerty, 
"and  we  are  all  puzzled  about  that  yellow  paper." 

Gerald  handed  him  the  telegram  in  question  and  Mr.  Cassidy 
glanced  at  it  hurriedly. 

"  Puzzled  over  it,  are  you  ?"  he  said.  "  Why,  it's  easily 
explained.  You  sent  it,  Maud,  and  here  you  are  to  have  your 
chat." 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  Maud,  "  I  know  nothing  of  it." 

"  Then  I  wouldn't  puzzle  any  more  about  it,  if  I  were  you," 
said  the  old  gentleman,  directing  his  attention  once  more  to  his 
little  grandchild.  "If  you'll  all  be  patient  for  a  little  while, 
whoever  sent  it  will  be  here  before  long.  And  how  are  you,  my 
little  one  ?"  he  continued,  patting  the  child's  rosy  cheeks. 

"  Very  well  indeed,  thank  you,  dear  Grandpa,  and  how  are 
you?" 

There  was  a  footstep  outside,  and  in  a  loud  voice  the  arrival 
was  asking  for  Gerald. 

"Where's  Mr.  Coates?    Where's  Mr.   Coates?     Isn't  Mr. 


A  SAD   CAREER.  417 

Gerald  Coates  in  ?     I  sent  him  a  telegram  saying  I  should  call 

this  morning.     I  suppose  it  reached  him." 

Gerald  opened  the  office  door  and  looked  out. 

"As  I  live,"  he  exclaimed,  "  it's  Mr.  Wolcott !" 

"Right  you  are,  Mr.  Gerald  Coates,"  he  answered,  seizing 

his  hand.     "  You  can  bet  your  bottom  dollar  on  that." 

II. 

"  Say,"  said  Mr.  Wolcott,  as  Mrs.  Coates  and  her  child  left 
the  building,  in  order  that  they  might  have  their  chat  undis- 
turbed, "you've  got  a  nice  little  wife  and  child  and  you  ought 
to  be  happy.  You  are  happy,  sonny,  I  can  see  by  the  way  you 
smile,  and  I'm  mighty  pleased  to  hear  it.  They  tell  me  it's  awful 
when  you  marry  a  woman  you  can't  get  on  with.  '  Two  dollars 
for  a  marriage  license/  said  a  friend  of  mine  the  other  day,  ( and 
four  dollars  for  divorce  papers,  and  it's  worth  the  difference.'  But 
say,  sonny,  you  were  looking  for  me,  weren't  you  ?" 

"  I  was  expecting  somebody,"  replied  Gerald,  "  but  I  didn't 
know  who.  You  didn't  sign  your  telegram." 

Mr.  Wolcott  put  his  head  on  one  side,  like  a  crow  looking 
down  a  marrow  bone,  and  smiled. 

"  I  did  that  on  purpose,  sonny,"  he  said.  "You  see  I  thought 
I  might  change  my  mind  at  the  last  moment,  and  not  come  at  all. 
You  know  I've  often  wanted  to  look  you  up  since  I  met  you  on 
the  *  herring  pond,'  but  I've  always  kind  'a  been  ashamed.  You 
remember  you  sent  me  a  letter  once  and  in  my  reply  I  sort  'a  gave 
you  an  idea  that  I  was  leaning  towards  Rome.  The  truth  is  just 
about  that  time  I  got  the  religious  craze,  and  I  went  jumping 
about  from  one  church  to  another  like  a  kangaroo.  I  was  a 
bit  of  a  Methodist  when  I  saw  you,  and  then  I  tried  the  Episco- 
palians, but  I  couldn't  stand  the  Prayer-book.  I'd  always  been 
accustomed  to  making  prayers  from  my  heart  and  not  reading  them 
from  a  book.  Then  I  had  a  shot  at  the  Baptists.  I  kind  'a  got 
stuck  on  them  at  first,  till  I  consented  to  be  baptized,  and  that 
old  preacher  gave  me  a  tremendous  ducking.  I  tell  you  what, 
there  were  no  flies  on  me  when  I  came  out  of  that  bath,  they  were 


418  A  SAD   CAREER. 

all  washed  clean  off,  but  I  woke  up  next  morning  with  a  frightful 
cold  in  my  head,  which  I  couldn't  shake  for  'most  three  weeks. 
Then  I  thought  I'd  give  the  Catholics  a  show,  but  I  couldn't 
go  it." 

Gerald  laughed  merrily.  He  drew  him  into  the  private 
office,  and  handed  him  a  cigar. 

"Now,  then,  Mr.  Wolcott,"  he  said,  "what  couldn't 
you  go?" 

"  Oh,  lots  of  things,"  the  Westerner  replied,  "  the  bowing 
and  scraping  to  each  other  during  the  services  for  one  thing,  and 
smothering  each  other  with  incense." 

"  You  Americans  can't  understand  that  even  outside  of  relig- 
ion," said  Gerald ;  "  you  don't  understand  our  manner  of  bowing 
to  Queen  Victoria  :  but  that's  a  mere  trifle ;  give  me  a  good  sub- 
stantial reason  for  your  dislike  of  our  religion." 

The  Westerner  was  seated  on  the  other'  side  of  Gerald's  desk, 
with  his  legs  outstretched  on  the  back  of  a  chair,  his  head  thrown 
back,  and  his  long  lean  face  and  chin  beard  enveloped  in  a  cloud 
of  smoke  which  he  was  puffing  from  his  cigar.  He  waited  till 
the  smoke  had  risen  towards  the  ceiling,  and  then  turning  in  his 
chair,  he  looked  Gerald  straight  in  the  face. 

"  Young  fellow,"  he  said  quietly,  "  I  hope  you  and  I  are  not 
going  to  quarrel  over  this  little  affair." 

"Not  the  slightest  danger,"  laughed  Gerald,  "not  the 
slightest  danger  in  the  world.  I  only  want  to  help  you  if  I  can." 

"I  thank  you  eternally,  Mr.  Coates,"  replied  the  American. 
"  I'm  sure  you  do.  But  a  man  doesn't  like  to  have  his  religion 
picked  to  pieces.  You  see  I  speak  differently  to  you  now  to 
what  I  did  on  the  Sabellian.  You  were  a  boy  then  and  now  you 
are  a  man." 

"  I  appreciate  that  thoroughly,  Mr.  Wolcott,"  said  Gerald, 
"  and  I  understand,  too,  that  you  are  not  picking  my  religion  to 
pieces.  You  are  merely  stating,  I  believe,  the  difficulties  which 
arose  when  you  looked  into  it  with  a  view  of  following  its  teach- 
ings yourself.  I  should  like  to  try  to  smooth  those  difficulties 
over  for  you.  So  fire  away,  Mr.  Wolcott,  and  let's  have  them." 


A  SAD  CAREER.  419 

"  You're  sure  you  don't  mind  ?" 

"  Not  the  slightest,"  answered  Gerald,  "  on  the  contrary  it  is 
at  my  invitation." 

Mr.  Wolcott  threw  the  remains  of  his  cigar  away,  bit  the  end 
off  a  fresh  one,  struck  a  match  and  lit  it  quietly  and  delib- 
erately. Gerald  watched  him  with  an  amused  expression  on  his 
face. 

"  You  seem  to  be  very  nervous  about  it,"  he  said  laughingly. 

"On  my  word,  I  am,"  replied  Mr.  Wolcott.  "Do  you 
know  that  it  took  me  four  days  to  make  up  my  mind  to  send  you 
that  telegram,  and  then  I  couldn't  sign  it  because  I  was  scared  of 
backing  out  at  the  last  moment.  I'd  like  first-rate  to  be  a  Cath- 
olic," he  continued,  "because  Catholics  are  a  well-principled, 
upright  set,  and  they  give  you  good  example,  and  if  there  is  any- 
thing which  has  a  permanent  effect  on  me,  it  is  good  example. 
But  there  are  some  things  I  can't  swallow." 

"  Out  with  them,"  said  Gerald. 

"  Well,  sir,"  he  replied,  "  I  can't  believe  in  Confession." 

"Why  not?  what  don't  you  like  about  it ?" 

"  I  don't  believe,"  said  Mr.  Wolcott,  bringing  down  his  fist 
on  the  desk  with  each  word,  "  I  don't  believe  that  it  is  the  right 
thing  for  one  man  to  go  to  another  man,  and  tell  him  what  wrong 
he  has  been  doing." 

"  We  will  suppose  for  a  moment,"  replied  Gerald,  "  that 
that  is  the  process  we  Catholics  go  through,  that  one  man  goes  to 
another  man  and  confesses  his  faults.  Now  then,"  he  continued, 
"  tell  me,  Mr.  Wolcott,  have  you  ever  been  drunk  ?" 

The  Westerner  turned  and  looked  at  him. 

"  Well,  I  should  smile,"  he  answered.  "  I've  had  many  a 
good  jag  on,  but  I  don't  see  what  that  has  to  do  with  the  case  in 
point." 

"  I  will  continue,"  said  Gerald.  "  When  you  were  a  young 
man  and  thought  that  getting  drunk  was  something  to  be  proud 
of,  did  you  ever  give  any  of  your  associates,  the  morning  after  one 
of  your  escapades,  a  clear  and  concise  account  of  the  previous 
evening's  performance,  with  the  exact  number  of  glasses  of  cham- 
pagne consumed  and  other  interesting  details  ?" 


42O  A  SAD   CAREER. 

"  Yes/'  he  answered,  "  I  have  bragged  about  it  sometimes." 

"  Bragging  or  not/'  said  Gerald,  "  all  you  did  was  to  tell 
another  man  the  wrong  you  had  been  doing,  and  the  man  was  not 
under  any  oath  of  secrecy,  either." 

"That's  a  different  thing  altogether,"  argued  Mr.  Wolcott, 
"nobody  thinks  anything  of  getting  drunk." 

"  Nobody  thinks  anything  of  any  sin,"  said  Gerald,  "  except 
sins  against  society,  and  which  may  hurt  him  in  the  eyes  of  the 
world.  The  more's  the  pity  !" 

At  this  point  Mr.  Cassidy  returned,  and  Mr.  Wolcott  looking 
at  his  watch,  jumped  up  and  said  he  would  have  to  be  off. 

"  But  now  that  I  have  broken  the  ice,"  he  said  to  Gerald,  as 
they  left  the  office  and  walked  through  the  store,  "  I  shall  come 
again  and  have  some  more  chats  on  the  subject.  Your  argument 
is  a  very  good  one,  but  I  am  not  convinced  yet.  But  after  all,  as 
I  said  before,  what  most  affects  me  is  example.  It  tells  on  me 
more  than  anything." 

"Ah,"  sighed  Gerald,  "I'm  afraid  you'll  find  me  a  pretty 
poor  hand  at  giving  you  good  example." 

"By  the  bye,"  Mr.  Wolcott  said  just  as  he  was  leaving, 
"you  are  in  a  dangerous  neighborhood  here.  I  was  skirmishing 
about  here  the  other  night,  looking  for  your  place,  and  trying  to 
make  up  my  mind  to  call  in  the  morning,  when  a  man  came  up  to 
me  from  behind  and  asked  me  for  money.  It  was  near  a  lamp  and 
I  saw  his  face  distinctly.  A  young  face,  but  very  dissipated  look- 
ing. I  asked  him  what  he  wanted  money  for  and  he  answered 
very  insolently  that  that  was  no  business  of  mine  and  that  if  I 
didn't  give  it  to  him  quietly,  he  would  take  it.  I  seized  him  by 
the  collar  and  shook  my  stick  in  his  face  and  told  him  that  if  he 
didn't  go  about  his  business,  I  should  use  it  freely  over  his  head. 
Pushing  me  off  the  sidewalk  into  the  street,  he  said  he  was  going 
about  his  business,  but  just  then  there  was  a  sound  of  a  footstep 
and  he  was  frightened  off  much  to  my  relief,  for  he  was  a  danger- 
ous looking  customer." 

Scarcely  had  he  finished  speaking  when  cries  of  "Stop  thief! 
stop  thief!"  from  the  other  end  of  the  street  became  audible. 


A  SAD  CAREER.  421 

Almost  before  they  had  time  to  step  to  the  pavement  to  see  what 
the  matter  was,  a  rough-looking,  ill-clad  fellow  rushed  into  the 
open  doorway  and  threw  himself  at  their  feet.  "Oh,  save  me, 
save  me  !"  he  begged,  "  the  police  are  after  me." 

"  Good  God  !"  cried  Gerald,  " it  is  Tom  Ralston." 
"  He's  the  man  who  attacked  me  the  other  night,"  said  Mr. 
Wolcott,  seizing  him  by  the  shoulder,  "  and  I  shall  put  him  under 
arrest." 

"Don't  strike  a  man  when  he's  down,"  said  Gerald,  as  he 
lifted  him  to  his  feet  and  locked  him  in  the  private  office. 
"  Leave  him  to  me,"  he  whispered  to  Mr.  Wolcott,  and  he  turned 
to  face  the  breathless  crowd  which  had  just  arrived  to  ask  him  if 
it  was  in  his  place  the  thief  was  hiding. 

III. 

At  Gerald's  request  Mr.  Wolcott  volunteered  to  get  rid  of 
the  police  and  the  crowd. 

"  What  are  you  all  doing  there  ?"  he  shouted  out  to  them  at 
the  top  of  his  voice.  "  Move  on,  or  I'll  give  you  all  in  charge. 
Here,  policeman,  send  these  people  off  about  their  business." 

The  breathless  officer  took  no  notice  of  this  order,  but  push- 
ing his  way  through  the  crowd,  walked  up  to  the  Westerner,  as  he 
stood  in  the  doorway  with  his  slouch  hat  on  the  back  of  his  head 
and  his  cigar  in  the  corner  of  his  mouth. 

"  Sir,"  said  the  policeman,  "  there's  a  runaway  thief  hiding 
in  your  place." 

"  Hiding  in  my  place  ?  The  idea  of  such  a  thing  !"  replied 
Mr.  Wolcott.  "Come  in  and  look  for  yourself  if  you  want  to, 
though  I  fail  to  see  how  he  could  have  come  in  without  our  see- 
ing him,  for  I've  been  standing  in  this  doorway  for  some  time." 

The  officer  was  completely  misled. 

"Then  he  must  have  turned  round  the  corner,"  he  said, 
and  in  a  second  he  was  in  full  pursuit  again,  followed  by  the 
shouting  mob. 

Gerald  made  his  appearance  just  in  time  to  stop  one  or  two 
of  the  crowd  and  ask  what  the  man  was  accused  of  stealing. 


422  A  SAD   CAREER. 

11  He  rang  at  a  lady's  door,  sir/'  one  of  them  replied,  "  and 
asked  for  some  money,  and  when  she  took  her  pocketbook  out,  he 
snatched  it  from  her  and  ran." 

"  Oh,  that's  it,  is  it  ?"  said  Gerald,  and  in  a  trice  they  were 
all  following  the  course  the  policeman  had  taken. 

When  everything  was  clear  again,  Gerald  beckoned  Mr.  Wol- 
cott  towards  the  office. 

"  We  must  do  this  fellow  some  good,"  he  said. 

He  was  careful  to  lock  the  door  behind  them,  and  they  stood 
and  faced  Tom  Ralston  who  shrank  from  their  gaze  and  pushed 
the  chair  he  was  sprawling  in  into  the  darkest  corner  of  the  small 
room. 

"Well,  Tom  Ralston,"  said  Gerald,  "don't  you  remember 
me?" 

The  culprit  started  up  from  his  seat  and  looked  him  straight 
in  the  face. 

"  No,"  he  said,  "  I've  never  seen  you  before." 

"Oh,  yes,  you  have,"  answered  Gerald,  "often  and  often. 
We  last  met  at  the  Queen's  Arms  in  Wadscliffe." 

Once  again  Ralston  started  and  once  again  he  drew  nearer 
and  stared  him  in  the  face. 

"Yes,"  he  said  suddenly,  "I  remember  you  now;  you're 
Gerald  Coates." 

"  Your  memory  is  good,"  he  replied  quietly ;  "  I  am  Gerald 
Coates." 

There  was  an  awkward  pause.  Gerald  played  nervously 
with  his  moustache  and  Ralston,  screwing  his  soft  cap  up,  which 
he  had  removed  from  his  head,  as  though  he  were  squeezing 
water  out  of  it,  shrank  back  into  his  dark  corner  again,  whilst 
Mr.  Wolcott  stood  up  against  the  wall  wondering  what  was 
coming  next. 

"  This  is  a  strange  meeting,  isn't  it,  Ralston  ?"  said  Gerald  at 
last, 

"  Yes,  sir,  it  is,  very,"  he  replied,  "  but  you  won't  give  me 
up,  will  you  ?  Please  don't  give  me  up." 

"  Well,  that  depends  on  what  you  make  up  your  mind  to  do 
for  the  future." 


A  SAD   CAREER.  423 

"  Oh,  I'll  change  my  ways,  I  promise  you,"  broke  in  Ralston. 

"  Not  so  fast,  not  so  fast,"  said  Gerald.     "  Tell  me  first  why 
you  were  running  away  from  the  police." 

"  Because  they  chased  me." 

"And  why  did  they  chase  you?" 

Ralston  once  more  shrank  back  into  his  shady  corner,  and 
this  time  he  half  turned  his  back  to  his  old  schoolfellow. 

"  Well,"  repeated  Gerald,  "  why  did  they  chase  you  ?" 

"  I  don't  know,"  he  answered  sullenly. 

"  Come,  Ralston,"  said  Gerald  quietly,  "  your  answer,  please. 
Why  did  they  chase  you  ?" 

"  They  set  up  a  cry  of  thief  on  me,"  he  muttered. 

"And  what  did  you  steal  ?"  continued  Gerald. 

"Nothing  at  all." 

"Are  you  sure  ?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Ralston,  looking  up  rather  defiantly,  "  I'm  quite 
sure." 

Gerald  very  quietly  turned  the  key  in  the  lock  and  opened 
the  door. 

"There  is  no  use  your  remaining  here,  then,"  he  said,  "if 
you  are  not  in  danger  of  arrest." 

"  Oh,  no,  sir,  I  beg  of  you,"  Ralston  cried,  "  don't  turn  me 
out,  they'll  catch  me  if  you  do." 

"Very  well,  then,"  said  Gerald,  "continue  your  story  and 
tell  us  why  the  police  were  after  you." 

"  Because  I  tried  to  steal  an  old  woman's  purse." 

"And  didn't  you  manage  to  steal  it  ?"  Gerald  asked. 

"  I  took  it  from  her,"  he  replied,  "  but  I  dropped  it  on  the 
street." 

"  Whereabouts  ?" 

"  Just  round  the  corner  from  here." 

"You  must  take  me  there  presently  and  show  me,"  said 
Gerald. 

"If  I   do,  the   police  will  nab  me  as  sure  as  anything," 
Ralston  replied. 

"  I'll  look  to  that,"  said  Gerald,  "  and  if  we  can't  find  the 
purse,  we  must  look  the  old  lady  up  and  refund  her  the  money." 


424  A  SAD   CAREER. 

"  How  can  I  do  that  ?"  inquired  Ralston. 

"I'll  do  that  for  you,"  answered  Gerald,  "provided  you 
keep  your  promise  and  turn  over  a  new  leaf.  Will  you  try  to 
do  so?" 

"  Yes,  I'll  do  my  best,"  he  answered. 

"And  now,"  said  Gerald,  "tell  me  what  you've  been  doing 
with  yourself  since  you  left  St.  Joseph's." 

"  I've  been  to  sea  most  of  my  time.  I  went  to  Glasgow  after 
I  left  the  college  and  shipped  on  the  Allan  Liner  Prussian  for 
River  Platte,  and  I  stuck  to  her  for  two  years.  Then  I  got  sick 
of  it,  and  stayed  on  shore  for  a  while,  but  I  found  I  was  good  for 
nothing  on  land  so  I  took  to  the  sea  again.  I  asked  the  agent  to 
get  me  a  berth  on  the  mail  steamers  from  Liverpool  and  I  went  to 
Quebec  and  Montreal  for  a  season  on  the  Sardinian  and  Poly- 
nesian. I  got  hurt  one  day  on  the  Poly.  There  was  a  heavy 
gale  blowing  and  whilst  I  was  working  forward,  we  shipped  a  big 
sea  and  I  was  sent  up  against  the  bulwarks.  I  came  as  near  as 
anything  to  going  over  and  it  gave  me  a  scare,  so  I  knocked  it  off 
again.  Quite  recently  I  worked  my  way  out  here  on  a  Cunarder, 
but  I  don't  know  what  I'm  going  to  do  now  that  I  am  here." 

"How  came  you  to  go  to  sea  in  the  first  place?"  asked 
Gerald. 

"  I  don't  know,"  he  answered.  "  I  always  hankered  after  it 
in  a  sort  of  a  way." 

"Indeed,"  said  Gerald.  "I  don't  remember  ever  hearing 
you  say  much  about  your  liking  for  it  at  college.  By  the  way, 
did  you  go  up  to  Rhetoric?" 

"Yes." 

"Are  you  quite  sure  ?"  asked  Gerald,  watching  him  closely. 

"  No,"  he  answered,  "  I  remember  now  I  left  in  Poetry." 

"And  why  did  you  leave,  and  after  you  had  left,  why  didn't 
you  go  home  ?" 

"  I  got  '  sacked '  like  you." 

Gerald  flushed.  It  wasn't  pleasant  to  be  reminded  of  such 
an  event  by  the  very  fellow  who  brought  that  disgrace  on  him. 

"And  were  you  sacked,"  he  asked,  "  for  the  same  reason  that 
I  was?" 


THE  GLORIOUS  MILNER.  425 

"  No,"  he  answered  sullenly.  "  I  took  some  biscuits  out  of 
a  fellow's  number." 

"  Ralston,"  said  Gerald,  "  it's  rather  a  plain  way  of  speaking, 
but  that  is  evidently  your  failing.  You  said  just  now  you  did 
not  know  what  you  were  going  to  do.  Take  a  piece  of  whole- 
some advice  and  learn  to  keep  your  fingers  off  other  people's 
property." 

"  I'll  do  my  best,"  he  answered. 

"  Bravely  said,"  replied  Gerald,  "  and  if  you  really  mean  it, 
I'll  give  you  some  work  here  and  good  wages  if  you'll  come  down 
to-morrow  morning.  And  now  let  us  go  and  look  up  the  old  lady's 
purse."  And  with  a  wave  of  the  hand  to  Mr.  Wolcott,  they  went 
out  together. 

That  worthy  gentleman  was  still  standing  up  against  the 
wall.  He  turned  and  stared  at  them  as  they  left  the  building,  and 
the  words  "  Well,  I'll  be  hanged  "  escaped  from  his  lips. 

(To  be  continued.} 


THE   GLORIOUS  MILNER.1 

Born  in  1752  :  Died  in  1826. 
By  M.  L.  Meany. 

>ILNER'S  End  of  Controversy,  in  the  early  years  of 
this  nineteenth  century,  was  the  book  for  inquirers 
after  religious  truth,  in  the  United  States  no  less 
than  in  his  native  England. 

He  had  pleasantly  said  of  it :  "I  have  called 
this  book  the  End  of  Controversy,  but  it  is  likely  enough  to  prove 
the  Beginning."  The  words  were  prophetic.  The  volume  made 
a  sensation  in  those  slow  times,  and  notwithstanding  its  numerous 
competitors  still  holds  its  ground,  worthy  representative  of  him 

1  Life  of  the  Right  Rev.  John  Milner,  D.D.,  Vicar  Apostolic  of  the  Midland 
District  of  England.     By  F.  C.  Husenberth,  D.D.,  V.G.     Dublin  :  1862. 


426  THE    GLORIOUS  MILNER. 

who   was  the  ruling   spirit   of   a   worldly,  turbulent  age,  more 
dangerous  to  faith  than  had  been  the  bitterer  ages  of  persecution. 

I. 

John  Milner  was  born  October  14,  1752,  in  London,  of  a 
family  originally  from  Lancashire.  Youths  called  to  the  ecclesi- 
astical state,  having  no  longer  admission  to  the  old  colleges  of 
once  "  merrie  England,"  he  was  sent  at  the  age  of  fourteen  to  the 
English  College  at  Douay,  in  training  for  the  priesthood,  to  which 
he  was  raised  in  1777.  On  his  return  to  England  he  was  engaged 
in  mission  work  for  some  years,  faithfully  and  unobtrusively 
attending  to  his  humble  and  laborious  duties,  and  laying  the 
foundation  for  that  career  which  was  to  fill  the  Church  with  his 
fame. 

An  Act  for  the  Relief  of  Catholics  having  been  passed  by 
Parliament  in  1778,  some  ambitious  laymen  thought  proper  to 
appoint  a  committee  of  five  to  promote  Catholic  interests.  In  the 
"  Letter  "  they  addressed  to  the  Catholics  of  England,  they  insin- 
uated, as  Dr.  Milner  afterwards  pointed  out,  "  that  the  people  have 
an  equal  authority  with  their  pastors,  in  regulating  every  part  q/ 
Church  discipline,  and  that  they  are  competent  to  make  whatever 
changes  they  please,  in  conformity  with  the  laws  of  the  State  with- 
out either  Pope  or  Council."  Indeed,  one  of  the  committee,  a 
nobleman  who  had  until  then  been  remarkable  for  his  piety,  now 
made  himself  so  conspicuous  in  ecclesiastical  affairs,  that  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  afterwards  George  IV.,  used  to  say  seriously : 
"My  father  is  the  head  of  the  Protestant  Church,  and  Lord 
is  the  head  of  the  Catholic  Church." 

In  1787  a  new  committee  was  formed,  consisting  of  ten  lay- 
men, to  whom  three  ecclesiastics  were  afterwards  added.  They 
presented  a  memorial  to  Mr.  Pitt,  the  Prime  Minister  of  England,, 
detailing  the  grievances  of  Catholics  and  asking  his  support  in 
their  efforts  to  have  them  redressed.  Mr.  Pitt  not  only  received 
the  committee  favorably  but  brought  the  matter  into  tangible  form, 
by  proposing  three  questions  to  the  faculties  of  the  six  Catholic 
Universities  of  Louvain,  Paris,  Douay,  Alcala,  Valladolid  and 


THE  GLORIOUS  MILNER.  427 

Salamanca ;  all  of  whom  in  reply  denied  any  civil  authority, 
power,  jurisdiction  or  pre-eminence  within  the  realm  of  England 
on  the  part  of  Pope,  Cardinals,  or  any  body  of  men :  they  denied, 
also,  the  power  to  absolve  the  king's  subjects  from  their  oath  of 
allegiance,  and,  thirdly,  denied  the  charge  that  Catholics  are  justi- 
fied in  not  keeping  faith  with  heretics.  The  committee  then  pre- 
pared a  bill  for  the  repeal  of  the  laws  against  English  Catholics, 
but  accompanied  it  with  a  declaration  of  Catholic  principles,  called 
the  Protestation,  which  Dr.  Milner  described  as  ungrammatical  in 
language,  inconclusive  in  reasoning  and  erroneous  in  theology — 
expressly  contrived  to  deceive  both  Protestants  and  Catholics. 
The  Vicars  Apostolic  (as  Bishops  in  England  were  then  styled) 
and  the  clergy  in  general  at  first  refused  to  subscribe  to  this 
delectable  Protestation,  but  consented  on  the  assurance  that  it 
would  not  be  followed  by  any  new  oath.  As  soon  as  the  signa- 
tures were  obtained,  the  committee  framed  a  new  Oath  of  Alle- 
giance, "containing  a  new  Profession  of  Faith,  in  which  they 
adopted  the  extraordinary  name  of  Protesting  Catholic  Dissenters." 
This  was,  of  course,  condemned  by  the  four  Catholic  prelates  of 
England  in  an  Encyclical  Letter  to  all  the  faithful ;  warning  them 
that  no  oath  should  be  taken,  or  any  new  document  concerning 
religion  subscribed  to,  without  the  previous  approbation  of  the 
Bishops.  It  finished  with  the  emphatic  words  :  "  To  these  deter- 
minations, therefore,  we  require  your  submission." 

It  can  scarcely  be  credited  that  in  the  following  month, 
November,  1789,  the  pious  committee  addressed  to  their  fellow- 
Catholics  a  long  "Appeal "  against  this  document,  accompanying 
it  with  new  copies  of  the  forbidden  Protestation  and  Oath.  They 
continued  to  issue  such  schismatical  pamphlets  during  two  years, 
one  member,  a  baronet,  sending  forth  three,  to  convince  both 
clergy  and  laity  that  they  had  a  right  to  choose  their  own  Bishops 
and  have  them  consecrated  by  any  Bishop,  without  reference  to 
the  Pope.  Several  priests  wrote  in  reply  to  these  publications ; 
but,  says  our  author,  "  Milner  alone  followed  up  his  exposure  and 
refutation  of  this  dangerous  writer.  .  .  .  He  gave  the  finish- 
ing stroke  to  the  controversy  by  his  Ecclesiastical  Democracy 


428  THE  GLORIOUS  MILNER. 

detected  ;  being  a  Review  of  the  Controversy  between  the  Layman  and 
the  Clergyman  concerning  the  Appointment  of  Bishops,  &c.  .  .  .• 
In  truth,  as  Milner  observed,  the  matter  in  question  involved  the 
very  life  and  existence  of  our  religion.  It  tended  to  break  that 
chain  of  authority  which  unites  each  pastor  with  the  Apostles, 
with  Jesus  Christ,  and  with  His  heavenly  Father ;  it  tended  to 
degrade  our  religion  from  a  divine  to  a  mere  human  system  of 
spiritual  government,  to  deprive  the  pastors  of  their  only  authority 
in  teaching  and  governing,  and  the  faithful  of  their  only  comfort 
in  hearing  and  obeying." 

Early  in  March,  1791,  the  schismatical  bill  was  offered  in 
the  House  of  Commons.  Dr.  Milner  had  been  commissioned  by 
two  new  Bishops  to  act  as  their  agent.  "  He  was  introduced  by 
Burke  to  Fox  and  Windham.  He  also  saw  Dundas  and  Pitt,  and 
was  made  acquainted  with  three  Protestant  bishops,  as  also  with 
Wilberforce,  William  Smith,  and  other  members  of  Parliament, 
all  of  whom  listened  to  him  most  kindly,  and  were  satisfied  with 
his  objections  to  the  Oath." 

He  had  previously  supplied  the  members  with  a  writing 
which  he  entitled  :  Facts  relating  to  the  Contest  among  the  Roman 
Catholics  of  this  Kingdom,  concerning  the  Sill  to  be  introduced  into 
Parliament  for  their  Relief.  This  had  been  attentively  studied  by 
several.  "  We  have  been  deceived  in  the  great  outlines  of  the 
business,"  said  Mr.  Pitt ;  "and  either  the  Papists  shall  be  relieved, 
or  the  Protesting  Catholic  Dissenters  shall  not  gain  their  ends." 

When  the  bill  was  introduced,  the  committee  was  required 
by  the  ministry  to  drop  the  fantastic  name,  Protesting  Catholic 
Dissenters.  The  discarded  appellation — Roman  Catholics — was 
reluctantly  resumed.  The  Bill  was  amended  by  substituting  for 
the  condemned  Oath  the  Irish  Oath  of  1778,  as  the  Bishops  had 
petitioned,  and  was  passed  on  the  7th  of  June,  1791.  Dr.  Milner 
had  won  the  victory. 

II. 

By  a  Brief  of  Pope  Pius  VII.,  dated  March  7,  1803,  Dr. 
Milner  was  appointed  Bishop  of  Castabala  in  partibus,  and  Vicar 


THE  GLORIOUS  MILNER.  429 

Apostolic  of  the  Midland  District  of  England,  comprising  fifteen 
counties.  The  total  number  of  Catholics  in  England  and  Wales 
at  that  period  was  about  70,000,  of  whom  nearly  half  belonged  to 
the  Northern  District ;  London  District  ranked  second ;  Midland 
District  came  next  in  numbers,  and  the  Western  District  could 
show  but  a  very  small  population  of  the  faithful.  Midland 
District  is  estimated  to  have  had  about  seventy  chapels  and  sixty 
priests.  It  had  taken  a  prominent  part  in  the  work  of  the  Pro- 
testing Catholic  Dissenters ;  one  of  its  counties,  Staffordshire, 
having  given  fifteen  priests  to  that  cause  ;  apart  therefore  from  the 
reluctance  of  the  humble  and  zealous  priest  to  assume  the  duties 
of  the  episcopate,  he  had,  in  his  own  words,  "the  strongest 
antipathy  to  a  residence  in  that  country,  where  he  saw  he  must 
reside,  in  case  he  accepted."  A  Benedictine  Prior  overcame  his 
reluctance  by  representing  that  "  if  he  refused,  some  other  might 
be  chosen  for  the  office,  who  would  perpetuate  those  dissensions 
and  innovations  to  which  the  District  had  been  so  long  subject." 
His  consecration  took  place  in  the  beautiful  chapel  of  Winchester 
which  he  had  built,  and  was  a  very  grand  solemnity  for  that  era. 
Our  author's  account  of  the  religious  poverty  of  England 
at  that  time  is  no  less  touching  than  graphic  :  "  There  were  few 
chapels,  out  of  London,  in  which  High  Mass  was  ever  celebrated  : 
in  the  Midland  District  there  was  not  one.  .  .  .  It  has  been 
supposed  that  not  a  single  cope  was  to  be  found  in  the  District; 
but  Dr.  Milner  certainly  had  one,  which  the  writer  well  remem- 
bers ;  but  he  hardly  ever  wore  it.  Having  so  lately  emerged 
from  their  depressed  condition  under  the  penal  laws,  the  Catholics 
naturally  retained  much  timidity  in  all  things  relating  to  the 
practice  of  their  religion.  Hence  they  never  spoke  of  hearing 
Mass,  but  used  the  word  Prayers  instead.  This  habit  was 
retained  by  most  of  the  old  priests  down  to  a  very  late  period ; 
and  it  may  be  seen  constantly  exemplified  in  the  old  Directories, 
where  at  such  or  such  a  chapel  it  is  mentioned  that  'Prayers  are 
said  at  ten  o'clock,'  meaning  in  reality  Mass.  The  clergy  had  but 
recently  ventured  to  dress  in  black,  having  been  obliged  to  wear 
colored  clothes  for  concealment,  which  were  generally  brown." 


43O  THE  GLORIOUS  M1LNER. 

From  the  same  eloquent  pen  we  have  a  picture  of  the  new 
prelate  at  his  first  official  visit  to  Sedgley  Park  School,  to  which 
he  was  ever  strongly  attached  ;  being  a  pupil  there  in  his  child- 
hood : 

"  He  naturally  paid  it  a  very  early  visit ;  and  the  writer  well 
recollects  his  first  appearance  there.  He  came  mounted  on  his 
favorite  black  horse  l  Farmer,'  which  he  had  brought  with  him 
from  Winchester.  He  was  fond  of  this  animal,  though  it  was  in 
reality  a  very  vicious  brute.  It  nearly  threw  him  more  than 
once :  and  at  the  earnest  persuasion  of  the  Ilev.  John  Perry  and 
others,  he  parted  with  it  soon  after,  out  of  regard  for  his  own 
safety,  though  he  himself  hardly  knew  what  fear  was.  As  he 
came  up  to  Sedgley  Park,  he  rode  at  a  brisk  pace  along  the  road 
leading  to  the  stables,  and  we  crowded  down  at  the  rails  of  the 
Park  '  Bounds '  to  pay  our  respects,  but  quite  as  much  to  gratify 
our  curiosity  to  see  the  new  Bishop,  whose  fame  had  preceded  him. 
He  was  now  fifty  years  of  age,  in  full  health  and  undiminished 
strength,  with  a  florid  countenance  and  of  robust  make.  He  was 
above  the  middle  stature,  and  his  black  hair  was  just  beginning  to 
turn  grey.  The  first  time  that  he  administered  the  Sacrament  of 
Confirmation  was  in  the  chapel  at  Sedgley  Park,  on  the  24th  of 
June,  a  month  after  his  consecration.  We  were  much  struck  with 
his  commanding  voice  and  energetic  delivery  in  the  addresses  which 
he  made  to  those  who  were  to  be  confirmed,  both  before  and  after 
administering  that  Sacrament." 

As  Bishop,  he  was  ingenious  in  making  the  most  of  his  small 
resources  for  the  grandeur  of  religion,  the  edification  of  the  faith- 
ful, and  the  encouragement  of  Catholic  undertakings.  From  the 
day  of  his  consecration,  Dr.  Milner,  unassuming  as  he  was,  seemed 
to  be  invested  with  both  the  duty  and  ability  to  take  part  in  all 
laudable  works.  His  personal  desire  to  give  himself  up  to 
"studying  the  science  of  the  Saints"  in  holy  solitude  was  in 
strange  contradiction  to  the  life  he  was  obliged  to  lead ;  for,  inde- 
pendent of  his  episcopal  duties,  he  soon  found  himself  launched  on 
the  rushing  stream  of  politics  in  the  service  of  immortal  souls. 
It  was  one  of  those  eras  when  a  leader,  equally  wise,  holy  and 


THE   GLORIOUS  MILNER.  431 

indomitable,  is  required.  Such  a  leader  both  England  and  Ireland 
found  in  the  Vicar  Apostolic  providentially  sent  them  at  this 
juncture. 

in. 

In  the  year  1805,  "  began  those  long  disputes  on  the  question 
of  allowing  a  royal  Veto  of  some  kind  upon  the  nomination  of 
Catholic  Bishops,  which,  after  years  of  agitation  and  dissension,  in 
which  the  independence  of  the  Catholic  episcopacy  was  seriously 
threatened,  happily  ended,  like  so  many  other  imminent  evils,  in 
being  abandoned  and  ignored  altogether  by  the  government,  when 
Catholic  Emancipation  was  at  length  nobly  conceded  in  1829." 

The  project  of  a  royal  Veto  on  the  Pope's  appointment  of 
Bishops  for  Ireland  had  its  origin  at  the  time  the  Union  of  Ireland 
with  England  was  consummated,  in  1799.  Lord  Castlereagh,  then 
Irish  Secretary,  consulted  several  of  the  Irish  prelates  "on  the 
project  of  a  state  provision  for  the  Catholic  clergy,  and  of  a  govern- 
ment interference  in  the  appointment  of  Catholic  Bishops.  These 
prelates  answered  approvingly  of  the  interference  of  government 
in  the  election  of  Bishops  so  far  as  was  necessary  for  ascertaining 
the  loyalty  of  the  candidates,  but  no  farther ;  and  they  stipulated  at 
the  same  time  for  their  own  just  influence  and  for  the  consent  of  the 
Pope"  The  subject  dropped  until  Catholic  Emancipation  began 
to  be  discussed  in  Parliament  in  1805.  Bishop  Milner's  answer 
to  the  objections  against  it  was  quoted  by  Mr.  Fox  in  the  House 
of  Commons.  Being  consulted  by  influential  Protestants  who 
wished  to  promote  Emancipation,  the  zealous  prelate  wrote  to  the 
Holy  See,  regarding  the  alterations  they  proposed  in  the  mode  of 
appointing  bishops.  This  was  the  more  essential  as  several  lay- 
men of  influence  had  given  the  impression  that  "English  Catholics 
were  quite  ready  to  vest  in  the  sovereign  the  appointment  of  their 
Bishops."  One,  a  leading  Catholic  baronet,  had  actually  stated 
in  a  pamphlet  he  put  forth  on  the  subject :  "  If  Government 
wishes  to  have  the  appointment  of  our  Bishops,  it  has  but  to 
signify  its  intention,  in  order  to  its  being  complied  with"!  The 
answer  Bishop  Milner  received  from  Rome,  "  strongly  deprecated 


432  THE  GLORIOUS  M1LNER. 

State  pensions  to  our  Bishops,  declared  that  no  power  could  be  con- 
ceded to  any  Protestant  sovereign  to  nominate  Catholic  Bishops, 
admitted  that  a  mere  negative  power  of  objecting  to  candidates  for 
the  episcopacy  had  fewer  difficulties,  but  still  strongly  asserted  that 
if  this  was  ever  conceded,  effectual  precautions  must  be  taken  to 
prevent  the  negative  from  growing  into  a  positive  power." 

The  matter  rested  again  until  1808. 

Meantime  Bishop  Milner,  who  enjoyed  the  full  confidence  of 
the  entire  hierarchy  of  Ireland,  had  been  requested  by  them  to 
act  as  their  agent  in  England,  and  they  proposed  to  him  to 
exchange  with  the  coadjutor  of  the  London  District,  in  order 
to  be  near  the  seat  of  government  in  the  impending  struggle. 
Greatly  to  our  prelate's  satisfaction  the  plan  failed.  "  The  Pope, 
nevertheless,  granted  to  him,  under  his  own  hand,  a  dispensation, 
from  the  obligation  of  residence  in  his  own  District,  and  permis- 
sion to  fix  his  abode  in  London,  if  he  should  deem  it  advisable." 
What  a  consolation  this  evidence  of  the  Holy  Father's  confidence 
in  him  must  have  proved  to  the  ever  faithful  and  ever  persecuted 
spirit  in  the  dark  days  so  near  at  hand. 

"In  the  month  of  May,  1808,  a  new  association  of  English 
Catholics  was  begun,  under  the  name  of  the  'Catholic  Board/ 
On  the  20th  of  the  same  month,  Dr.  Milner  arrived  in  London, 
as  the  agent  of  the  Irish  prelates,  to  attend  the  debate  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  upon  Mr.  Grattan's  motion  that  the  House 
should  go  into  a  committee  upon  the  petition  of  the  Irish  Catholics 
for  the  repeal  of  the  penal  laws.  This  motion  was  made  on  the 
25th  of  May.  In  the  course  of  the  debate  Mr.  Ponsonby  stated 
that  he  had  held  a  conversation  with  Dr.  Milner,  who  acted  as  the 
agent  of  the  Irish  Catholic  Bishops,  and  that  Dr.  Milner  believed 
that  they  would  not  have  any  objection  to  make  the  King  virtually 
the  head  of  their  Church ;  and  to  agree  that  no  man  should 
become  a  Catholic  Bishop  in  Ireland  who  had  not  received  the 
approbation  of  his  Majesty ;  and  that  although  even  appointed  by 
the  Pope,  if  disapproved  of  by  his  Majesty,  he  should  not  be 
allowed  to  act,  or  take  upon  himself  his  spiritual  functions. 
Well  might  Dr.  Milner  declare  of  this  extraordinary  assertion 


THE  GLORIOUS  MILNER.  433 

of  Mr.  Ponsonby,  '  Most  assuredly  Dr.  Milner  was  never  before 
or  since  accused  of  uttering  so  much  inconsistency,  heterodoxy, 
and  schism.' >: 

The  Honorable  Member  had  the  hardihood  to  tell  the  Bishop 
next  day :  "  I  do  not  pretend  that  you  authorized  me  to  say  all 
that  I  did  say :  but  I  was  at  liberty  to  argue  as  best  suited  my 
cause." 

Dr.  Milner's  opinion  of  the  proposed  Veto  at  first  was  that 
it  might  be  safely  allowed  with  these  three  checks  :  if  limited  to 
three  times,  if  one  candidate's  name  was  only  proposed  at  a  time, 
and  if  the  civil  power  were  confined  to  a  care  of  loyalty  and  the 
public  peace.  "Such  were  the  writer's  fond  speculations,"  he 
wrote  in  after  years ;  "  but  in  the  end,  he  found  them  to  be 
impracticable  and  vain."  He  then  heartily  condemned  his  own 
folly.  He  also  wisely  "  resolved  to  have  no  further  dealings  with 
political  religionists,"  and  was  ever  afterward  the  steady  opponent 
of  the  Veto  in  its  ever-changing  form.  A  few  months  later,  at 
a  meeting  of  twenty-nine  Irish  prelates  in  Dublin,  the  course  of 
their  respected  agent  was  unanimously  pronounced  satisfactory, 
and  two  resolutions  were  passed  :  "  that  it  is  inexpedient  to  intro- 
duce any  alteration  in  the  canonical  mode,  hitherto  observed,  in 
the  nomination  of  Roman  Catholic  Bishops,"  and  pledging  them- 
selves "to  recommend  to  His  Holiness  only  such  persons  as  can- 
didates for  vacant  bishoprics,  as  are  of  unimpeachable  loyalty  and 
,  peaceful  conduct." 

Among  the  stratagems  resorted  to  by  the  laymen  who  wished 
to  rule  the  Church,  one  must  be  briefly  quoted.  Bishop  Milner 
was  invited  to  dine  with  a  little  party  of  friends  at  a  hotel  on  the 
31st  of  January,  1809.  To  his  surprise,  the  dinner  was  followed 
by  the  reading  of  certain  Resolutions,  which  were  to  be  proposed 
at  a  Catholic  meeting  to  be  held  on  the  following  day.  The 
character  of  these  may  be  judged  by  the  Fifth,  which  was  as 
follows : 

I"  That  the  English  Roman  Catholics  are  firmly  persuaded,  that  adequate 
provision  for  the  maintenance  of  the  civil  and  religious  establishments  of  this 
Kingdom  may  be  made,  consistently  with  the  strictest  adherence,  on  their  part . 
to  the  tenets  and  discipline  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  ;  and  that  any 


434  THE  GLORIOUS  M1LNER. 

arrangement  founded  on  this  basis  of  mutual  satisfaction  and  security,  and 
extending  to  them  the  full  enjoyment  of  the  civil  constitution  of  their  country, 
will  meet  with  their  grateful  concurrence." 

In  this  Fifth  Resolution  Bishop  Milner  "  clearly  saw  "  on  the 
instant,  "the  Veto  in  its  most  hideous  form ;"  and  was  convinced,  as  he 
afterwards  wrote  in  an  Encyclical  Letter  to  his  flock,  that  he  had 
been  invited  to  the  dinner  "  for  the  express  purpose  of  ensnaring 
him  into  an  approbation  of  the  Resolution."  On  refusing  to  sign 
it,  and  urging  its  rejection,  he  was  "  baited  and  tortured  on  every 
side  by  the  company  present  for  an  hour  or  more  to  make  him 
consent  to  it,  till  he  found  relief  in  a  flood  of  tears."  At  the 
Catholic  meeting  on  the  following  day,  of  the  three  English  Vicars 
Apostolic  present,  Dr.  Milner  alone  refused  to  sign  that  fatal  Reso- 
lution :  the  fourth  prelate  was  absent  through  illness,  but  after- 
wards joined  in  its  approval.  In  Dublin,  twenty-seven  prelates, 
personally  or  by  proxy  assembled,  expressed  their  judgment  of  the 
matter  thus : 

"  Resolved  that  the  thanks  of  this  meeting  be,  and  are  hereby 
given,  to  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Milner,  Bishop  of  Castabala,  for  the 
faithful  discharge  of  his  duty,  as  agent  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Bishops  of  this  part  of  the  United  Kingdom,  and  more  particularly 
for  his  apostolical  firmness  in  dissenting  from  and  opposing  a  gen- 
eral, vague,  and  indefinite  declaration  or  Resolution,  pledging 
the  Catholics  to  an  eventual  acquiescence  in  arrangements,  pos- 
sibly prejudicial  to  the  integrity  and  safety  of  our  Church 
discipline." 

Year  after  year  the  struggle  went  on ;  "  separated,"  as  Bishop 
Milner  well  charged,  "the  Irish  from  the  English  Catholics, 
divided  the  last  mentioned  among  themselves,  carried  discord  into 
the  bosom  of  the  sanctuary,  distressed  the  Apostolic  See  beyond 
description,  .  .  .  caused  more  dissension  and  mischief  among 
the  Catholics  of  England  than  any  other  measure  since  the 
divorce  of  Henry  VIII.  from  his  Queen  Katharine." 

The  echoes  of  the  storm  even  reached  the  United  States, 
caused  discontent  and  dissension  among  the  comparatively  small 
number  of  Catholics  then  here,  and  produced  some  apostasies. 


THE   GLORIOUS  MILNER.  435 

That  all  English-speaking  nations  were  at  that  epoch  preserved 
from  schism  must  be  attributed,  under  God,  to  the  ever  faithful 
prelates  of  Erin  and  their  noble  brother  Bishop  of  England,  the 
glorious  John  Milner. 

IV. 

Although  generally  known  best  for  his  prowess  in  .defending 
the  faith  alike  from  its  open  enemies  and  treacherous  friends,  this 
was  in  reality  but  one  among  Bishop  Milner' s  endowments  and 
excellences.  He  was  what  would  now  be  called  a  universal 
genius.  He  wrote  no  less  eloquently  on  antiquities,  historical  and 
biographical  subjects,  architecture,  painting  and  other  worldly 
themes,  than  on  controversy  :  was  an  authority  on  decoration  as 
well  as  on  dogma ;  as  keen  in  detecting  natural  beauties  as  in 
grasping  the  salient  points  of  a  doctrine  or  the  touching  features 
of  a  devotion ;  equally  ready  for  a  lively  chat  as  for  giving  deep 
counsel ;  everything  was  pressed  into  God's  service. 

The  universality  of  his  virtues  was  not  less  amazing.  "  Be 
angry  and  sin  not,"  was  no  difficult  precept  to  Dr.  Milner ;  his 
charity  was  as  sweet  as  his  zeal  was  indomitable ;  his  readiness  to 
be  corrected  not  less  evident  than  his  firmness  in  correcting ; 
while  his  piety  was  strong  and  robust,  his  tender  devotion  was 
evidenced  by  the  tears  that  always  streamed  from  his  eyes  during 
the  Benediction  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  and  by  the  touching 
prayers  he  composed  for  the  devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart?  of 
Jesus,  which  he  was  the  first  to  introduce  publicly  in  England. 
His  pre-eminence  in  the  leading  virtue  of  noble  souls  is  thus 
related  :  A  certain  Catholic  gentleman,  then  at  Rome — in  1814 
— was  very  urgent  to  obtain  of  the  Pope  that  the  Catholics  of 
England  should  be  dispensed  from  the  obligation  of  keeping 
abstinence  on  Saturdays.  Accordingly  he  represented  to  His 
Holiness  that  that  point  of  discipline  had  almost  entirely  gone 
into  disuse,  and  might  therefore  very  reasonably  be  abrogated  by 
the  Pope's  dispensation.  The  Pope  doubted  the  truth  of  this 
representation,  and  said  to  the  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda,  Cardi- 
nal Litta :  "  Let  us  ask  Dr.  Milner :  he  will  tell  us  the  truth" 


436  THE   GLORIOUS  MILNER. 

The  Bishop  was  accordingly  sent  for,  and  interrogated  on  the 
matter  by  His  Holiness.  He  at  once  answered  :  "  Yes,  I  will  tell 
Your  Holiness  the  truth  :  the  good  Catholics  keep  the  abstinence 
on  Saturdays,  and  the  bad  ones  do  not."  "  Then,"  said  the  Pope, 
"  it  shall  remain  as  it  is." 

Yet  he  had  none  of  the  hardness  that  generally  accompanies 
this  unbending  integrity.  He  was  childlike  in  his  readiness  to 
forget  and  forgive,  to  soften  down  things  as  much  as  was  at  all 
consistent  with  duty.  If  the  persecutions  he  had  to  suffer  from 
his  own  remind  us  of  the  martyrs,  his  sweet  readiness  "  to  make 
up "  was  like  that  of  the  little  ones  proposed  as  the  Christian's 
model. 

The  variety  of  his  natural  gifts  was  equally  surprising. 
Cutting  horses,  dogs,  etc.,  out  of  paper  to  amuse  children,  making 
little  ships  for  them  to  sail,  and  joining  them  in  garden  plays ; 
getting  workingmen  out  of  difficulties  in  their  labors  and  giving 
practical  hints  to  women  in  housewifery — all  came  to  him  as 
readily  as  his  grandest  achievements.  He  could  make  use  of  any 
passing  incident  to  point  a  moral.  One  of  the  young  priests  he 
had  ordained  refused  coffee  after  dinner,  saying  abruptly  :  "  Oh, 
no ;  I  hate  coffee."  The  Bishop  overhearing  him,  said  :  "  Oh, 
Sir,  you  should  never  say  you  hate  a  thing ;  that  is  not  polite." 
"Why,  my  Lord,  you  always  tell  us  to  be  open,  and  speak 
candidly."  "Oh,  yes,  Sir,  if  you  will  do  that  through  life,  I  shall 
never  find  fault  with  you." 

V. 

Of  the  great  prelate's  business  habits,  Dr.  Husenberth  gives 
this  personal  reminiscence  of  his  ordination  day,  February  25, 
1820: 

"  Late  on  the  same  day,  when  the  writer  was  going  to  bed, 
the  Bishop  came  and  tapped  at  his  door.  On  being  admitted,  he 
apologized  in  the  kindest  manner  for  intruding,  as  he  said,  at  so 
unseasonable  an  hour,  but  observed  that  he  did  so,  because  he  was 
going  away  early  the  next  morning.  After  several  sweet  and 
paternal  words  of  encouragement,  he  said:  'I  believe,  Sir,  you 


THE  GLORIOUS  MILNER.  437 

would  like  to  remain  at  the  College  for  the  present ;  so  I  intend 
you  to  be  what  I  was  myself  at  first,  a  jobber,  that  is,  without 
any  fixed  mission.  You  shall  still  live  here,  and  do  duty  on  Sun- 
days and  holidays  at  Stourbridge ;  I  hereby  give  you  the  usual 
missionary  faculties,  and  if  you  will  get  one  of  the  printed  forms 
from  Mr.  Walsh,  I  will  fill  it  up  and  sign  it  for  you  in  the  morn- 
ing before  I  leave.  So  good  night,  and  God  bless  you,  Sir/ 
extending  his  hand  and  giving  his  blessing.  Thus  did  the  writer 
receive  his  commission  and  faculties  from  the  venerable  Milner, 
on  the  very  day  of  his  ordination,  and  they  were  given  usque  ad 
revocationem."  And  here  is  an  anecdote  equally  characteristic 
of  his  social  habits  and  humility :  "At  a  dinner  given  to  the 
clergy,  a  favorite  German  song  was  sung  by  an  aged  priest,  and 
as  from  his  great  age  he  was  not  likely  to  survive  long,  the  pres- 
ent writer  was  desired  to  pay  attention  to  the  song,  and  learn  it, 
that  it  might  be  preserved.  He  did  so,  and  learned  it  so  com- 
pletely that  he  was  able  to  sing  it  the  following  day  for  Dr.  Mil- 
ner, with  whom  he  dined  at  Oscott.  The  good  Bishop  expressed 
his  surprise,  saying :  '  I  can't  understand,  Sir,  how  you  could 
learn  that  song  by  only  once  hearing  it :  why  I  have  heard  it  over 
and  over  again,  and  don't  know  a  word  of  it !" ; 

Music  was,  in  fact,  the  good  prelate's  only  deficiency,  and  he 
often  made  merriment  over  it,  by  pretending  to  be  proficient. 

"  To  the  Lady  Abbess  and  Religious  of  Caverswall. 
"  DEAR  DAUGHTERS, 

"  I  thank  you  for  your  kind  inquiries  after  my  health,  and 
still  more  for  your  pious  prayers  for  my  general  welfare.  It  is 
true,  I  am  very  infirm,  and  cannot  be  far  off  that  great  change 
which  we  must  all  undergo ;  but  there  are  no  symptoms  in  me, 
that  I  am  aware  of,  of  an  immediate  dissolution.  However,  in 
my  situation  and  character,  I  ought  to  practise  what  I  preach  :  I 
ought  to  prove  that  I  am  in  earnest  when  I  daily  repeat  Thy 
Kingdom  come.  In  fact,  what  is  there  worth  living  for,  except  to 
do  penance  for  sin,  and  to  be  resigned  to  the  holy  will  of  God? 
Happy  are  you  to  have  left  the  world  before  it  leaves  you.  .  .  . 
For  my  part,  I  have  much,  very  much  to  make  me  afraid  of  the 
awful  tribunal  of  the  Great  Judge ;  but  I  have  the  precious 
wounds  in  His  hands  and  feet  and  sacred  side,  to  excite  my  hope, 


438  THE  GLORIOUS  MILNER. 

and  make  me  descend  cheerfully  into  the  grave.  In  conclusion, 
pray  for  me  as  I  do  for  you,  that  we  may  meet  in  a  joyful  eternity, 
never  more  to  part,  but  to  enjoy  our  God,  through  the  merits  of 
Jesus  Christ,  in  a  blissful  eternity. 

©  J.  MILNER. 

"  Wolverhampton,  March  13,  1826." 

This  letter  to  the  Benedictine  Convent  at  Caverswall  was  one 
of  this  venerable  prelate's  latest  efforts.  It  depicts  the  man,  in 
his  earnest  yet  childlike  spirit,  as  he  had  been  through  a  long, 
laborious  life.  On  Palm  Sunday,  six  days  later,  he  said  Mass  for 
the  last  time ;  on  Maunday  Thursday  he  received  the  Holy  Viati- 
cum, and  on  Holy  Saturday,  March  25,  was  anointed.  Yet  he 
lingered  more  than  three  weeks,  suffering  from  fever  and  a  cough 
that  in  his  weak  state  often  threatened  suffocation.  "Is  this 
dying  ?"  he  would  ask  sweetly,  complaining  that  he  did  not  suffer  ! 
When  Father  Walsh  would  wish  to  speak  of  his  writings  and 
labors,  he  interrupted  him,  eagerly :  "  Don't  talk  of  any  merits 
of  mine :  speak  to  me  of  the  merits  of  my  Blessed  Saviour !" 
When  he  was  addressed  in  the  usual  style  as  "My  Lord,"  he 
objected  :  "  Don't  call  me  so  any  more  :  I  am  nothing  now  but 
plain  John  Milner,  a  poor  sinner." 

It  seemed  as  if  he  was  waiting  for  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
clergy  which  began  on  April  19th.  To  each  priest,  as  he  arrived, 
he  gave  his  benediction.  When  they  assembled  in  the  chapel, 
"  nothing  took  place  but  the  recital  of  the  recommendation  of  a 
dying  soul,"  by  the  assembled  clergy  for  their  dying  Bishop. 
While  they  were  at  dinner,  the  fatal  tidings  were 
brought  that  the  Bishop  had  expired It  was  a  remark- 
able fact,  that  after  his  death  no  one  could  close  his  mouth. 
A  servant,  who  had  spent  hours  in  attempting  it,  gave  it  up  in 
despair  :  but  at  length  it  closed  of  itself.  This  singular  circum- 
stance strongly  reminded  us  of  what  the  intrepid  prelate  had  so 
often  declared  in  his  life,  that  '  no  one  should  shut  his  mouth,  in 
defence  of  religion  and  truth.' '; 

At  his  funeral,  which  took  place  on  the  27th  of  April,  all 
secular  pomp  was  avoided,  as  he  had  expressly  ordered,  and  even 
the  black  cloth  that  draped  the  sanctuary  was  given  to  the  poor. 


TERCENTENARY   OF   ST.  ALOYSIUS. 
'By  S.  N.  D. 


EE  that  Flower  of  wondrous  whiteness 
Rising  from  Three  Centuries'  mould, 

With  a  crown  of  rarest  brightness, 
With  a  heart  of  purest  gold  ! 


Blooming  through  the  blight  of  ages 
Those  immortal  deeds  will  shine, 

That  have  placed  on  history's  pages 
Stamps  celestial  and  divine. 

Sinless  youth,  the  fairest  lustre 

From  thy  hallowed  name  is  caught, 

Round  thy  shrine  what  virtues  cluster, 
In  mosaic  richly  wrought ! 

All  who  read  thy  life's  grand  story 
May  see  thy  strong,  noble  heart, 

How  thou'st  bartered  earthly  glory, 
To  secure  the  "better  part." 

Type  of  youth,  all !   thou  wert  tender, 

Type  of  manhood,  thou  wert  brave : 
Be  our  patron  and  defender, 

Sweet  to  comfort,  strong  to  save. 

May  we  strive  as  thou  hast  striven, 
'Gainst  a  world  of  sin  and  pride, 

May  our  lives  be  wholly  given, 
Like  thine,  to  Jesus  Crucified. 


439 


CASTIGIJONE  AT  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 


SAINT  ALOYSIUS'  HOME   AND    FAMILY. 

'  TT  AIL,  favored  Castiglione,  white  with  the  purity  of  the 
most  beautiful  among  the  lilies,  rosy  with  the  blood  of 
the  most  innocent  among  the  penitents  !  Over  thy  head 
extends  a  cloudless  sky,  and  smiles  on  thee  as  on  a  loved  one  a 
sister.  Fair  art  thou  and  beaming  bright,  with  thy  meadows 
dotted  with  flowers,  with  thy  blossoming  gardens  and  thy  gur- 
gling fountains,  with  the  charming  hills  that  encircle  thee  and  seem 
to  bow  their  heads  to  thee,  and  all  silently  to  say  ever :  '  Hail ! 
Hail  P  With  thee  happiness  dwells  and  on  those  that  come  to 
thee,  thou  dost  shed  happiness.  To  none  other  of  Italy's  gardens 
was  the  honor  given,  to  bud  forth  so  fair  a  flower  of  paradise." 

The  Castiglione  thus  fervidly  apostrophized  is  a  beautiful 
little  town  of  Northern  Italy  situated  about  twenty-four  miles  from 
Mantua,  about  twelve  from  Brescia,  and  a  little  more  than  twelve 
miles  from  the  Lago  di  Garda.  It  is  not  a  very  populous  place, 
for  its  inhabitants  do  not  number  six  thousand  souls.  It  is  not  a 
stirring  place,  though  now  its  wide  plazas  and  broad  streets  wear  an 
appearance  of  unwonted  bustle  and  high  festival,  for  this  is  the 
Castiglione  of  San  Luigi,  the  birthplace  of  Saint  Aloysius  Gonzaga, 
of  the  Angelic  Youth,  of  the  Patron  of  Youth,  as  with  a  wealth 
of  gesture  and  facial  expression  and  a  very  torrent  of  picturesque 
language,  the  happy  townsmen  of  the  Saint  will  impress  upon  you. 

Here  the  celebration  of  the  Tercentenary  of  our  Saint  began 
as  early  as  last  July.  On  July  21,  1580,  Saint  Aloysius  received 

440 


SAINT  ALOYSIUS'  HOME  AND   FAMILY.  441 

Holy  Communion  for  the  first  time  from  the  hands  of  the  sainted 
Archbishop  of  Milan,  Charles  Borromeo.  The  anniversary  of  this 
event,  important  enough  certainly  in  every  life,  was  made  the 
occasion  of  a  special  celebration,  which  inaugurated  the  great  cele- 
brations that  have  followed  each  other  in  rapid  succession  since. 
November  12,  1585,  Saint  Aloysius  renounced  his  birthright  in 
favor  of  his  brother  Rodolfo,  and  on  the  25th  of  the  same  month 
he  entered  the  Novitiate  of  San  Andrea  at  Rome.  Both  of  these 
anniversaries  were  kept  with  due  solemnity  as  well  as  March  9  of 
this  year — the  anniversary  of  his  birth  in  1568  and  also  of  his 
baptism — for,  as  our  readers  will  remember,  the  Saint  had  hardly 
seen  the  light  before  he  received  baptism.  March  25  was  the 
anniversary  of  the  vow  of  virginity  which  he  made  in  the  Church 
of  the  Annunziata  at  Florence  in  1577,  when  he  was  barely  nine 
years  old,  and  this  epoch  in  the  Saint's  life  was  not  allowed  either 
to  pass  unnoticed. 

In  the  same  way  May  2 1 ,  the  anniversary  of  his  Beatification 
by  Paul  V.  in  1605,  will  be  a  day  of  high  festival  and  the  cycle 
of  feasts  will  close  with  the  great  solemnity  of  June  21st. 

As  will  be  seen,  the  good  people  of  Castiglione  and  more 
particularly  the  young  men  of  the  town,  in  whose  hands  the 
arrangements  have  been  left,  have  not  been  slow  or '  inactive  in 
this  matter.  The  programme  from  which  the  details  given  above 
have  been  taken  was  published  on  June  21r  1890.  Each  of 
these  festivals,  according  to  this  programme,  was  to  be  preceded 
by  a  triduum  of  prayer,  and  the  vigil  of  each  was  to  be  observed 
by  some  fitting  mortification.  The  intentions,  too,  which  the 
programme  recommended  to  the  prayers  of  the  pious  clients  of  St. 
Aloysius  are  well  worthy  our  attention.  They  are  :  1°.  Extraor- 
dinary strength  and  assistance  for  the  Church  and  its  august 
Head ;  2°.  Peace  and  unity  of  faith  for  the  whole  world ; 
3°.  The  return  to  God  of  so  many  poor  young  men  who  are 
hurrying  along  on  the  way  to  perdition  ;  4°.  The  grace  to  preserve 
intact  the  virtue  which  made  Saint  Aloysius  like  to  the  Angels. 

Good  reason  have  the  pious  people  of  Castiglione  for  honor- 
ing Saint  Aloysius.  Here  to  the  parish  Church  of  Saints  Nazarius 


442 


SAINT  ALOYSIUS'  HOME  AND  FAMILY. 


and  Celsus  he  was  brought  April  20,  1568,  that  the  ceremonies 
of  baptism  might  be  supplied.  And  all  who  come  may  read  in 
the  Register  the  Act  of  Baptism  written  in  Latin  by  the  archpriest. 
"  The  Most  Illustrious  Aloysius,"  so  the  Act  runs,  "  son  of  the 


Most  Illustrious  Lord  Ferdinand  Gonzaga,  third  Marquis  of 
Castiglione  delle  Stiviere  and  Prince  of  the  Holy  Empire,  and  of 
the  Most  Illustrious  Lady  Martha  de  Tana  a  Sanctana,  was  born 
at  three  quarters  past  the  twenty-third  hour '  of  the  ninth  day  of 
»11.45  P.M. 


SAINT  ALOYS  I  US'  HOME  AND  FAMILY.  443 

March,  1568,  and  was  baptized  on  the  twentieth  day  of  April, 
1568,  by  the  Archpriest  John  Baptist  Pastorius.  The  sponsor 
was  the  Most  Serene  Lord  William  Gonzaga,  Duke  of  Mantua, 
acting  by  his  proxy,  the  Most  Illustrious  Lord  Prosper  Gonzaga, 
who  was  sent  for  the  purpose  with  authentic  letters  from  him. 

"  May  he  be  happy  and  live  for  ever,  dear  to  men  and  to  God, 
the  Thrice  Great  and  the  Thrice  Good  !" 

What  happy  inspiration  led  the  good  priest  to  add  these  last 
words  to  the  record  ? 

But  this  is  by  no  means  the  only  memory  of  our  Saint  pre- 
served in  Castiglione.  You  will  be  shown  there  the  rock  cham- 
ber in  the  monastery  of  the  Frati  Zoccolanti  (Recollects)  to  which 
he  retired  the  day  his  father  bade  him  get  out  of  his  sight,  in  1584, 
on  the  Saint's  declaring  his  unchangeable  purpose  of  consecrating 
himself  to  God  in  religion.'-1  You  will  be  allowed  here  to  ven- 
erate the  crucifix,  before  which  the  Saint  prayed  and  disciplined 
himself — the  stains  of  the  blood  he  shed  are  still  to  be  seen — and 
you  will  be  told  how  his  father,  strong  man  though  he  was,  being 
told  by  his  steward  what  was  passing  in  his  son's  room  and  going 
himself  to  see,  utterly  broke  down  at  the  sight  and  wept. 

Here  are  preserved  an  autograph  letter  of  the  Saint  to  his 
brother  Rodolfo  written  February  9,  1590,  and  an  original  por- 
trait which  was  exposed  for  the  veneration  of  the  people,  July  28, 
1604,  even  before  the  Saint's  formal  Beatification.  On  this  occa- 
sion the  panegyric  of  the  son  was  preached  in  the  presence  of  the 
happy  mother,  Donna  Martha.  Last  of  all,  in  the  Sanctuary  of 
the  Saint,  you  will  find  his  skull,  which  his  brother,  Don 
Francesco,  obtained  in  1610  from  the  General  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  at  the  time,  Father  Claudius  Aquaviva. 

This  Sanctuary  was  built  in  1608  by  Don  Francesco  and  the 
three  virgin  nieces  of  the  Saint,  children  of  Don  Rodolfo,  Cinzia, 
Olimpia  and  Gridonia.  These  virgins  founded  a  community 

*  This  room  is  now  a  chapel.  And  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  most  of  the 
rooms  occupied  by  the  Saint  at  different  times  were  afterwafcls  made  chapels. 
This  was  the  case  at  Florence  and  Fiesole,  Italy  ;  at  Madrid  and  Girona  in  Spain, 
at  the  Novitiate  of  San  Andrea  in  Rome,  at  the  Jesuit  College  in  Naples  and  at 
the  Roman  College,  where  he  died. 


444 


SAINT  ALOYSIUS'  HOME  AND  FAMILY. 


called  the  Virgins  of  Jesus,  and  died  in  the  odor  of  sanctity. 
Their  bodies  are  still  preserved  in  a  recess  near  the  high  altar  of 
the  church ;  and  after  all  these  years  they  are  still  uncorrupted. 
In  1679  and  in  1720  when  their  tomb  was  opened,  though  the 
grave  clothes  had  all  crumbled  into  dust,  their  bodies  were  intact 


RELIQUARY  CONTAINING  SKULL  OF  ST.  ALOYSIUS. 

and  the  limbs  flexible ;  the  features  too  were  so  well  preserved  that 
the  sisters  were  recognizable  from  their  portraits.  The  last  exam- 
ination was  made  in  1838  and  no  change  had  taken  place  then. 

The  church  itself,  though  worn  and  blackened  by  time,  has 
several  striking  architectural  features :    the  cupola  and  the  cam- 


SAINT  ALOYS  I  US'  HOME  AND  FAMILY.  445 

panile  are  especially  graceful  and  pleasing.  The  interior  has  been 
much  neglected,  but  there  is  now  on  foot  a  movement  to  restore 
the  whole  edifice.  There  are  six  side  chapels,  of  which  the  first 
on  the  right  as  you  enter  is  dedicated  to  Saint  Stanislas  Kostka, 
between  whose  family  and  that  of  our  Saint  there  is  a  bond  of 
relationship,  it  appears,  through  the  wife  of  Don  Ferdinand,  the 
Saint's  brother.  This  lady,  Bibiana  Pernsteiu,  is  said  in  the  Life 
of  the  Saint  to  have  come  from  Bohemia  and  to  have  been  of  a 
very  noble  family  allied  by  marriage  with  the  Kostkas. 

Castiglione  itself  is  a  very  ancient  place.  How  far  back  its 
history  goes,  no  one  seems  able  to  tell.  It  forms  part  of  the  terri- 
tory left  by  the  Countess  Matilda  to  the  Roman  Pontiff's.  Its 
first  lords  after  it  had  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Pope  were 
of  the  Casaloldo.  family.  By  a  Bull  dated  November  2,  1298, 
Boniface  VIII.  erected  it  into  a  County,  in  the  old  sense  of  the 
word,  that  is,  gave  to  its  lords  the  title  of  Count,  and  delegated 
Martin,  Bishop  of  Mantua,  to  receive  the  oath  of  fealty  of  the 
first  Count,  Francesco  da  Gonzaga.  The  Saint's  great-grandfather 
Rodolfo  was  the  first  to  bear  the  title  of  Marquis  of  Castiglione 
and  his  father  Ferdinand,  or  Ferrante,  seems  to  have  been  the  first 
of  his  line  who  received  the  title  of  Prince  of  the  Holy  Roman 
Empire,  though  others  say  that  his  brother  Francesco,  having 
successfully  fulfilled  several  important  charges  entrusted  to  him 
by  the  Emperor  Matthias,  received  as  a  reward  the  title  of  Prince 
and  the  honor  of  having  his  feudal  seat  of  Castiglione  numbered 
among  the  imperial  cities  in  1612. 

There  is  some  dispute  about  the  origin  of  the  name  of  the 
town,  Castiglione  delle  Stiviere.  The  addition  "delle  Stiviere"  was 
made,  it  is  clear,  in  order  to  distinguish  the  town  from  the  twenty 
or  more  Castigliones  that  are  found  in  Italy  alone.  Castiglione 
seems  to  be  a  corruption  of  Castellum,  a  stronghold.  The  arms  of 
the  Castiglioni  di  Cingoli,  to  which  family  Pius  VIII.  belonged, 
show  a  lion  over  a  fortress  from  which  we  might  conclude  that  the 
name  is  a  corruption  of  Castellum  Leonis,  the  Lion's  stronghold, 
an  allusion  to  the  commanding  and  almost  impregnable  position 
of  a  rock-built  castle,  and  the  bravery  and  strength  of  its  master. 


446 


SAINT  ALOYS  I  US'  HOME  AND  FAMILY. 


However  this  may  be,  it  seems  very  probable  that  the  name  has 
come  to  us  from  Roman  times,  and  that  it  dates  back  even  to  the 
Etruscans  and  may  be  of  Celtic  origin.  The  meaning  of  Dette 
Stiviere  is  equally  obscure,  but  the  conjectures  about  its  origin  are 
not  uninteresting.  The  arms  of  the  Commune  of  Castiglione  have 
a  dog  rampant  with  two  loose  spurs  on  its  feet ;  Stiviere  conse- 
quently may  possibly  be  derived  from  Staffa,  which  means  a  spur. 
The  principal  industry  of  the  country  round  for  generations  before 
our  Saint's  time  was  the  manufacture  of  a  special  kind  of  bottines 
of  wool  and  silk,  which  were  very  celebrated.  It  is  suggested 
that  this  foot-gear  may  have  had  something  to  do  with  the  name, 
but  the  connection  is  not  very  clear. 


CASTIGLIONE  IX  THE  TIME  OF  ALOYSIUS. 


The  founder  of  the  Saint's  immediate  family  was  Rodolfo,  the 
third  son  of  Luigi  the  Turk,  himself  the  second  Marquis  of 
Mantua,  who  died  in  1484.  Luigi  was  not  the  fierce  barbarian,  as 
the  addition  to  his  name  might  lead  us  to  suppose.  He  owed  the 
name,  it  is  said,  to  his  mother.  In  those  days,  we  are  told, 
soldiers  in  active  service  did  not  wear  their  beards,  neither  did  the 
Turks.  And  so  it  fell  out  that  Luigi,  returning  from  the  wars 
after  a  long  absence  and  meeting  his  mother  before  his  beard  had 
grown,  was  playfully  styled  by  her  "  the  Turk."  This  Luigi  left 
behind  him  among  others,  two  boys,  Frederico  who  succeeded 
him  in  Mantua,  and  Rodolfo  the  great-grandfather  of  St.  Aloysius 
who  was  the  first  Lord  of  Castiglione.  Rodolfo  died  in  1495. 

Luigi,  his  son,  had  three  boys ;  Ferdinando,  or  Ferrante,  our 


SAINT  ALOYS1US'  HOME  AND  FAMILY.  447 

Saint's  father  to  whom  fell  Castiglione  and  the  Marquisate,  Alfonso 
the  Lord  of  Castel  Goffredo,  and  Ercole  or  Hercules,  the  Lord  of 
Solferino.  The  estates  of  these  latter  were  to  revert  to  the 
Marquis  if  they  came  to  die  without  male  issue.  This  proviso  in 
the  settlement  of  the  estates  brought  about  later  the  death  of 
Rodolfo,  the  Saint's  brother.  Alfonso,  the  Lord  of  Castel  Goffredo, 
had  but  one  child,  a  daughter.  In  order  to  preserve  the  estate  to 
his  own  posterity,  he  arranged  with  his  brother,  the  Marquis,  that 
the  heir  of  Castiglione  should  marry  this  daughter.  St.  Aloysius, 
as  we  know,  chose  for  himself  another  spouse,  and  Rodolfo,  who 
became  heir  on  his  brother's  renunciation  of  the  world,  contracted 
an  unequal  marriage  with  the  only  daughter  of  his  banker,  Elena 
Aliprandi.  On  the  death  of  Alfonso,  Castel  Goffredo  reverted  to 
Rodolfo — but  his  cousin  who  had  been  twice  slighted  in  a  way  hard 
to  forgive  and  who  in  addition  was  now  to  be  deprived  of  her 
inheritance — resolved  to  fight.  Rodolfo  made  good  his  title  by 
arms,  but  one  day  as  he  was  returning  from  Mass  with  his  wife 
and  child,  he  was  stretched  dead  by  the  ball  of  an  assassin.  This 
took  place  in  1593. 

After  Rodolfo,  who  died  without  a  son  to  succeed  him,  the 
Saint's  younger  brother  Francesco,  then  but  a  stripling  of  sixteen, 
became  Marquis.  The  Saint  had  long  before  prophesied  that  this 
child  would  sustain  the  honor  of  the  family  and  the  truth  of  the 
prophecy  was  quickly  verified.  The  prudence  and  discretion  of 
the  young  Prince  won  all  hearts,  and  in  very  troubled  times,  he 
ruled  his  people  with  very  great  success,  so  much  so,  that  his 
prosperity  was  commonly  attributed  to  the  loving  protection  of  his 
sainted  brother.  Francesco  died  in  1616.  Two  of  his  sons, 
Luigi  and  Ferdinando,  ruled  after  him  and  both  dying  without 
male  children,  the  Princedom  reverted  to  Carlo,  the  son  of  Vin- 
cenzo  Cristerno,  the  Saint's  fourth  brother.  Carlo  died  in  1680, 
and  his  son  Ferdinando  was  despoiled  of  the  Princedom.  Thus 
the  last  Prince  of  Castiglione  died  in  1723.  The  family  after 
this  time  seems  to  have  lost  most  of  its  prestige.  We  find  Luigi 
Filippo,  a  great-grandson  of  the  last  Prince,  surrendering  his  fief 
to  the  Empress  Maria  Theresa  of  Austria,  and  receiving  in  return 


THE  MONTHLY  COMMUNION  OF  CHILDREN.  449 

an  annual  pension  of  ten  thousand  florins,  and  this  is  the  last 
mention  we  have  of  the  family.  Luigi  Filippo  died  in  1819. 

The  Tana  family,  to  Avhich  the  Saint  belonged,  through  his 
mother,  is  also  extinct.  Originally  it  came  from  Chieri,  a  city  of 
Piedmont,  near  Turin  ;  some  think  it  was  of  German  origin.  At 
all  events,  it  was  noble  and  Count  Baldassare  Tana,  the  grand- 
father of  the  Saint  was  a  man  of  distinction  in  court  and  camp. 
Besides  the  Saint's  mother,  he  had  one  son  Ercole  Tana  di 
Santana,  from  whom  is  descended  Blessed  Mary  of  the  Angels,  a 
Carmelite  nun  of  Turin,  who  was  beatified  by  Pius  IX.  April 
25,  1865. 

The  Saint's  mother,  Donna  Martha,  and  his  brothers  also,  we 
believe,  are  buried  in  the  parish  Church  of  Saints  Nazarius  and 
Celsus. 

So  passes  the  glory  of  this  world.  The  father  of  St.  Aloy- 
sius  opposed  his  entering  religion  through  love  for  the  family 
name  and  a  desire  to  see  it  perpetuated.  To-day  the  family  is 
extinct.  The  brilliant  deeds  of  its  great  men  are  forgotten.  The 
claims  it  had  through  these  great  men  on  the  consideration  and 
applause  of  the  world  are  now  as  if  they  had  never  existed.  On 
the  other  hand  the  name  has  become  a  household  word  and  the 
glory  of  the  family  will  never  die,  because  of  one  of  its  sons,  the 
lowly  religious,  Saint  Aloysius.  What  a  commentary  on  human 
greatness  and  what  a  light  on  God's  dealings  with  men !  That 
which  seemed  the  greatest  of  blows  to  his  house  by  Don  Fran- 
cesco has,  on  the  contrary,  been  the  sole  means  of  preserving  it 
from  oblivion,  and  of  reflecting  on  it  a  lasting  glory. 


THE   MONTHLY  COMMUNION  OF  CHILDREN. 

r  I  \ETE  Monthly  Communion  of  Children  was  inaugurated  in 
France  in  the  year  1883.  In  the  August  number  of  the 
Messager  du  SCLCT&  Coeur  of  that  year  there  appeared  a  letter 

from  a  parish  priest  in  which,  after  pointing  out  the  special  dangers 


45O  THE  MONTHLY  COMMUNION  OF  CHILDREN. 

that  beset  the  Church  in  France  and  the  determined  efforts  her  ene- 
mies were  making  to  snatch  from  her  the  youth  of  both  sexes,  he 
proposed  as  one  means  of  neutralizing  these  efforts  the  Monthly 
Communion  of  all  the  Children  of  France.  The  letter  is  a  very 
beautiful  one  and  very  suggestive,  and  it  closes  with  an  appeal  to 
priests  to  take  up  the  idea.  "O  Priests  in  parishes,  France 
depends  on  you.  You  have  only  to  bestir  yourselves,  but  with  a 
will,  a  generous,  constant  zealous  will ;  you  have  but  to  unite  with 
one  another  in  one  common  thought,  and  through  you  triumph 
will  crown  Jesus  Christ  and  His  Holy  Church."  Other  letters 
followed  and  in  January,  1885,  the  Reverend  Director-General  of 
the  Apostleship  of  Prayer,  Emile  Regnault,  being  in  Rome  and 
admitted  to  a  private  audience  with  the  Holy  Father,  spoke  to 
His  Holiness  about  this  movement  aiming  at  saving  her  children 
to  the  Church.  The  Holy  Father  whose  heart  was  torn  by  the 
accounts  of  the  efforts  made  in  France  to  wean  children  from  God 
and  from  the  things  of  God,  when  He  heard  of  the  movement  that 
had  been  started  to  bring  all  the  children  of  France  to  the  Holy 
Table,  once  a  month,  cried  out  with  an  expression  of  interest  and 
approbation  impossible  to  reproduce :  "Ah !  that  I  approve  of ! 
I  approve  it !  I  approve  it  I" 

On  the  strength  of  this  approval  and  with  the  approbation 
of  the  Bishops  and  the  co-operation  of  many  priests  the  great 
movement  was  started.  We  cannot  give  everything  at  once,  or 
we  should  set  down  some  of  the  practical  results  of  this  Commu- 
nion of  Children  in  Parishes,  where  indifference  had  been  long 
supreme.  Later  we  hope  to  do  this.  Here  we  wish  simply  to 
give  the  idea  of  this  Monthly  Communion.  This  month  of  June 
is  generally  chosen  for  the  First  Communion.  Moreover,  the  cele- 
bration of  the  Tercentenary  of  the  Patron  of  Youth  has  aroused 
in  us  all  a  spirit  of  zeal  for  the  interests  of  our  children.  This 
then  is  a  most  favorable  time  to  take  up  this  special  work  of  the 
Monthly  Communion  of  Children,  and  we  do  it  with  very  great 
willingness. 

In  beginning  we  feel  that  we  cannot  do  better  than  re-echo 
the  appeal  of  the  zealous  French  cur6  to  his  brethren  of  the 


THE  MONTHLY  COMMUNION  OF  CHILDREN.  451 

clergy  in  France.  We,  too,  as  every  priest  knows,  are  losing 
our  children.  Recent  statistics  prove  it.  The  schools,  the  press, 
the  ignorance  or  the  worldliness  of  parents  are  all  combined 
against  the  eternal  interests  of  Catholic  children.  Something 
must  be  done  to  strengthen  them  in  their  faith,  to  give  them  a 
filial  love  for  the  Church  and  her  teachings,  to  counteract  the 
benumbing  effects  of  the  sneering,  patronizing,  infidel  atmosphere 
in  which  they  are  forced  of  necessity  to  dwell.  And  what  shall 
this  something  be  ?  To  whom  can  we  turn  if  not  to  the  God  of 
the  Eucharist  ?  Amen,  I  say  to  you,  except  you  eat  the  flesh  of  the 
Son  of  Man  and  drink  His  Blood,  you  shall  not  have  life  in  you  ; 
for  My  flesh  is  meat  indeed  and  My  blood  is  drink  indeed  ;  he  that 
eateth  My  flesh  and  drinketh  My  blood  abideth  in  Me  and  I  in  him. 
-As  the  living  Father  hath  sent  Me  and  I  live  by  the  Father  ;  so  he 
that  eateth  Me,  the  same  also  shall  live  by  Me.  This  is  the  bread 
that  came  down  from  heaven.  Not  as  your  fathers  did  eat  manna 
and  are  dead.  He  that  eateth  this  bread  shall  live  for  ever.1 

Now  the  life  which  our  Lord  here  promises  us  with  so  much 
solemnity  is  just  that  life  which  we  see  dying  down  in  our 
children.  There  are  consoling  exceptions  undoubtedly ;  but  side 
by  side  with  these  do  we  not  find'  a  growing  ignorance  about 
essential  points  of  faith,  increasing  indifference  to  the  practices  of 
religion,  a  deadening  of  conscience  to  the  enormity  of  sin?  Are 
not  our  children  growing  more  and  more  like  those  around  them, 
money-seekers  or  pleasure-seekers  merely,  living  for  dress  or 
amusement,  shrinking  from  poverty,  from  pain  that  is  from  the 
Cross  of  Christ,  and  so  preparing  the  way  for  apostasy  when  real 
trials  come  home  to  them  ?  Is  not  the  impression  generally  and 
industriously  propagated  that  it  is  among  non-Catholics  we  must 
look  for  refinement,  respectability,  culture ;  that  to  non-Catholic 
schools  our  children  must  go  if  they  are  to  get  on  in  the  world, 
because  these  schools  alone  are  up  to  the  times,  in  these  schools 
alone  are  to  be  found  -the  connections  which  can  be  afterwards  use- 
ful in  the  struggle  for  success  ?  Then  come  mixed  marriages  and 
all  the  evils  they  bring  in  their  train,  the  greatest  of  all  being 

1  St.  John,  vi. 


452  THE  MONTHLY  COMMUNION   OF  CHILDREN. 

the  very  nearly  certain  loss  to  God  of  the  unhappy  fruits  of  such 
unions. 

It  is  of  vital  necessity,  then,  to  do  something  to  preserve  the 
children.  And  this  Monthly  Communion  of  Children  is  without 
question  the  most  powerful  help  we  could  have. 

At  the  epoch  of  the  First  Communion,  children  are  ordinarily 
more  open  to  salutary  impressions  than  at  any  other  time.  The 
Lord  Who  said :  Suffer  little  children  to  come  to  Me  and  forbid 
them  not*  seems  to  shower  on  them  more  abundant  graces  then, 
and  the  prayers  of  their  Angels  in  heaven  who  always  see  the  face 
of  the  Father3  seem  to  have  a  special  and  altogether  extraordinary 
efficacy.  This  is  then  the  time  to  bring  them  to  contract  the  habit 
of  Monthly  Communion.  The  first  good  effect  of  this  habit  will 
be  the  preservation  of  their  innocence  and  a  steady  growth  in  their 
souls  of  sanctifying  grace  and  the  habits  of  the  virtues.  We  have 
the  authority  of  St.  Alphonsus  Liguori  for  this  much.  Besides 
this,  the  Monthly  Communion  will  beget  sympathy  with  the  Church 
and  her  offices,  a  spirit  of  filial  affection  for  religion,  an  uncon- 
scious prizing  of  the  gift  of  faith,  and  so  will  make  other  observ- 
ances of  religion  natural  and  easy.  It  may  be  that  in  many  cases 
these  children,  or  some  of  them,  will  still  be  wild  in  spite  of  this 
Monthly  Communion.  They  may  even  fall  into  grievous  sin  ; 
but  what  will  it  be  if  they  do  not  receive  Holy  Communion  once 
a  month?  Will  they  be  better  equipped  to  resist  temptation? 
And  is  it  not  a  very  precious  result  of  frequent  Communion,  that 
the  spirit  of  faith  will  be  kept  alive  in  them,  that  some  check, 
some  restraint  will  be  put  upon  the  growth  of  those  evil  habits, 
to  which  so  many  apostasies  are  directly  traceable,  that  the  voice 
of  conscience  will  still  continue  to  make  itself  heard,  and  that  con- ' 
fession  of  sin  will  be  made,  trying  ordeal  that  it  is,  and  made 
bravely  and  with  real  contrition  and  desire  of  amendment?  Are 
not  these  results  worthy  of  our  efforts  ? 

Moreover,  if  Holy  Communion  be  thus  received,  month  after 
month,  for  four  or  five  years  or  more,  what  a  preparation  has  been 
made  by  the  young  man  or  the  young  woman  for  those  trying 

•St.  Mark,  x.  14.  »St.  Matthew,  xviii.  10. 


THE  MONTHLY  COMMUNION  OF  CHILDREN.  453 

temptations  which  await  them  on  their  entrance  into  the  larger 
world.  There  is  so  much  complaint  that  young  men  especially 
stay  away  from  Holy  Communion.  And  to  whom  is  the  fault 
due?  After  their  First  Communion  what  interest  is  taken  in 
them?  What  efforts  beyond  what  parental  love  may  prompt 
are  spent  on  them  ?  And  so,  little  by  little,  the  life  of  grace  is 
starved  out,  temptation  comes,  there  is  a  fall,  then  the  shrinking 
from  confession,  the  silencing  of  the  voice  of  conscience  little  by 
little,  recklessness,  indiiference,  and  finally  practical  unbelief.  Of 
course  this  will  happen  in  some  cases  in  spite  of  all  we  can  do ; 
but  in  how  many  cases  could  it  have  been  prevented  if  only  some 
means  had  been  at  hand  to  bring  the  young  man  to  Communion 
once  a  month. 

Now,  the  League  of  the  Sacred  Heart  called  the  Apostle- 
ship  of  Prayer  oifers  special  facilities  for  carrying  on  this  work  of 
the  Monthly  Communion.  As  we  said  in  the  beginning,  the  object 
of  the  movement  in  France  six  years  ago  was  to  unite  all  the 
children  of  the  country  in  one  solemn  act  of  religion  and  with  one 
intention,  to  obtain  the  safety  and  triumph  of  the  Church.  Here 
in  our  own  land,  as  we  have  seen,  the  evils  that  threaten  the 
Church  are  of  the  gravest,  and  many  of  them  it  is  hard  to  see  how 
to  remedy.  In  this  extremity  we  must  have  recourse  to  our  only 
refuge,  prayer.  Now  we  have  our  Lord's  promise  regarding 
united  prayer :  Again  I  say  to  you  that  if  two  of  you  shall  con- 
sent upon  earth  concerning  anything  whatsoever  they  shall  ask,  it 
shall  be  done  to  them  by  My  Father  Who  is  in  heaven.*  What  hopes, 
then,  may  we  not  build  on  the  efficacy  of  the  prayer  offered  by  our 
children  united  together  once  a  month  to  honor  the  Sacred  Heart 
in  the  Sacrament  of  His  love !  This  union  of  prayers  is  secured  by 
enrolling  the  children  in  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer,  the  League  of 
the  Sacred  Heart,  and  having  them  practise  the  Third  Degree — the 
Communion  of  Reparation. 

Besides  this  the  League  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  by  its  organiza- 
tion and  the  motive  it  supplies,  is  singularly  powerful  in  keeping 
the  children  together  and  securing  fidelity  to  and  perseverance  in 

*  St.  Matthew,  xviii.  19. 


454  THE  MONTHLY  COMMUNION  OF  CHILDREN. 

the  practice  of  Monthly  Communion.  Nothing  is  more  effective, 
not  with  children  alone  but  with  all  of  us,  than  example,  and  the 
sense  that  we  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  others  in  an  under- 
taking. What  the  individual  taken  by  himself  could  with  diffi- 
culty be  brought  to  do,  the  same  individual,  if  associated  with 
others,  will  make  a  boast  of  doing.  This  is  the  secret  spring  of 
much  sin.  Why  should  it  not  be  utilized  to  counteract  sin? 
And  utilized  for  this  very  purpose  it  is  by  the  League  of  the 
Sacred  Heart.  Then  the  motive  the  League  sets  before  the  child- 
ren is  the  idea  of  reparation,  of  making  up  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for 
the  coldness  and  ingratitude  of  men.  If  the  efforts  of  older  people 
to  make  reparation  are  pleasing  to  the  Sacred  Heart,  what  shall 
we  say  of  the  children's  efforts  ?  And  experience  has  shown  that 
this  motive  is  easily  grasped  by  the  children  and  is  strangely 
powerful  to  move  them. 

We  have  here,  then,  many  and  powerful  motives  for  promot- 
ing this  work  of  the  Monthly  Communion  of  Children.  It  will 
save  many  who  are  now  in  imminent  danger.  It  can  be  made  the 
means  of  assuring  the  future  of  the  Church  and  its  increase  in 
our  country.  And  we  must  remember  that  the  Church  is  Apos- 
tolic not  only  in  the  sense  that  it  traces  back  its  descent  to  the 
Apostles  and  has  its  mission,  its  teaching,  its  Sacraments  from 
Christ  through  them ;  but  also  in  the  other  sense  that  it  leaves  no 
stone  unturned  to  bring  souls  into  its  fold.  The  Church  must 
draw  and  attract  souls  and  where  she  is  not  doing  this,  the  fault 
is  with  her  children.  Their  faith  is  not  strong  and  active.  If  it 
were,  it  would  show  in  their  lives  and  lead  others  to  seek,  at  the 
same  source,  peace  and  strength  and  holiness.  A  third  good  this 
Monthly  Communion  does,  is  to  arouse  parents  and  older  people 
from  their  lethargy.  The  spectacle  of  their  children  approaching 
the  Holy  Communion  in  a  body,  especially  where  the  Monthly 
Communion  is  made  an  event,  where  it  is  accompanied  by  as  much 
pomp  and  circumstance  as  the  surroundings  will  admit,  cannot  fail 
to  have  a  great  effect  on  parents.  Are  the  fathers  and  mothers 
lax  in  this  matter  of  approaching  the  Sacraments  ?  Begin  with 
the  children.  Their  example  will  set  the  older  people  thinking 


A   CRY   TO   THE  SACRED  HEART. 


455 


and  this  kind  of  meditation  very  rarely  fails  to  be  salutary.  The 
next  thing  will  be,  that  the  elders  will  be  seen  emulating  the  child- 
ren, and -in  any  case  the  sole  means  has  been  taken  to  counteract  an 
evil  example  and  to  secure  for  one  generation  the  great  boon  of 
having  for  many  years  and  repeatedly  during  that  time  fed  on  the 
Bread  of  Angels — the  Corn  of  the  chosen  ones  and  the  Wine  that 
maketh  virgins  to  spring  forth.6  He  that  eateth  My  flesh  and 
drinketh  My  blood  hath  everlasting  life  and  I  will  raise  him  up  in 
the  last  day." 


CRY  TO  THE  SACRED  HEART. 

By  T.  A.  M. 

E  Thou  my  friend,  O  Sacred  Heart ! 

I  need  Thy  love  much  more 

Than  e'er  before ; 
For  one  by  one  I've  let  the  years  depart 

And  vainly  thought  to  find 

That  others  would  be  kind  ; 
But  now  in  sorrow,  asking  sympathy 

I  come  to  Thee. 

Be  Thou  my  friend,  O  Heart  Divine ! 

Because  of  my  delay 

Turn  not  away, 
Nor  chide  me  for  this  fickle  heart  of  mine ; 

Forget  my  sinful  past, 

And  take  me  back  at  last 
To  love  Thee  faithfully  and  find  a  place 

In  Thy  embrace. 


Be  Thou  my  friend,  O  Heart  of  Love ! 

I'll  never  seek  again 

The  love  of  men, 

Except  to  share  it  in  Thy  Heart  above : 
"  Though  ancient,  ever  new, 

O  Beauty  true, 
Late  have  I  found  Thee  !" — Tarry  to  the  end, 

And  be  my  Friend  ! 

5  Zacharias,  ix.  17.  6  St.  John,  vi.  55. 


THE   DALMATIC. 

'By  the  Secretary  of  a  Tabernacle  Society. 

WHEN  a  priest  celebrates  Solemn  Mass,  he  is  accompanied 
and  assisted  at  the  altar  by  a  Deacon  and  a  Subdeacon ; 
when  a  Bishop  is  the  celebrant,  a  Priest  attends  him 
as  well  and  is  the  Deacon  of  Honor.  When  our  Holy  Father 
the  Pope  pontificates,  there  are  always  two  Deacons  and  two  Sub- 
deacons,  besides  the  Deacon  of  Honor ;  one  of  these  is  Latin  and 
the  other  Greek,  and  when  the  Gospel  and  Epistle  are  read  for 
the  people  in  Latin,  they  are  read  immediately  afterwards  in 
Greek ;  this  is  done  not  merely  to  show  the  unity  of  the  Church 
but  to  express  her  ardent  desire  that  all  of  her  children  should  be 
reunited  in  her  fold. 

The  priest  alone  is  empowered  to  offer  the  Sacrifice;  the 
deacon  approaching  nearest  to  sacerdotal  dignity  makes  the  prep- 
aration, offers  the  priest  the  bread  and  wine,  covers  and  uncovers 
the  chalice  and  performs  every  other  little  office  pertaining  to  the 
Sacrifice ;  he  also  has  the  privilege  of  reading  the  Gospel  to  the 
people ;  the  subdeacon  receives  the  cruets  from  the  acolytes,  passes 
the  wine  to  the  deacon,  pours  the  water  into  the  chalice,  holds  the 
paten  veiled  until  the  priest  has  need  of  it,  and  reads  to  the  con- 
gregation the  Lesson  for  the  day. 

As  each  order  has  its  respective  duties,  so  has  each  its 
appointed  vestments  which,  while  corresponding  in  color  and  gen- 
eral form,  differ  essentially  :  the  priest  wears  the  Chasuble  which 
has  lately  occupied  the  attention  of  the  MESSENGER  readers  ;  the 
deacon  and  subdeacon  wear  respectively  the  Dalmatic  and  the  Tunic, 
though  at  the  present  time  there  is  scarcely  any  difference  made 
between  these  two  vestments.  Formerly  there  was  a  great  dis- 
tinction made.  The  Stole  and  the  Dalmatic  were  enumerated  as 
the  vestments  of  the  deacon,  while  in  the  instruction  for  the  other 
clerics,  it  was  said  :  "  The  subdeacon  shall  take  the  vestments 

456 


THE  DALMATIC. 


457 


which  are  his  [which  were  the  Alb  and  Tunic],  called  by  some 
ornaments  of  the  subdeacon."  ' 

The  Chasuble  alone  bears  the  cross,  while  the  ornamentation 
of  the  Dalmatic  and  Tunic  is  in  straight  lines,  and  the  wide  sleeves 
are  of  convenient  form  for  those  having  much  serving  to  do. 

The  word  Deacon  in  itself  means  only  minister  or  server ; 
the  Church,  however,  has  given  to  it  a  more  definite  signification. 
Already  in  Apostolic  times  the  diaconate  was  a  Church  office,  and 
they  upon  whom  hands  were  imposed  were  chosen  of  good  reputa- 


DEACON  AND  SCBDEACON  FROM  VERY   ANCIENT   EXAMPLES. 

tion,  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  wisdom  ; 2  they  were  ordained  that 
the  Apostles  might  be  free  to  give  themselves  continually  to  prayer 
and  to  the  ministry  of  the  word,  and  we  know  that  it  was  in  the 
active  exercise  of  the  powers  conferred  on  him  that  Stephen,  one 
of  the  seven  chosen,  had  the  glorious  privilege  of  being  the  first 
to  give  his  life  for  Jesus  crucified. 

Their  duties,  we  may  well  imagine,  were  many  and  varied ; 
in  the  Pontificale  it  is  said  that  it  is  the  part  of  a  deacon  "  to 

JBona.  *  Acts,  vi.  3. 


458 


THE  DALMATIC. 


minister  at  the  altar,  to  baptize,  and  to  preach,"  but  besides  these 
functions  the  deacons  attended  all  martyrdoms  in  order  to  gather 
precious  relics  and  preserve  them  from  profanation;  they  were 
the  secretaries  of  the  bishops  and  had  charge  of  the  alms  and 
temporal  goods  of  the  Church,  and  they  served  at  the  tables  where 
the  faithful  celebrated  the  "Agapee." 

In  solemn  feasts  of  the  people  it  was  customary  among  the 
Romans  for  the  principal  ministers  of  the  table  to  wear  a  napkin 

of  honor  on  the  shoulder ;  this  mark 
of  distinction  was  given,  by  the 
Church,  to  the  deacons,  who  wore  it 
as  a  badge  of  office  at  the  Agapes ; 
the  other  servers  wore  the  napkin 
on  the  left  arm,  which  is  thought  by 
many  to  have  been  the  origin  of  the 
Maniple. 

As  the  duties  of  those  serving 
caused  them  to  come  and  go  in  the 
church,  this  linen  cloth  was  incon- 
veniently blown  about ;  to  avoid 
this  the  ends  were  drawn  to  the  side 
and  fastened  there,  which  is  still 
done  to-day  in  the  Stole  of  the 
deacon. 

The  ordinary  dress  of  a  free 
Roman  was  the  first  dress  of  the  deacon ;  it  was  of  linen  and  had 
sleeves  only  to  the  elbow ;  sometimes  small  ornaments  in  the 
shape  of  disks  were  placed  on  the  lower  part,  but  usually  it  had 
only  the  bands  of  purple  called  clavi,  which  were  common  to  all 
robes  of  position  and  which  varied  in  richness  according  to  the 
wealth  and  dignity  of  the  wearer.  This  form  of  ornamentation 
is  often  mentioned  by  ancient  writers :  Rabanus  Maurus  calls  it 
"  duos  tranntes,"  Alcuin  "  duas  virgulas"  others  "  duas  Uneas" 
and  "  duas  zonas ";  it  has  always  been  the  decoration  of  the 
deacon's  vestment,  distinguishing  it  from  the  Chasuble  whose 
ornamentation  soon  took  the  lines  of  the  cross. 


DALMATIC  OF  TWELFTH  CENTURY. 


THE  DALMATIC. 


459 


The  most  ancient  figures  of  Christ — those  of  Monza — are 
represented  as  wearing  this  dress  of  a  free  Roman ;  it  was  called 
the  Colobmm.  St.  Bartholomew,  Apostle,  is  thus  described  by 


/fa 


SPANISH   DALMATIC  AND  TUNIC. 


Abdias  of  Babylon :  "  he  was  clothed  in  a  white  Colobium,. 
ornamented  with  bands  of  purple  and  wore  a  pallium  having  gems 
at  every  angle."3 

s  Cod  ex  Apoc.  Ap.  Fabric,  vol.  ii. 


460 


THE  DALMATIC. 


Early  in  the  fourth  century  Pope  Sylvester  gave  the  Roman 
deacons  the  Dalmatic  instead  of  the  Colobium,  which  had  been  used 
until  that  time.  The  Dalmatic  was  the  tunic  in  common  use 
among  the  Dalmatians,  and  from  thence  derived  its  name.  It  was 
a  long  garment  reaching  almost  to  the  feet,  and  was  made  first  of 
white  Dalmatian  wool,  but  later  of  silk ;  it  had  large  sleeves 
reaching  to  the  elbow  and  bands  of  purple  on  either  side  of  the 
breast ;  it  was  imported  by  the  Romans  and  adopted  by  them  as 
a  vestment  of  distinction  early  in  the  second  century. 

Long  before  it  became  the  official  insignia  of  the  deacon,  it 
was  worn  by  the  Pope  and  by  many  bishops  ;  in  the  Acts  of 

St.  Cyprian,  Bishop  of  Car- 
thage in  the  third  century, 
it  is  said  that  the  holy  mar- 
tyr drew  off  his  Dalmatic, 
and,  giving  it  to  his  dea- 
cons, stood  ready  for  death, 
clothed  in  his  tunic.  The 
Dalmatic  of  St.  Gregory  is 
also  specially  mentioned. 

The  Popes  often  pre- 
sented the  Dalmatic  to 
bishops  as  a  mark  of  dis- 
tinction or  of  recompense ; 
sometimes  the  bishops 
asked  for  it  for  themselves 
Gregory  the  Great  accorded  this  favor 


CORRECT  FORM  OF  DALMATIC. 


or    for  their  deacons. 

to  Aregius,  Bishop  of  Gap  in  Gaul. 

After  the  privilege  of  wearing  the  Dalmatic  was  given  to  the 
Roman  deacons  by  Pope  Sylvester,  its  use  was  gradually  conceded 
to  the  deacons  of  other  churches.  It  was  given  by  Pope  Sym- 
machus,  towards  the  end  of  the  fifth  century,  to  the  church  of 
Aries.  In  the  sixth  century,  the  Dalmatic  was  considered  an 
ecclesiastical  vestment  for  all  deacons,  and  by  the  year  800  it  was 
spoken  of  as  one  of  the  episcopal,  and  the  chief  of  the  deacon's 
vestments. 


THE  DALMATIC.  461 

During  all  this  time  the  subdeacon  wore  only  the  Alb  and 
linen  Tunic ;  the  order  of  subdeacon  is  still  a  Minor  Order  in 
the  Greek  Church ;  in  the  Latin  Church  it  has  been  one  of  the 
Greater  or  Sacred  Orders  since  about  1200  A.D. 

Long  after  its  adoption  by  the  Church  as  an  ecclesiastical 
vestment,  the  Dalmatic  remained  a  garment  of  ceremony  among 
the  Romans  and  to  the  present  time  it  continues  to  be  a  royal 
robe ;  like  the  other  ecclesiastical  vestments  it  was  probably 
white,  at  least  for  the  Holy  Sacrifice.  In  the  Pontificate  it  is  said 
that  Pope  Eutychius  ordered  that  any  of  the  faithful  who  gave 
burial  to  a  Martyr  should  see  that  the  body  was  covered  with  a 
Colobium  or  Dalmatic  of  purple  color,  which  is  the  red  now  used 
by  the  Church  on  the  feasts  of  Martyrs. 

In  the  tenth  century  the  Dalmatic  was  of  various  colors  and 
in  the  twelfth  and  succeeding  centuries  it  followed  the  color  of  the 
Chasuble,  and  was  made  of  rich  material  and  much  ornamented. 
In  early  effigies  of  bishops  the  lower  part  of  the  Dalmatic  is  repre- 
sented, appearing  beneath  the  Chasuble,  richly  fringed  and  open  at 
the  sides.  This  is  shown  in  the  figure  from  the  brass  at  Oxford, 
representing  Thomas  Cranley,  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  in  the  chapel 
of  New  College,  Oxford,  1417. 

The  Greek  Church  has  a  vestment  resembling  the  Dalmatic, 
called  the  Sticharion,  from  the  stripes  with  which  it  is  adorned ;  its 
color  varies  as  with  the  Dalmatic ;  the  priest  wears  this  vestment 
under  his  Chasuble  as  the  bishop  in  the  Latin  Church  wears  both 
the  Dalmatic  of  the  deacon  and  the  Tunic  of  the  subdeacon  when 
he  celebrates  Pontifical  Mass ;  they  are  then  always  white  and  of 
light  material. 

Like  the  Chasuble  the  Dalmatic  has  been  shortened,  but  it 
retains  the  wide  sleeves  of  early  times ;  it  should  harmonize  with 
the  sacrificial  vestment  but  may  very  properly  be  inferior  to  it  in 
material  and  ornamentation. 

The  Dalmatic  is  worn  by  the  deacon  at  High  Mass  as  well  as 
at  processions  and  Benedictions.  At  Rome,  on  great  feasts,  it  is 
customary  for  an  ordinary  priest  to  be  attended  by  sacred  minis- 
ters vested  in  Dalmatics,  for  the  Benediction  of  the  Blessed 
Sacrament. 


462  THE  READER. 

It  is  "  the  garment  of  solemnity  which  should  inspire  joy  to 
those  who  wear  it  and  to  the  faithful  who  see  it."  This  is  the 
sense  of  the  prayer  which  the  bishop  addresses  to  the  deacon  at 
his  ordination  and  of  that  which  he  recites  in  vesting  in  the  Dal- 
matic ;  it  marks  the  divine  protection,  the  joy  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  justice. 

Mystical  meanings  have  also  been  attributed  to  the  Dalmatic  ; 
when  the  arms  are  stretched  it  presents  the  figure  of  a  cross ;  the 
width  of  the  sleeves  is  said  to  typify  charity ;  and  the  two  bands 
or  orphreys,  originally  purple  or  crimson,  were  supposed  to 
symbolize  the  Blood  of  Christ  shed  for  Jews  and  Gentiles. 


THE    READER. 

* 

The  Tercentenary  of  St.  Aloysius  is  proving  a  profitable 
occasion  of  infusing  new  vigor  into  our  Catholic  societies,  par- 
ticularly those  of  young  men.  The  national  capital  promises  an 
elaborate  ceremonial  for  the  Saint's  feast.  The  Post  of  Washing- 
ton, D.  C.,  says  :  "A  very  important  event  in  the  Catholic  Church 
in  this  city  takes  place  on  the  21st  of  June,  at  which  time  the 
Tercentenary  of  the  death  of  St.  Aloysius,  Patron  of  Youth,  will 
be  celebrated.  Elaborate  preparations  are  being  made  by  the 
Jesuit  Fathers  connected  with  St.  Aloysius'  Church  to  commemo- 
rate this  Saint  in  the  most  fitting  manner.  The  League  of  the 
Sacred  Heart  of  St.  Aloysius'  Church  is  specially  interested  in  the 
celebration  of  this  feast.  There  are  upwards  of  3,500  Associates 
of  the  League  in  the  parish,  and  the  part  it  will  assume  in  the 
observance  of  the  feast  will  be  an  important  one. 

"  The  event  will  also  be  made  a  starting  point  for  an  impor- 
tant work  for  Catholic  children  by  inaugurating  a  public  and 
solemn  Monthly  Communion  for  Children,  and  the  introduction 
into  the  schools  of  the  special  adaptation  of  the  Apostleship  of 
Prayer,  known  as  the  'Apostleship  of  Study,'  which  organizes 
children  into  a  special  practice  of  the  League  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
without  in  any  way  interfering  with  the  general  work  of  the 
League  of  the  parish. 


THE  READER.  463 

"The  services  on  Sunday,  June  21,  will  begin  at  11  o'clock, 
with  solemn  pontifical  High  Mass  celebrated  by  His  Eminence, 
Cardinal  Gibbons.  Right  Rev.  John  J.  Keane,  rector  of  the 
Catholic  University  of  America,  will  deliver  the  sermon.  The 
solemn  Consecration  of  children  to  St.  Aloysius  will  take  place  at 
4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  followed  by  other  exercises  which  will 
be  interesting  and  imposing.  In  the  evening  the  Reverend 
Thomas  J.  Campbell,  S.J.,  the  Provincial  of  the  Maryland-New 
York  Province,  will  deliver  a  panegyric  of  the  Saint." 

*  * 

Should  St.  Aloysius'  Tercentenary  do  nothing  more  than 
revive  a  Catholic  spirit  in  our  young  men's  societies,  it  will  still 
have  accomplished  much.  Is  not,  perhaps,  the  failure  of  some 
young  men's  societies,  or  the  half-dead-and-alive  existence  of 
others,  directly  traceable  to  a  want  of  due  recognition  and  a 
proper  appreciation  of  the  religious,  Catholic  element  in  their 
associations?  Yet  this  element  is  supposed  to  be  the  bond  of 
union  and  strength.  These  societies  are  careful  to  write  the  word 
"  Catholic "  in  their  title,  but  do  they  show  in  work  and  deed 
that  they  are  really  such?  Are  the  members  convinced  of  the 
Catholicity  of  their  society,  and  is  their  conviction  strong  enough 
to  appear  in  the  ready  fulfilment  of  the  religious  practices  pre- 
scribed by  their  society?  It  is  remarkable  that  both  Father 
Lavelle,  the  President  of  the  Catholic  Young  Men's  National  Union, 
and  Archbishop  Janssens,  the  Supreme  Spiritual  Director  of  the 
Catholic  Knights  of  America,  have  insisted  with  special  emphasis 
upon  the  religious  character  of  the  bond  which  unites  their  respect- 
ive societies.  Father  Lavelle,  in  his  address  to  the  Young  Men's 
Societies  on  the  occasion  of  St.  Aloysius'  Tercentenary,  wrote : 
"  We  need  help  from  heaven  more  than  from  earth,  in  order  that 
we  may  insure  the  success  of  the  cause  in  which  we  are  enlisted." 
And  Archbishop  Janssens,  in  giving  a  verbal  report  of  his  office  at  the 
convention  of  the  Catholic  Knights  assembled  in  Philadelphia  last 
month,  deprecated  "  the  tendency  to  set  aside  the  religious  motives 
of  the  organization  and  confine  its  objects  to  the  material  benefits." 

If  a  young  men's  society  is  to  be  Catholic,  if  its  bond  of 
union  is  to  be  religious,  it  must  have  something  more  than  the 
name ;  it  must  have  religions  practices,  and  be  faithful  to  them. 


i 


464  THE  READER. 


Father  Antonio  Maresca,  of  the  Barnabites,  the  Head  Director 
of  the  League  for  Italy  and  founder  of  the  Italian  MESSENGER  OF 
THE  SACRED  HEART — II  Messagere  del  Sacro  Cuore  di  Gesu — 
was  called  to  his  reward  last  Holy  Thursday.  Many  Associates 
and  Promoters,  representatives  of  the  Catholic  press,  and  large 
numbers  of  the  clergy  and  faithful  attended  his  funeral.  He  had 
labored  long  and  ardently  to  further  the  glory  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  and  the  concourse  at  his  burial  was  an  outward  tribute 
of  the  esteem  and  love  which  he  had  won  by  his  devoted  life. 
His  successor  is  Father  Vitale,  also  of  the  Barnabites. 

*  *  *  * 

The  present  actual  number  of  parishes  and  communities 
regularly  aggregated  by  Diploma  to  the  League  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  called  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer,  is  46,408.  This  is  the 
latest  official  figure  published  by  the  Director  General  in  the 
French  MESSENGER  for  May.  The  exact  number  of  Local 
Centres  is  more  readily  ascertained  than  the  number  of  Associates, 
for  every  aggregation  made  by  the  Head  Directors  in  their 
various  circumscriptions  must  be  reported  to  the  Director  General 
for  ratification,  while  the  names  of  the  Associates  that  are  con- 
tinually increasing  in  numbers  are  entered  upon  the  registers  of 
the  Local  Centres  and  not  transmitted  elsewhere.  For  this  reason 
only  a  proximate  estimate  of  the  Associates  can  be  made.  How- 
ever, a  fairly  close  estimate  can  be  reached  from  the  number  of 
Certificates  of  Admission  and  Rosary  Tickets  sent  out  by  the 
Head  Directors,  as  well  as  from  periodical  reports  returned  to 
them  by  Local  Directors.  Every  year  the  Head  Directors  trans- 
mit to  the  Director  General  a  statement  of  the  standing  and  pro- 
gress of  the  League  under  their  direction,  and  from  the  data 
furnished  the  official  statistics  are  compiled.  The  present  number 
of  Associates  is  calculated  to  be  20,000,000.  Of  these  there  are 
more  than  a  million  among  English-speaking  Americans,  and 
550,000  of  these  practise  the  daily  decade  of  the  Beads  of  the 
2d  Degree.  This  will  give  an  idea  of  the  number  of  people  in 
the  United  States  who  say  at  least  some  prayer  every  day.  This 
number  represents  those  only  of  the  League,  exclusive  of  those 
who  are  members  in  other  religious  associations. 


GENERAL  INTENTION 

FOR  JUNE,    1891. 

Designated  by  His  Holiness,  Leo  XIII.,  with  his  special  blessing,  and  given  to  His 
Eminence  the  Cardinal  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda — the  Protector  of  the 
League  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  called  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer — -for  recom- 
mendation to  the  prayers  of  the  Associates. 

PRACTICAL  DEVOTION   TO  THE   HOLY  CROSS. 

DEVOTION  to  the  Holy  Cross  is  woven  in  with  the  very 
life  of  the  Church.  In  season  and  out  of  season,  in  the 
very  form  of  her  temples  and  the  adornments  with  which 
she  beautifies  them,  in  her  rites  and  ceremonies,  in  the  exercises  of 
priestly  power  and  authority  which  she  entrusts  to  her  ministers, 
everywhere  the  Cross  is  kept  before  us,  its  meaning  and  its  teach- 
ing are  ever  pressed  on  our  attention.  Are  we  strong  and  prosper- 
ous, rejoicing  in  health  of  body  and  in  the  possession  of  the  goods 
of  this  world  ?  She  points  to  the  Cross.  It  has  a  lesson  for  us. 
Are  we  in  pain  and  in  affliction  ?  Is  the  burden  of  the  body  more 
than  we  are  able  to  carry  ?  Again  she  points  to  the  Cross. 

I. 

Why  does  the  Church  so  insist  upon  the  Cross  ?  Because 
knowing  that  other  foundation  no  man  can  lay,  but  that  which  is 
laid,  Christ  Jesus,1  she  knows,  too,  no  man  can  find  that  other 
remedy  for  the  ills  of  individuals  and  the  dangers  threatening  the 
world  and  religion,  that  other  solution  for  the  problems  of  the 
hour,  but  that  which  the  Incarnate  Wisdom  of  the  Father  gave  us 
in  the  Cross.  And  as  Moses  lifted  up  the  brazen  serpent  in  the 
desert  which  when  they  that  were  bitten  looked  upon,  they  were 
healed,''  so  now  does  the  Church.  She  keeps  the  Cross  ever  before 
our  eyes,  so  that  we  may  look  upon  it  and  also  be  healed.  This 
is  the  practical  devotion  to  the  Holy  Cross  we  are  to  pray  for  this 

1 1.  Corinthians,  iii.  11.  2  Numbers,  xxi.  9. 

465 


466  GENERAL  INTENTION. 

month.  The  great  boon  we  are  to  obtain  for  ourselves  and  all 
men  by  our  united  prayers  is  the  grace  to  turn  from  vanities  and 
foolish  excesses,  and  to  look  on  the  Cross',  to  grasp  its  meaning,  to 
see  how  it  illumines  and  glorifies  life,  how  it  can  make  the  yoke 
sweet  and  the  burden  light,  and  seeing  this  and  understanding  it, 
that  we  may  gladly  accept  that  degree  of  suffering  and  trial,  of 
injustice  even,  which  a  Wise  and  Fatherly  Providence  permits  to 
come  into  our  lives  in  order  to  fill  up  those  things  which  are  want- 
ing of  the  sufferings  of  Christ.3 

To  ask  this  is  to  ask  that  men  accept  something  which  is 
as  much  a  stumbling-block  and  foolishness  to  the  Jews  and  the 
Gentiles  of  our  day  as  to  those  who  lived  in  the  days  of  St.  Paul ; 
something  which  runs  counter  to  the  thought,  the  fashions,  the 
hard  common  sense  of  the  world  of  to-day,  as  it  has  to  the  vary- 
ing and  shifting  standards  of  every  one  of  the  last  nineteen  cen- 
turies. But  prayer  is  powerful.  Again  I  say  to  you,  that  if  two 
of  you  shall  consent  upon  earth  concerning  anything  whatsoever  they 
shall  ask,  it  shall  be  done  to  them  by  My  Father  Who  is  in  heaven.' 

II. 

The  devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart  is  peculiarly  fitted  to  bring 
men  to  accept  the  Cross.  Under  another  form  it  insists  on  the 
same  teachings.  But  what  appears  stern  and  uncompromising  in 
the  doctrine  of  self-denial  and  patience  under  suffering  and  trials 
and  even  oppression,  puts  on  a  new  aspect  when  it  comes  to  us 
warm  with  the  love  and  strengthened  by  the  pleadings  of  the 
Sacred  Heart.  Other  foundation  no  man  can  lay  but  that  which  is 
laid,  Christ  Jesus.1"  And  surely  it  follows  as  a  necessary  conse- 
quence, that  there  is  no  other  remedy  for  the  ills  of  life,  if  that 
which  the  Incarnate  Wisdom  of  the  Father  elected  should  fail  us. 
Now  Christ  chose  the  Cross,  not  of  necessity,  for  He  had  joy  set 
be/ore  Him,  but  endured  the  Cross,  despising  the  shame."  And 
Christ  chose  the  Cross  because  He  loved  us,  He  loved  me  and 
delivered  Himself  for  me.1  And  His  choice  was  in  obedience  to 

"Colossians,  i.  4.        4St.  Matthew,  xviii.  19.        5I.  Corinthians,  iii.  11. 
•Hebrews,  xii.  2.        7  Galatians,  ii.  20. 


GENERAL  INTENTION.  467 

the  wish  of  His  Father.  Holocausts  for  sin  did  not  please  Thee, 
then  said  I:  behold  I  come  ;  in  the  head  of  the  book  it  is  written  of 
Me,  that  I  should  do  Thy  Will,  0  God. 8  And  the  Father's  wish 
originated  in  love.  God  so  loved  the  world  as  to  give  His  only 
begotten  Son,  .  .  .  not  to  judge  the  world  but  that  the  world 
might  be  saved  through  Him.9 

The  devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart  therefore  emphasizes  the 
love  of  God  for  men,  It  insists  upon  the  will  and  desire  of  God 
to  reinstate  fallen  humanity,  to  provide  a  salve  and  a  remedy  for 
all  our  ills.  Now  the  remedy  that  Christ  has  provided  for  us  is 
in  fact  the  Cross.  And  as  we  cannot  question  the  love  of  God 
for  us,  so  neither  can  we  question  the  wisdom  or  the  efficacy  of 
this  remedy  or  doubt  that  it  meets  our  needs  as  none  other  could. 
And  as  through  the  Cross  we  are  made  Sons  of  God  and  heirs, 
heirs  indeed  of  God  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ,  we  should  not 
shrink  from  the  condition  added  by  the  Apostle,  Yet  so  if  we  suffer 
with  Him,  that  we  may  be  also  glorified  with  Him. 

III. 

To  shrink  from  the  Cross  then  is  folly.  The  Cross  is  the 
tree  which,  cast  into  the  bitter  waters  of  trials  and  suffering,  turns 
them  into  sweetness.10  The  Cross  is  the  sign  set  up  for  rich  and 
poor  alike,  for  their  healing.  To  the  rich  it  is  a  reminder  that  by 
their  condition,  they  are  not  like  Christ,  and  that  it  behoves  them 
to  bear  constantly  in  mind  the  dreadful  words  of  Him  Who  died 
on  the  Cross :  Woe  to  ye  rich,  for  ye  have  your  consolation,  that 
using  their  wealth  as  wise  stewards,  they  may  not  find  God's  gift 
to  them  a  cause  of  eternal  ruin.  To  the  poor,  it  speaks  of  Him 
Who  being  in  the  form  of  God,  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal 
with  God,  but  emptied  Himself  being  made  in  the  likeness  of  man 
and  in  habit  found  like  a  man,11  worked  as  a  carpenter,  and  was 
without  a  place  to  lay  His  head,  and  Who  in  the  day  of  His  glori- 
ous Resurrection  said  to  the  wondering  disciples :  Ought  not 
Christ  to  have  suffered  all  these  things  and  so  entered  into  His 

8  Hebrews,  x.  6,  7.  9St.  John,  iii.  16.  10  Exodus,  xv.  25. 

"PhilippiaiLs,  ii.  6. 


468  GENERAL  INTENTION. 

glory.  12  To  those  who  seek  in  turbulence  and  riot  and  violent 
upheavals  to  remedy  social  and  economic  evils,  it  opposes  the 
example  of  Him  Who  humbled  Himself  becoming  obedient  unto 
death;  even  to  the  death  of  the  Cross,  and  bids  us  note  what  fol- 
lows :  For  which  cause  also  God  hath  exalted  Him  and  hath  given 
Him  a  name  which  is  above  all  names,  that  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
every  knee  shall  bow  of  those  that  are  in  heaven,  on  earth,  and  under 
the  earth,  and  that  every  tongue  should  confess  that  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  is  in  the  glory  of  the  Father.13  God's  providence  may  be 
trusted  to  right  what  is  wrong  in  the  world,  if  only  we  do  our 
part,  and  our  part  is  not  to  add  by  our  own  misconduct  to  the 
sum  of  effeminacy  and  selfishness,  of  discontent,  of  contempt  for 
authority  in  which  all  our  wrongs  originate.  In  other  words,  our 
part  is  to  reduce  to  practice  the  lessons  of  the  Cross,  to  take  up 
the  practical  devotion  to  the  Holy  Cross. 

A  great  and  striking  example  is  given  us  of  the  practice  of 
this  devotion  to  the  Cross  in  the  youthful  Saint  whose  Tercen- 
tenary we  are  celebrating  this  month.  Example  speaks  louder 
than  precept  and  we  cannot  doubt  that  St.  Aloysius  was  raised  up 
to  be  to  us  an  example  of  how  we  are  to  judge  this  life  and  its 
happenings.  The  innocence  of  his  life,  the  singular  severity  he 
exercised  against  his  body,  the  contempt  he  showed  for  honors  and 
wealth,  his  love  of  obedience  and  subjection  makes  him  specially 
worthy  of  our  admiration,  and  gives  him,  we  cannot  doubt,  a 
special  power  with  God  to  obtain  for  us  and  for  the  world  practical 
devotion  to  the  Holy  Cross. 

OFFERING  FOR  THE  INTENTIONS  OF  THE  MONTH. 

O  Jesus,  through  the  Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary,  I  offer 
Thee  all  the  prayers,  work,  and  sufferings  of  this  day  for  all  the 
intentions  of  Thy  Divine  Heart,  in  union  with  the  Holy  Sacrifice 
of  the  Mass,  in  reparation  for  all  sin,  and  for  all  requests  pre- 
sented through  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer :  and  in  particular, 
that  through  love  of  Thy  Divine  Heart  men  may  be  led  to  accept 
the  Cross  and  to  rule  their  life  by  its  teachings.  Amen. 

"St.  Luke,  xxvi.  24.  13  Philippians,  ii.  8. 


THE   EXERCISES  OF   ST.   IGNATIUS, 

AND  THE 

DEVOTION  TO  THE  SACRED  HEART  OF  JESUS. 

(From  the  Spanish  Messenger.') 

IT  is  quite  clear  and  manifest  that  the  contemplation  to  obtain 
the  love  of  God  may  evidently  and  naturally  be  applied  to 

our  purpose,  that  is,  to  inflaming  our  hearts  with  love  for 
the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus. 

In  fact,  if  we  examine  attentively  we  shall  see  that  all  that  is 
said  to  us  in  this  contemplation  tends  to  placing  in  relief,  before  the 
eyes  of  the  soul,  the  charity  and  goodness  of  God  toward  men,  to 
revealing  the  infinite  treasures  of  love  contained  in  the  Heart  of 
God  Who  says  to  each  one  of  us  in  particular  :  /  have  loved  thee 
with  an  everlasting  love.  Therefore  as  Jesus  Christ  is  the  image 
and  figure  of  the  substance  of  God,  according  to  the  expression  of 
the  Apostle  :  Who  being  the  brightness  of  His  glory  and  the  figure 
of  His  substance ;  we  may  affirm  that  His  Heart,  to  Which  the 
Person  of  the  Word  is  hypostatically  united,  is  also  the  image  and 
figure  of  the  substance  of  the  Heart  of  God,  and  that  thus  as 
every  good  and  perfect  gift  comes  from  the  Heart  of  God,  in 
the  same  way  we  may  consider  them  as  emanating  from  the 
beneficent  and  loving  Heart  of  Jesus.  In  truth  if  all  the  works 
ad  extra  of  the  Eternal  Father  are  executed  by  the  Son,  as  our 
Lord  Himself  tells  us  by  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  My  Father 
worketh  until  now,  and  I  work  ;  if  all  things  in  the  order  of  nature 
as  well  as  of  grace  have  been  made  in  Christ,  for  Christ  and 
through  Christ,  as  the  Apostle  affirms,  From  Whom,  and  by 
Whom,  and  in  Whom  are  all  things;  if  the  motive  of  the  works 
of  Jesus  Christ  is  love,  and  of  this  love  the  centre  and  symbol 
is  His  Sacred  Heart,  who  can  fail  to  recognize  It  as  the  fountain 
and  origin  of  all  the  benefits  we  have  received  ?  Who  will  not 
be  moved  to  respond  more  by  works  than  by  words  to  the  great 

469 


470  THE  EXERCISES   OF  ST.  IGNATIUS. 

and  tender  love  manifested  so  clearly  by  the  adorable  Heart  of 
his  Creator,  of  his  Redeemer  and  his  Eternal  Benefactor  ?  Ah, 
one's  heart  must  be  of  stone  not  to  be  moved  by  such  considera- 
tions, not  to  be  inflamed  with  love  for  this  loving  Heart,  not  to 
desire  with  all  the  fervor  of  his  soul  that  all  should  love,  serve 
and  reverence  It,  exclaiming  in  one  of  the  hymns  of  the  Church  : 

May  every  heart  confess  Thy  name, 

And  ever  Thee  adore  ; 
And  seeking  Thee,  itself  inflame 

To  seek  Thee  more  and  more. 

V. 

Love  is  not  idle ;  on  the  contrary  it  is  essentially  active,  and 
its  activity  is  employed  not  only  in  loving,  that  is  in  desiring  the 
good  of  the  person  loved,  but  also  in  transforming  itself  into  the 
person  loved,  so  that  between  one  and  the  other  the  greatest  pos- 
sible similarity  exists.  What  signify  the  expressions  "Alter  ego" 
"  one  soul  and  one  heart,"  and  others  of  the  same  kind  that  we  use 
to  express  mutual  love  between  two  persons  ?  Love  for  the  Heart 
of  Jesus  consequently  must  be  translated  by  the  imitation  of  His 
virtues,  which  amounts  to  saying  that  like  a  skilful  artist  inspired 
by  divine  grace  we  must  produce  in  ourselves,  under  its  influence, 
a  striking  image  of  this  Divine  Model. 

The  plan  and  order  which  St.  Ignatius  observes  to  compass 
this  imitation  leave  nothing  to  be  desired.  There  exist  such 
union  and  harmony  in  the  meditations  which  lead  to  this  end ; 
there  are  such  gradation  and  dependence  in  the  truths  established ; 
they  lead  the  exercitant  .so  skilfully  and  cleverly  from  one  prac- 
tical axiom  to  another  that,  going  always  from  the  less  perfect  to 
the  more  perfect  and  never  taking  a  step  without  having  a  firm 
foundation  for  his  feet,  the  disciple  of  this  great  master  finds, 
when  he  least  expects  it,  that  his  guide  has  landed  him  at  the 
summit  of  perfection. 

Having  set  ourselves  free  from  the  impediments  and  obstacles 
opposed  to  the  imitation  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  is  done  in  the  first 
week,  that  which  we  must  endeavor  above  all  things  to  do  is  to 


THE  EXERCISES  OF  ST.   IGNATIUS.  471 

convince  our  understanding  and  persuade  our  will  in  order  that 
we  may  resolutely  decide  to  follow  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  the  first 
step.  Then  follows  the  satisfying  ourselves  wTith  regard  to  the  state 
of  life  in  which  God  requires  that  we  imitate  Jesus,  for  which  it 
is  necessary  to  know  on  the  one  hand  the  intentions  of  our  Divine 
Master,  and  on  the  other  the  disposition  of  our  own  will  in  order 
to  determine  what  God  requires  of  us.  This  is  the  second  step. 
Then  comes  the  third  and  most  difficult,  which  is  the  election  of 
a  state  of  life,  which  being  done,  it  only  remains  to  continue 
studying  our  Divine  Exemplar,  in  order  to  produce  in  ourselves 
the  most  perfect  copy,  always  making  whatever  state  in  life  we 
have  elected  resemble  as  closely  as  possible  the  characteristics  of 
Jesus  Christ,  which  are  humility  and  love  of  the  cross. 

Such  is  the  admirable  plan  of  St.  Ignatius.  How  does  he 
develop  it?  The  principle  and  foundation  of  all  the  first  week 
are  directed  to  destroying  in  ourselves  sin  and  irregular  affections. 
The  meditation  of  the  "  Kingdom  of  Christ "  has  for  its  object 
that  each  one  decide  resolutely  to  imitate  Him,  to  follow  Him, 
that  he  may  not  be  deaf  to  His  voice,  but  "prompt  and  diligent 
in  fulfilling  His  holy  will."  In  the  meditation  entitled  the  "  Two 
Standards  "  the  exercitant  is  instructed,  in  order  that  he  may  not 
be  deceived  in  an  affair  of  such  transcendant  importance,  what  it 
is  to  elect  a  state  of  life,  and  to  this  end  he  asks  for,  "  Knowledge 
of  the  deceits  of  the  wicked  chieftain,  and  for  help  to  guard 
against  them,  and  for  knowledge  of  the  true  life  which  our  Chief 
and  true  Leader  points  out,  and  for  grace  to  imitate  Him."  But, 
as  it  is  not  enough  to  learn  the  snares  of  the  Evil  One,  or  to 
know  the  intentions  of  Christ  unless  we  on  our  part  know  and 
prepare  the  disposition  of  our  will,  St.  Ignatius  gives  us  to  this 
end  the  meditation  of  "  The  Three  Classes  of  Men  in  order  to 
embrace  that  which  is  best."  The  exercitant  thus  armed  and 
prepared  enters  upon  the  election  for  which  our  wise  guide  offers 
various  times  and  divers  methods,  all  of  which  are  most  admirable, 
full  of  prudence  and  the  highest  wisdom.  Every  Christian  should 
endeavor  to  attain  perfection  in  the  state  of  life  he  may  choose,  or 
in  the  life  he  seeks  to  reform.  The  summary  and  compendium  of 


472  THE  EXERCISES  OF  ST.    IGNATIUS. 

this  are  found  in  the  three  degrees  of  humility,  which  are  no  other 
than  the  three  degrees  of  perfection  proper  to  the  Christian  life. 
No  one  should  pretend  to  reach  the  second  degree  before  having 
attained  the  first,  nor  aspire  to  the  third  without  being  well 
grounded  in  the  second. 

With  these  solid  principles,  well  grounded  meditations,  and 
most  efficacious  means  of  not  erring  in  the  affair  of  the  greatest 
importance  in  life,  are  interspersed  various  meditations  on  the 
mysteries  of  Christ,  in  which  less  attention  is  paid  to  the  chrono- 
logical order  than  to  the  end  which  St.  Ignatius  proposes,  and  the 
convenience  of  the  exercitant.  In  all  these  meditations  the  Saint 
insists  that  we  must  ask  interior  knowledge  of  Jesus  that  we  may 
better  imitate  and  follow  Him. 

Need  we  further  detain  our  readers  to  prove  that  this  mar- 
vellous plan  of  St.  Ignatius  may  serve  us  greatly  in  our  imitation 
of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  our  Divine  Master  ?  Is  it  not  patent  to  all 
that  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  is  no  other  than  the  Kingdom  of  the 
Heart  of  Jesus  in  the  hearts  of  men  ?  Can  we  separate  the  thought 
of  the  good  and  excellent  qualities  which  distinguish  the  Divine 
Captain  from  the  idea  of  His  most  perfect  Heart?  Then  again, 
with  regard  to  His  sacred  militia  and  royal  standard,  does  not  this 
placing  of  Christ  our  Lord  in  aspect  fair  and  beautiful,  in  a  great 
plain  of  the  country  of  Jerusalem  on  a  lowly  spot,  this  selecting  of  so 
many  persons,  apostles,  disciples,  etc.,  and  sending  them  through  the 
world  to  spread  His  doctrine,  reveal  to  us  the  humility,  the  meek- 
ness, the  unalterable  peace,  the  ardent  zeal,  the  infinite  love  and 
the  incomparable  and  enchanting  beauty  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  of 
this  King  of  heaven  and  earth  ?  From  the  depth  of  this  abyss 
of  sanctity  comes  the  pathetic  exhortation  which,  according  to  St. 
Ignatius,  we  must  consider  as  addressed  by  Jesus  Christ  to  those 
who  desire  to  enlist  under  His  glorious  standard  and  combat  in 
His  army.  Poverty  of  spirit,  always,  in  all  states,  in  all  con- 
ditions ;  actual  poverty  when  His  Divine  Majesty  deigns  to  elect 
it  for  us ;  desire  for  opprobrium  and  contempt  and  all  that  such 
desires  and  such  poverty  entail,  and  profound  humility  are  the 
three  characteristics  which  must  distinguish  the  soldiers  of  the 


THE  EXERCISES  OF  ST.  IGNATIUS.  473 

Divine  Leader  Jesus  Christ,  Whose  adorable  Heart  embraced  the 
most  extreme  poverty,  was  steeped  in  ignominy  and  opprobrium, 
humbled  Itself  to  annihilation,  emptied  Himself,  according  to  the 
striking  expression  of  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles. 

But  it  is  in  the  third  degree  of  humility,  the  quintessence  of 
Christian  perfection  and  grand  summary  of  all  that  could  be 
written  on  the  true  and  solid  imitation  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  St. 
Ignatius  paints  with  inimitable  skill  the  true  disciple  and  imitator 
of  the  Heart  of  Jesus,  and  gives  us  the  touchstone  for  discerning 
the  gold  of  solid  devotion  and  distinguishing  it  from  that  which  is 
merely  sensible  and  for  that  reason  more  deceptive.  If  we  have 
sometimes  deemed  it  expedient  to  quote  the  Saint's  own  words,  it 
seems  here  almost  indispensable  : 

"  The  third  degree  is  the  most  perfect  humility ;  when,  the 
first  and  second  degree  are  included,  and  suppose  equal  praise 
and  glory  to  redound  to  the  Divine  Majesty,  the  better  to  imitate 
Christ  our  Lord,  and  to  become  actually  more  like  Him,  I  desire 
and  choose  rather  poverty  with  Christ  poor,  than  riches  ;  contempt 
with  Christ  contemned,  than  honors ;  and  when  I  desire  to  be 
esteemed  as  useless  and  foolish  for  Christ's  sake,  Who  was  first 
held  to  be  such,  than  to  be  accounted  wise  and  prudent  in  this 
world." 

What  consummate  perfection  !  What  solidity  of  doctrine  ! 
What  loftiness  of  aim  !  What  love  of  Christ !  What  abnegation 
of  heart !  What  sublime  flight  of  mind  !  This  is  the  ne  plus 
ultra  of  the  knowledge  of  the  love  and  of  the  imitation  of  Christ 
and  of  His  divine  and  at  the  same  time  most  humble  Heart !  He 
who  does  not  see  this,  who,  so  far  from  recognizing  it,  censures  the 
author  of  this  sublime  piece  of  Christian  philosophy,  endeavoring 
to  ridicule  and  even  to  contradict  what  he  affirms  therein,  has  no 
knowledge  of  spiritual  things,  has  not  penetrated  the  profound 
meaning  of  these  words  nor  can  his  pigmy  intelligence  attain  the 
measure  of  this  giant  of  the  spiritual  life. 

It  is  evident  that  he  must  be  intellectually  deficient  who  does 
not  understand  this ;  it  is  clear  that  to  desire  injury  and  opprobrium 
with  all  the  rest  of  which  the  Saint  speaks,  in  order  to  imitate  and 


474  THE  EXERCISES  OF  ST.  IGNATIUS. 

more  closely  resemble  Christ,  includes  in  itself  the  greatest  praise 
and  glory  to  God.  But  our  author  speaks  hypothetically  and 
nothing  more.  So  that  if  by  an  impossibility  the  same  glory  and 
praise  were  to  redound  to  God  by  our  embracing  opprobrium, 
poverty  and  the  ignominy  of  the  cross,  as  if  we  suifered  not  at  all 
these  things,  yet  the  true  lover  of  Jesus  Christ  would  choose  them 
in  order  to  imitate  the  Divine  Model  and  bear  imprinted  in  his 
heart  a  deeper  image  of  this  most  patient  Heart  of  his  Divine 
Master. 

We  have  finished  the  humble  labor  which  we  attempted  with 
the  idea  of  increasing  more  and  more  in  our  readers  devotion  to 
the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus,  and  of  proposing  as  an  efficacious  means 
of  strengthening  this  devotion  the  practice  of  the  Spiritual  Exercises 
of  St.  Ignatius  of  Loyola.  May  the  most  loving  Heart  of  Jesus, 
as  we  earnestly  implore,  make  our  poor  weak  efforts  avail  to 
enkindle  in  hearts  the  fire  of  His  divine  love.  And  we,  on  our 
part,  shall  not  forget  that  the  Heart  of  Jesus  is  the  fount  whence 
all  blessings  come,  and  that  these  are  all  the  more  precious  and 
all  the  more  to  be  appreciated  in  proportion  to  the  goodness  of  the 
heart  whence  they  proceed  as  Dante  so  eloquently  says : 


.     .     .    1'ovra  e  tanto  piu  gradita 
Dell'  operante,  qnanto  pin  appresenta 

Delia  bonta  del  cnore  ond'6  nscita ! 

Canto  VII. 

...     .    the  action  of  the  doer  is 

So  mnch  more  grateful,  as  it  more  presents 

The  goodness  of  the  heart  from  which  it  issnes. 

Longfellow's  Dante. 


APOSTLESHIP      aaKsern  NOTICES 


RECENT  AGGREGATIONS. — To  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer, 
League  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  (April  12  to  May  12, 
1891). 

(Name  of  diocese  in  italics,  before  parish  or  community  aggregated.) 

Buffalo,  New  York:  St.  Joseph's  Convent  (Mother-house  of 
Sisters  of  St.  Joseph),  Buffalo ;  Convent  of  Mercy,  Olean. 

Chicago,  Illinois:  Church  of  Our  Lady  of  Mount  Carmel, 
Chicago. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio :  St.  Mary's  Church,  Marion. 

Cleveland,  Ohio :  St.  Patrick's  Church,  South  Thompson. 

Davenport,  Iowa :  St.  Edward's  Church,  Afton. 

Denver,  Colorado  :  St.  Joseph's  Hospital,  Ouray ;  St.  Joseph's 
Convent  and  Mercy  Hospital  (Sisters  of  Mercy),  Durango. 

Detroit,  Michigan :  St.  John's  Church,  Jackson ;  Sacred 
Heart  Church,  Hudson. 

Hartford,  Connecticut:  St.  Rose  of  Lima's  Church,  New- 
town. 

Leavenworth,  Kansas :  St.  Benedict's  College  (Benedictines), 
Atchison. 

Mobile,  Alabama :  St.  Patrick's  Church,  Mobile. 

Monterey  and  Los  Angeles,  California :  Our  Lady  of  Angels' 
Church,  Los  Angeles. 

Nashville,  Tennessee :  St.  Genevieve's  Church,  Dayton. 

New  Orleans,  Louisiana :  College  of  the  Immaculate  Concep- 
tion and  Holy  Family  Convent  (Sisters  of  the  Holy  Family),  New 
Orleans. 

New  York,  New  York :  St.  Boniface's  Church,  New  York. 

475 


476  APOSTLESHIP  NOTICES. 

Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania:  Our  Lady  of  Mercy  Church) 
Philadelphia. 

Scranton,  Pennsylvania:  Church  of  the  Holy  Rosary, 
Scranton. 

St.  Augustine,  Florida:  St.  Leo's  College  (Benedictines),  St. 
Leo's  Station. 

Syracuse,  New  York :  St.  John's  Church,  New  Hartford. 

THE  SODALITY  OF  THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN. 

Diplomas  of  Affiliation,  received  from  the  Prima  Primaria, 
have  been  transmitted  to  the  following : 

Boston,  Massachusetts:  Church  of  the  Assumption,  East 
Boston. 

Cheyenne,  Wyoming:  Convent  of  the  Holy  Child  Jesus, 
Cheyenne. 

Columbus,  Ohio :  Church  of  the  Assumption,  Lancaster. 

Concordia,  Kansas :  St.  John  Baptist's  Church,  Clyde. 

Covington,  Kentucky:  Convent  of  the  Good  Shepherd  (2), 
Newport. 

Denver,  Colorado:  St.  Leo's  Church  and  St.  Elizabeth's 
Church,  Denver. 

THE  TREASURY  OF  THE  SACRED  HEART. 

Associates  can  gain  100  days'  Indulgence  for  each  action  offered  for  the 
Intentions  of  the  League. 

Offerings  for  the  Intentions  of  the  Sacred  Heart,    received  from  April  12  to 

May  12,  1891. 

No.  of  TIKIS.  No.  OP  TIMES. 

1.  Acts  of  Charity  ....  284,719  11.  Masses  Heard    ....  180,244 

2.  Beads 306,492  12.  Mortifications    ....  214,171 

3.  Stations  of  the  Cross     .  97,566  13.  Works  of  Charity     .    .  59,230 

4.  Holy  Communions    .    .  55,270  14.  Works  of  Zeal  ....  328,156 

5.  Spiritual  Communions  .  221,026  15.  Prayers 2,843,326 

6.  Examens  of  Conscience  92,126  16.  Charitable  Conversation  51,067 

7.  Hours  of  Labor  ....  856,549  17.  Sufferings  or  Afflictions  37,479 

8.  Hours  of  Silence    .    .    .  528,697  18.  Self-Conquest    ....  65,164 

9.  Pious  Reading    ....  82,448  19.  Visits  to  B.  Sacrament  254,814 
10.  Masses  Celebrated     .    .  1,033  20.  Various  Good  Works  .  407,811 

Total 6,967,388 

The  above  returns  represent  four  hundred  and  forty  Centres. 


TOM£»ALLVOU  THAT  LABOuMND  ARE  BURD£MED«"AND 


IN  THANKSGIVING  FOR  GRACES  OBTAINED. 

TOTAL  NUMBER  OF  THANKSGIVINGS  FOB  LAST  MONTH,  105,754. 

This  is  the  confidence  we  have  in  Him :  that,  whatsoever  we  shall  ask  according 

to  His  Will,  He  heareth  us  (I.  John  v.  14). 

OTTER  CREEK,  PA.,  APRIL  12. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart 
of  our  Blessed  Lord  for  my  recent  recovery  from  a  dangerous 
illness  in  which  my  life  was  despaired  of  by  my  friends.  I  was 
recommended  to  the  prayers  of  the  League  last  month. 

NEW  YORK,  APRIL  12. — I  wish  to  thank  the  Sacred  Heart 
for  the  return  of  my  brother  to  the  faith  after  forty  years. 

WEST  HOBOKEN,  N.  J.,  APRIL  15. — A  young  man  dying 
with  pneumonia  had  been  given  up  by  priest  and  doctor.  I  placed 
the  Badge  of  the  Sacred  Heart  on  him  and  had  him  recommended 
to  the  prayers  of  the  League.  He  recovered. 

QUINCY,  MASS.,  APRIL  16. — Thanks  for  the  cure  of  sick 
headache.  I  have  suffered  severely  from  headaches,  but  having 
petitioned  the  Sacred  Heart  for  relief,  I  have  been  perfectly  well 
for  a  long  time. 

COUNCIL  BLUFFS,  IOWA,  APRIL  18. — Please  return  thanks 
to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  a  special  favor  granted  my  mother  for  her- 
self and  my  brother,  and  also  for  two  special  favors  granted  me. 

MILWAUKEE,  Wis.,  APRIL  19. — Sincere  thanks  are  returned 
to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  recovery  of  a  friend  from  a  severe  illness, 
through  the  intercession,  as  we  believe,  of  Blessed  Margaret  Mary. 


477 


IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES   OBTAINED. 

SANTA  CLARA,  CAL.,  APRIL  17. — Thanks  for  a  situation 
obtained. 

NEW  ORLEANS,  APRIL  18. — A  subscriber  returns  thanks  for 
the  miraculous  prevention  of  a  vessel  from  sinking.  The  captain 
implored  the  assistance  of  the  Sacred  Heart  and  promised  to  have 
thanks  returned  through  the  MESSENGER  if  saved. 

NEWPORT,  B>.  I.,  APRIL  20. — A  Promoter  wishes  to  express 
her  most  heartfelt  thanks  for  the  conversion  to  the  faith  of  her 
only  sister  for  whom  she  had  been  praying  twenty-one  years. 

GREENVILLE,  APRIL  20. — We  desire  to  give  public  thanks 
to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  conversion  of  the  father  of  one  of  our 
Sisters  who  had  not  approached  the  Sacraments  in  twenty  years. 

NEW  YORK,  APRIL  21. — Most  sincere  thanks  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  of  Jesus  for  the  recovery  of  my  little  boy  from  diphtheria. 
Also  for  keeping  my  little  daughter  in  good  health. 

ALBANY,  N.  Y.,  APRIL  22. — Thanks  for  the  return  of  my 
mother  to  her  duty  after  a  lapse  of  over  twenty  years. 

RED  WING,  MINN.,  APRIL  23. — About  a  year  ago,  I  asked 
the  help  of  the  League  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  for  my 
rheumatism  which  I  had  for  six  years.  Thanks  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  of  Jesus,  I  am  improving  ever  since.  I  beg  all  in  want  to 
ask  there  for  help. 

BEATTY,  PA.,  APRIL  20. — Special  thanksgiving  for  the 
return  to  the  Sacraments  of  a  brother  who  had  for  years  neglected 
them.  Also,  for  the  conversion  and  baptism  of  his  wife,  who 
has,  by  the  mercy  of  God,  become  a  full  member  of  Holy  Mother 
Church. 

TALULAH,  LA.,  APRIL  25. — I  wish  to  return  thanks  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  again  for  a  favor  obtained.  I  have  succeeded  in 
making  a  sale  which  has  relieved  my  condition  very  much. 

NEWARK,  N.  J.,  APRIL  26. — Special  thanksgiving  for  the 
conversion  of  a  young  man,  who  for  four  years  neglected  his 
duties,  and  was  verging  on  heresy,  but  now  through  the  League, 
he  has  made  a  mission  and  is  in  possession  of  that  peace  which  he 
sought  in  vain  in  the  pleasures  of  the  world. 

BORDENTOWN,  N.  J.,  APRIL  26. — Thanks  are  returned  for  a 


IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES  OBTAINED.  479 

very  special  favor  obtained  after  having  placed  it  on  the  Blank, 
with  a  promise  to  insert  it  in  the  MESSENGER  if  granted. 

OMAHA,  NEB.,  APRIL,  26. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for 
the  return  of  a  soul  to  the  Sacraments  after  a  neglect  of  fifteen 
years.  He  had  been  recommended  to  the  prayers  of  the  Associates 
for  seven  months.  Also  for  a  situation  obtained  which  had  been 
.recommended  for  two  months.  Thanks  are  offered  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Holy  League  in  a  parish  ;  and  for  the  wonderful 
recovery  of  a  lady  afflicted  with  painful  rheumatism  of  the  heart, 
who  had  been  anointed  for  death  and  given  up  by  the  physician ; 
but  who  began  immediately  and  quickly  to  recover,  after  she  had 
placed  a  Badge  of  the  Holy  League  upon  the  heart. 

PROVEMONT,  MICH.,  APRIL  27. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  for  the  success  of  a  very  important  undertaking  which  had 
been  recommended  some  time  ago. 

TIFFIN,  O.,  APRIL  27. — Thanks  for  the  restoration  of  sight 
of  a  little  eight  year  old  girl  who  could  not  bear  a  ray  of  light  for 
over  four  months.  We  made  a  novena  to  the  Sacred  Heart 
through  St.  Joseph  for  nine  days  before  the  feast  of  March  19th. 
After  the  feast  she  recovered  her  sight  and  is  rapidly  improving. 

HOUSTON,  TEX.,  APRIL  28. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart 
for  preservation  from  contagion. 

ST.  PAUL,  APRIL  28. — We  received  most  unexpectedly  a 
donation  of  one  thousand  dollars  on  the  first  Friday  of  April. 
Please  return  thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart. 

NEWARK,  N.  J.,  APRIL  30. — A  lady  desires  to  return  pub- 
lic thanks  for  the  recovery  of  her  child. 

PHILADELPHIA,  MAY  1. — Being  in  urgent  need  of  money, 
put  a  petition  in  the  "Intention  Box"  and  asked  with  confidence  at 
the  League  Shrine  that  through  the  Sacred  Heart  I  might  receive 
what  I  needed.  I  asked  it  this  morning  and  to  my  great  relief  I 
sived  a  large  sum  of  money  that  was  owing  to  me,  but  which  I 

not  had  the  slightest  hope  of  receiving  at  this  time. 

TARRYTOWN,  N.  Y.,  MAY  2. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart 
for  consent  of  ecclesiastical  superiors  to  our  trying  to  accomplish 
a  great  work  for  God's  greater  glory. 


480  IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES  OBTAINED. 

MOBILE,  ALA.,  MAY  3. — Special  thanks  are  returned  for 
the  conversion  to  the  faith  of  a  friend  recommended  for  some 
months  past  to  the  prayers  of  the  League.  Neither  persuasion  nor 
affliction  seemed  to  have  any  effect,  as  seventeen  years  had  elapsed 
without  his  having  approached  the  Sacraments. 

,  CAL.,  MAY  7. — We  made  a  novena  to  the  Sacred 

Heart  to  send  us  a  good  tenant  for  our  house  before  a  certain 
time,  and  the  day  our  novena  was  finished  the  house  was  rented  to 
desirable  parties. 

MT.  ST.  MARY'S,  MD.,  MAY  9. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart 
for  the  restoration  of  my  father's  health. 

TRENTON,  N.  J.,  MAY  10. — Thanks  for  the  conversion  of  a 
relative  who  had  not  been  to  the  Sacraments  for  thirty  years,  and 
had  not  attended  Mass  for  twenty  years. 

NAUVOO,  ILL.,  MAY  11. — Please  return  thanks  for  a  favor 
bestowed  upon  a  sister  of  mine.  She  was  in  delicate  health,  una- 
ble to  teach,  and  appearances  indicated  that  she  would  never 
recover.  Being  the  main  support  of  a  widowed  mother,  we  felt 
it  almost  necessary  that  she  should  be  restored  to  health.  She 
was  recommended  in  the  MESSENGER  and  I  promised  to  publish 
it  to  the  honor  of  the  Sacred  Heart  and  our  heavenly  Queen,  if 
she  should  recover.  At  present  she  is  in  better  health  than  ever 
before,  and  at  her  work  every  day. 

VARIOUS  CENTRES. — Thanks  for  the  conversion  of  a  husband 
who  has  been  a  drunkard  for  years.  He  failed  in  business,  and 
brought  a  great  deal  of  trouble  on  his  family.  He  was  recom- 
mended to  the  prayers  of  the  League  and,  thanks  to  the  most 
Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus,  he  has  not  drunk  since. — For  the  conver- 
sion of  a  man  who  has  been  drinking  for  a  great  many  years  and 
had  not  been  to  his  duty.  Last  Sunday  he  received  Holy  Com- 
munion.— Also  for  two  gentlemen  who  returned  to  their  duties, 
confession  and  Holy  Communion ;  one,  after  a  lapse  of  fourteen 
years,  the  other  after  twenty-four  years. 


(From  a  Design  of  the  Roman  Painter,  Gagliardi.) 


THE  MESSENGER 


SACRED  HEART  OF  JESUS 


VOL.  VI  (xxvi). 


JULY,  1891. 

THE   FIRST  MASS. 
E.  B.  S. 


No.  7 


EFORE  the  altar  stands  the  vested  priest, 

His  face  illumined  with  the  spirit's  light, 
t\   "*  ^  Though  conscious,  awed  by  his  exalted  right 

v  To  offer  sacrifice.     From  sin  released 

Through  prayer  and  fast,  his  strength  by  grace  increased, 
He  pours  the  Wine  of  love  into  the   chalice  bright, 
Lifts  from  the  paten  Life's  Bread  pure  and  white, 
Invokes  the  Presence  for  the  Sacred  Feast, 

Adores  the  Lamb  of  Whom  the  Saints  are  fed. 

The  heavens  part,  rejoicing  Angels  see 
Uplifted  eyes,  anointed  hands  outspread 

O'er  silent  worshippers,   while  fervently 
A  blessing  falls  with  peace  upon  each  head. 

O  miracle  sublime  !     O  mystery  ! 


Copyright,  1891,  by  Rev.  R.  S.  Dewey,  S.  J.    All  rights  reserved.] 


481 


ST.  IGNATIUS   OF   LOYOLA. 

ITJBING  the  last  twenty-five  years  we  have  cele- 
brated many  centenaries  of  great  men  and  of 
great  events.  Even  at  this  writing  the  Catholic 
world  is  busy  celebrating  the  memory  of  one  of 
the  great  glories  of  the  Society  of  Jesus, — St. 
Aloysius  Gonzaga.  Three  centuries  ago  this 
young  Saint  was  taken  away  from  earth.  How  many  have  been 
influenced  during  the  long  years  that  have  since  elapsed  by  his 
example  and  by  the  charm  of  his  pure  life  and  elevated  character  ! 
This  is  not  the  place  to  determine  how  much  St.  Aloysius  owed 
to  the  Society  to  which  God  directed  him,  and  in  which  he  gave 
such  marvellous  examples  of  solid  virtues.  Certain  it  is,  how- 
ever, that  in  God's  Providence  the  discipline  of  the  religious  life 
of  the  Jesuit  Novitiate  and  of  the  Jesuit  House  of  Studies,  and 
the  moulding  influence  of  the  principles  and  rules  that  govern  the 
inner  life  of  the  young  Jesuit  did  not  a  little  to  make  him  the 
wonder  of  sanctity  we  know  him  to  be. 

St.  Aloysius  is  but  one  of  many.  What  a  host  of  souls 
acceptable  in  God's  sight  owe  their  sanctifi cation  to  the  same 
spiritual,  discipline  and  to  the  man  who  gave  it  to  the  world  as 
a  complete  and  clearly  formulated  science  of  the  spiritual  life ! 
If  we  are  interested  in  the  lives  of  those  who  were  formed  in  the 
school  of  Saint  Ignatius,  how  can  we  fail  to  be  interested  in  Saint 
Ignatius  himself,  or  allow  to  pass  unnoticed  the  fact  that  just  four 
hundred  years  God  gave  him  to  the  world. 

At  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century  many  great  personages 
crowded  the  world's  stage.  Some  strutted  through  their  brief 
hour  and  then  sank  into  oblivion.  Others  are  little  more  than  a 
memory.  Some  few  however  left  traces  on  the  world's  history 
and  helped  to  mould  the  thoughts  and  the  character  not  of  their 
contemporaries  alone,  but  of  all  succeeding  generations.  Who  can 
deny  Saint  Ignatius  a  place  among  these  ?  And  when  we  look  a 

482 


THE  VIGIL  OF  ARMS  AT  MONTSERRAT. 
(Gagliardi.) 


484  57.  IGNATIUS  OF  LOYOLA. 

little  closely  at  the  history  of  the  past  three  centuries  and  see  how 
powerfully  and  how  beneficently  Ignatius  of  Loyola  by  his  life  and 
his  writings  has  under  God's  Providence  influenced  the  lives  of  men 
both  in  the  Church  and  outside  her  pale,  it  is  impossible  to  with- 
hold from  him  our  admiration  and  difficult  indeed  not  to  love  him. 
"  Saint  Ignatius,"  as  some  one  wrote  not  long  since,  "  is  not  what 
you  would  call  a  popular  saint,  but  it  is  because  his  life  is  so  little 
known." 

Saint  Ignatius  was  born  in  1491  in  the  ancient  Castle  of 
Loyola  situated  not  far  from  the  little  town  of  Azpeytia  in  the 
Basque  Province  of  Guipuscoa  in  Northern  Spain.  His  child- 
hood was  passed  with  one  of  his  aunts,  Dofla  Maria  de  Guebara, 
in  the  Castle  of  Arevalo  near  the  town  of  Avila.  His  boyhood 
he  spent  as  a  page  in  the  Court  of  Ferdinand  the  Catholic.  Not 
until  he  was  twenty-six  do  we  find  him  in  camps.  His  life  during 
these  years  had  been  wholly  modeled  on  the  grand,  ideal  heroes 
whom  the  romancers  of  the  day,  Amadis  de  Gaul  and  others,  had 
grouped  around  a  Charlemagne  and  a  Godfrey  de  Bouillon. 

Like  these  heroes  he  devoted  himself  to  the  service  of  a  lady, 
who  in  his  case  was  high  above  him  in  rank ;  like  them  he  sought 
only  renown,  and  the  applause  of  the  world.  To  be  faithful  in 
love  and  unconquered  on  the  field  and  some  day  to  make  Europe 
ring  with  his  exploits — this  was  his  highest  ambition.  Nor  did 
Ignatius  ever  wholly  divest  himself  of  the  habits  of  thought 
which  accompanied  the  higher  developments  of  medieval  chivalry. 
We  see  proof  of  this  in  the  "Vigil  of  Arms"  which  he  kept  before 
the  Altar  of  Our  Lady  at  Montserrat,  the  night  before  he  finally 
bade  farewell  to  the  world  and  devoted  himself  to  the  service  of 
the  Eternal  King.  We  see  it,  too,  in  the  well  known  meditation  on 
the  Kingdom  of  Christ,  in  his  Book  of  the  Spiritual  Exercises,  in 
which  all  men  are  invited  to  range  themselves  by  the  side  of  the 
Great  King  and  Universal  Lord,  Jesus  Christ,  and  even  to  signalize 
themselves  in  His  service.  In  the  Constitutions,  too,  which  he 
wrote,  we  find  him  bidding  his  sons  to  "  seek  always  sincerely  to 
serve  and  please  the  Divine  Goodness  for  Itself  alone  and  for  the 
charity  and  singular  benefits  wherewith  It  has  prevented  us  rather 
than  for  fear  of  punishment  or  hope  of  reward." 


57.  IGNATIUS  OF  LOYOLA.  485 

To  understand  Saint  Ignatius  rightly  this  side  of  his  character 
must  be  understood.  The  majority  of  those  who  have  thought  of 
him  at  all  have  formed  their  judgment  of  him  on  the  reports  of 
men  who  sought  to  defame  and  discredit  him,  or  they  have  seen 
him  only  through  the  medium  of  his  work — the  Society  which  he 
founded,  the  Constitutions  and  the  Book  of  Spiritual  Exercises 
which  he  wrote.  To  the  one  he  is  the  crafty,  inscrutable,  and 
unscrupulous  politician,  the  type  of  the  ambitious,  intolerant, 
aggressive  churchman.  To  the  other  he  is  something  a  little  more 
than  human,  a  man  in  whom  human  aifectious  and  whatever  savors 
of  frailty  or  passion  had  been  crushed  out  by  a  strong  will, 
strengthened  and  sustained  by  grace.  But  the  human  element  in 
Saint  Ignatius  was  never  crushed,  and  the  crafty,  ambitious 
Ignatius  never  existed.  A  man  of  noble  aspirations,  of  exhaust- 
less  energy,  and  unfaltering  determination  he  ever  was,  but  a  man 
withal  gentle  and  tender  and  lovable,  in  whom  all  that  is  best  in 
human  nature  remained  unchanged  to  the  end. 

When  he  was  stricken  down  by  a  cannon-ball  at  the  defence 
of  the  citadel  of  Pampeluna,  the  victors,  moved  to  generosity  by 
his  bravery  and  spirit,  sent  him  with  an  escort  of  honor  to  his 
brother's  Castle  of  Loyola.  To  beguile  the  tedium  of  the  sick 
room  there  he  asked  for  romances  ;  but  in  his  brother's  house  only 
two  books  could  be  found,  the  Life  of  our  Lord  and  the  Lives  of 
the  Saints.  Ignatius  read  and  was  converted  like  another  August- 
ine. An  earthly  love  had  hitherto  moved  and  inspired  him. 
This  now  gave  place  to  the  love  of  the  Eternal  King,  Jesus  Christ. 
No  longer  were  creatures  to  share  with  God  the  affections  of  his 
heart.  But  how  exquisitely  human  was  Ignatius  even  in  this 
change  of  heart !  Chivalry  had  taught  him  that  the  best  and  most 
ennobling  service  was  that  paid  to  King  and  lady  love.  His  read- 
ing revealed  to  him  a  higher  and  more  ennobling  service,  that 
freely  given  to  the  Lord  of  all.  It  was  not  in  the  nature  of 
Ignatius  to  be  content  with  anything  but  what  was  highest  and 
best,  and  so  the  resolve  was  taken  to  devote  himself  entirely  to  the 
service  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  the  very  carrying  out  of  his  resolve, 
too,  the  human  element  in  his  character  comes  out.  The  lives  of 


486  ST.  IGNATIUS  OF  LOYOLA. 

the  Saints  he  read  showed  him  how  others  had  served  the  Lord 
and  King.  To  excel  in  all  things  was  a  passion  with  him. 
"  Did  Dominic  do  this  ?"  he  said  to  himself  as  he  lay  on  his  sick- 


ST.  IGNATIUS  WRITES  THE  SPIRITUAL  EXERCISES. 

(Mignard.) 

bed,  "  Then  I  also  will  do  it.     Francis  did  that.   Why  should  not 
I  ?     Why  should  I  not  do  even  more  ?" 


ST.  IGNATIUS  OF  LOYOLA.  487 

Beyond  this  determination  not  to  be  outdone  in  loyalty  and 
devotedness  to  his  heavenly  Suzerain,  he  had  not  yet  gone.  Of 
the  nature  of  holiness,  or  of  what  constituted  true  and  solid  virtue, 
as  he  often  said  in  later  years,  he  had  at  this  time  no  conception. 
In  the  silence  and  solitude  of  the  grotto  of  Manresa  all  this 
knowledge  was  to  be  revealed  to  him.  Guided  by  the  Spirit  of 
God  and  taught,  as  the  tradition  among  his  sons  based  on  his  own 
words  declares,  by  the  august  Mother  of  God,  he  conceived  and 
wrote  there  his  Book  of  the  Spiritual  Exercises. 

In  many  ways  fhe  Spiritual  Exercises  of  Saint  Ignatius  was 
an  epoch-making  book.  It  marked  a  complete  breaking  away  in 
method  and  even  in  much  of  the  matter  treated  from  the  tradi- 
tional ascetical  teaching  up  to  that  time.  It  was  the  first  really 
scientific  manual,  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word  scientific, 
that  the  world  had  seen.  There  was  nothing  in  it  that  was  not 
based  on  close  and  accurate  observation.  It  formulated  clear  and 
definite  laws.  It  laid  down  rules  for  balancing  arguments  and 
motives  and  thus  reaching  safe  and  legitimate  conclusions — rules 
which  have  not  yet  been  improved  upon.  In  these  three  particu- 
lars it  stood  almost  alone.  And  in  these  was  its  strength.  It 
marked  an  epoch  and  a  revolution  in  the  life  of  the  Church.  For 
"From  St.  Benedict's  time,"  as  says  Cardinal  Newman,  "there 
had  been  a  broad  line  between  the  world  and  the  Church,  and  it 
was  very  hard  to  follow  sanctity  without  entering  Religion.  St. 
Ignatius  and  St.  Philip,  on  the  contrary,  carried  out  the  Church 
into  the  world,  and  aimed  at  bringing  under  her  light  yoke  as 
many  men  as  they  could  possibly  reach.  Both  of  them  acted,  of 
course,  under  Divine  guidance  ;  but  as  they  lived  at  the  same  time 
and  in  the  same  spot,  it  is.  natural  to  think  that,  humanly  speak- 
ing, one  must  have  taken  his  tradition  from  the  other ;  and  as  St. 
Philip  is  the  younger  it  is  natural  to  think  he  gained  it  from  St. 
Ignatius.  As  then  he  learned  from  Benedict  what  to  be  and  from 
Dominic  what  to  do,  so  let  me  consider  that  from  Ignatius  he 
learned  how  he  was  to  do  it."1 

This  is  the  great  service  that  Saint  Ignatius  rendered  spiritual 

1  Sermons  on  Various  Occasions — "  The  Mission  of  St.  Philip." 


'FRANCIS,  WHAT  SHALL  IT  PROFIT  A  MAX  IF  HE  GAIN  THE  WHOLE  WORLD?" 

(Gagliardi.) 


ST.  IGNATIUS   OF  LOYOLA.  489 

souls — he  traced  clearly  for  them  the  path  to  perfection  and  to  God, 
he  taught  them  how  to  serve  God.  His  Book  of  Spiritual  Exercises 
set  before  them  an  ideal  and  proposed  to  them  a  motive  than  which 
none  could  be  more  powerful.  Nor  did  he  stop  at  this  :  he  gave 
them  grounds  for  encouragement  in  times  of  trial,  safeguards  in  time 
of  danger,  cautions  against  illusions.  He  enabled  the  soul  to  make 
one  step  sure  before  it  took  a  second.  And  withal,  there  is  hardly  a 
line  in  the  Book  which  the  simplest  and  least  erudite  of  Christians 
may  not  be  brought  to  profit  by.  It  caused  to  spring  up  in  the 
Church  a  new  school,  which  Cardinal  Newman  in  the  same  sermon 
thus  characterizes  :  "An  earnest  enforcement  of  interior  religion, 
a  jealousy  of  formal  ceremonies,  an  insisting  on  obedience  rather  than 
sacrifice,  on  mental  discipline  rather  than  fasting  and  hair-shirt,  a 
mortification  of  the  reason,  that  illumination  and  freedom  of  spirit 
which  comes  of  love,  further,  a  mild  and  tender  rule  for-  the 
Confessional,  frequent  confessions,  frequent  Communions,  special 
devotion  towards  the  Blessed  Sacrament — these  are  peculiarities  of 
a  particular  school,  and  St.  Ignatius  and  St.  Philip  are  Masters 
in  it." 

This  part  of  the  work  of  Saint  Ignatius  is  too  important  not 
to  be  insisted  upon.  "  Education  .  .  .  has  its  history  in 
Christianity  and  its  doctors  or  masters  in  that  history,"  says  Cardi- 
nal Newman  again.2  "  It  has  had  three  periods — the  ancient,  the 
medieval  and  the  modern ;  and  there  are  three  religious  orders 
respectively  which  succeed  one  the  other,  on  its  public  stage,  and 
represent  the  teaching  given  by  the  Catholic  Church  during  the 
time  of  their  ascendancy.  .  .  .  Now  Saint  Benedict  has  had 
the  training  of  the  ancient  intellect,  Saint  Dominic  of  the  medieval 
and  Saint  Ignatius  of  the  modern.  And  in  saying  this  I  am  in 
no  degree  disrespectful  to  the  Augustinians,  Carmelites,  Francis- 
cans and  other  great  religious  families  which  might  be  named,  or 
to  the  Holy  Patriarchs  who  founded  them,  for  I  am  not  reviewing 
the  whole  history  of  Christianity,  but  selecting  a  particular  aspect 
of  it."  Now  the  whole  teaching  of  Saint  Ignatius  is  contained  in 
the  Book  of  the  Spiritual  Exercises  and  the  special  outcome  of  that 

Historical  Sketches,  vol.  ii.  pp.  365,  seq. 


49O  57.  IGNATIUS  OF  LOYOLA. 

teaching  or  its  special  characteristic  is  well  pointed  out  a  few 
lines  further  down  in  the  same  passage  from  the  Historical 
Sketches. 

"By  common  consent  the  palm  of  religious  prudence,  in  the 
Aristotelic  sense  of  that  comprehensive  word,  belongs  to  the 
school  of  religious  thought  of  which  St.  Ignatius  is  the  founder. 
That  great  Society  is  the  classical  seat  and  fountain  (that  is,  in 


ST.   IGNATIUS  WRITES  THE  CONSTITUTIONS. 

(Spanish  School.) 


religious  thought  and  the  conduct  of  life,  for  of  ecclesiastical 
politics  I  speak  not),  the  school  of  discretion,  practical  sense,  and 
wise  government.  Sublimer  conceptions,  or  more  profound  specu- 
lations may  have  been  created  or  elaborated  elsewhere,  but  whether 
we  consider  the  illustrious  body  in  its  own  Constitution  or  in  its 
rules  for  instruction  and  direction  we  see  that  it  is  its  very  genius 
to  prefer  the  most  excellent  prudence  to  every  gift,  and  to  think 


57.  IGNATIUS  OF  LOYOLA.  491 

little  both  of  poetry  and  of    science  unless  they  happen  to  be 
useful." 

The  Constitutions  which  Saint  Ignatius  gave  to  his  Society 
was  without  doubt  another  epoch-making  book.  Lord  Bacon  said 
of  it,  that  it  was  the  most  perfect  political  code  that  had  come 
from  the  mind  of  man.  Its  influence  on  the  constitutions  of 
modern  states  most  of  which  have  borrowed  from  it,  no  one 
will  question.  But  a  higher  testimony  to  its  character  is  the  fact 
that  the  special  features  in  which  it  departed  from  the  traditions 
set  by  earlier  founders  of  religious  orders  are  to-day  incorporated 
into  the  rule  of  almost  every  religious  family  in  the  Church. 
Now  what  was  Saint  Ignatius'  mind  regarding  these  Constitutions  ? 
The  opening  paragraph  of  the  Constitutions  will  tell  us. 

"Although  it  be  the  sovereign  wisdom  and  goodness  of  God, 
our  Creator  and  Lord,  which  is  to  preserve,  govern  and  advance 
in  His  holy  service  this  least  Society  of  Jesus,  as  it  has  vouchsafed 
to  begin  the  same,  and  on  our  part,  the  interior  law  of  love  and. 
charity  which  the  Holy  Ghost  is  accustomed  to  write  and  imprint 
on  the  hearts  of  men  is  to  help  thereunto  rather  than  any  exterior 
constitutions ;  yet  because  the  sweet  disposition  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence requires  the  co-operation  of  His  creatures  and  the  Vicar  of 
Christ,  our  Lord,  has  so  appointed,  and  the  examples  of  Saints  and 
reason  itself  teach  us  so  in  our  Lord,  we  think  it  necessary  that 
constitutions  should  be  written  which  may  help  us  according  to 
the  spirit  of  our  Institute,  to  greater  progress  in  the  way  of  God's 
service  upon  which  we  have  entered." 

It  was  the  Saint's  own  conviction,  that  every  essential  part 
of  this  Rule  had  been  suggested  to  him  from  above.  One  point 
alone  regarding  the  practice  of  holy  poverty  he  debated  with 
himself  for  forty  days.  The  matter  was  never  absent  from  his 
thoughts  even  while  he  was  saying  Mass,  until  finally  light  from 
Heaven  came  to  him  and  the  decision  he  should  take  was  made 
clear  to  him.  Thus  with  many  tears  and  fervent  prayers  were 
the  Constitutions  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  written. 

Saint  Ignatius  as  a  knight  and  man  of  the  world,  then  as  a 
master  of  the  spiritual  life,  and  finally  as  author  of  a  religious 


492  ST.  IGNATIUS  OF  LOYOLA. 

rule,  has  much  that  appeals  to  our  admiration  and  to  our  grati- 
tude. Few  will  read  these  lines  who  are  not  indebted  to  him. 
As  in  the  case  of  St.  Philip  Neri,  already  given,  they  may  have 
learned  from  other  sources  what  to  be  and  what  to  do,  but  from 
Ignatius  they  have  learned  how  to  do  it.  They  have  come  under 
the  influence  of  the  practical,  enlightened  spirit  of  direction  which 
he  gave  to  the  world.  The  way  to  heaven  has  been  more  easy  to 
trace,  the  difficulties  in  the  way  have  been  smoothed  before  them. 
And  yet  in  spite  of  this  Saint  Ignatius,  as  we  have  already  said, 
is  hardly  a  popular  Saint.  Why  is  this  ?  One  reason  we  might 
give  is  that  he  was  the  enemy  of  haziness  of  every  kind.  He 
was  intolerant  of  hazy  views  and  of  ill-defined  resolutions,  of 
sentiment  of  any  kind  as  a  motive  of  action.  Light  and  grace 
from  God  and  a  good  will  in  man — these  were  the  elements  he 
counted  on  to  sanctify  souls.  He  took  spirituality  out  of  the 
region  of  the  poetic  and  the  sentimental,  and  made  of  it  a  matter 
.of  simple  common  sense ;  it  ceased  to  be  a  cloak  or  a  garment,  to 
be  put  on  or  off  at  will,  it  became  the  very  soul  of  every-day  life. 
At  night  the  last  waking  thought,  he  directed,  should  be  given  to 
the  first  great  act  of  the  day  that  was  yet  to  come.  The  first 
thought  on  rising  was  to  be  for  God,  the  second  to  the  Particular 
Examen,  that  is,  to  nerving  the  man  for  the  struggle  with  fallen 
nature  which  begins  anew  with  every  recurring  day.  Then  he 
would  have  all,  not  only  the  religious  but  the  secular  and  the 
layman,  make  daily  meditation  on  the  great  truths  of  faith  and 
on  the  life  of  our  Lord.  The  mainspring  of  life  was  for  him 
a  spirit  of  self-conquest,  and  a  love  of  orderly  living,  of  a  life 
in  which,  as  in  the  works  of  God,  all  things  should  be  disposed  in 
measure  and  number  and  weight.3  The  highest  aim  in  life  was 
"to  distinguish  oneself  in  every  kind  of  service  rendered  the 
Eternal  King  and  Universal  Lord."4  The  measure  of  service  was 
to  extend  to  an  entire  renunciation  of  self,  of  one's  own  will  and 
one's  own  interests. 

J  Wisdom,  xi.  28. 

4  The   Spiritual   Exercises.      Contemplation   on  the   Kingdom  of  Christ 
and  De  Reformatione  Vitae. 


THE  SAINT  RECEIVES  FRANCIS  BORGIA,  DUKE  OP  GANDIA,  INTO  THE  SOCIETY. 

(Gagliardi.) 


494  ST.  IGNATIUS  OF  LOYOLA. 

Now  such  relentless  warfare  on  self,  such  tireless  vigilance  and 
such  lofty  aspirations,  have  much  in  them  to  dismay  even  generous 
souls,  and  Ignatius  as  the  living  embodiment  of  his  own  teaching 
has  been  looked  on  with  something  of  the  feeling  with  which  many 
look  on  his  teaching.  But  just  as  happens  with  the  doctrine  of 
the  Saint,  so  does  it  happen  with  the  Saint  himself.  A  very  slight 
acquaintance  with  the  Exercises  brings  so  much  light  into  souls, 
calms  so  many  fears,  settles  so  many  scruples,  opens  up  such 
straight  and  practicable  paths  to  God,  that  the  soul  wonders  how 
it  could  ever  have  shrunk  from  so  great  a  salvation.  So,  a  very 
slight  acquaintance  with  Ignatius  himself  makes  us  lose  sight  of 
the  ascetic  and  the  lawgiver  in  the  kindly,  compassionate,  even 
tender-hearted  man,  who,  like  another  Saint — Paul — was  ready  to 
be  anathema  from  Christ  for  his  brethren." 

The  conversion  of  Saint  Francis  Xavier  and  the  close  bond 
of  affection  which  united  that  great  soul  to  our  Saint  is  a  striking 
testimony  to  the  lovableness  of  the  man.  Francis  Xavier  was  a 
young  Doctor  of  Philosophy,  on  whom  the  world  had  just  begun 
to  smile.  He  was  apparently  on  the  threshold  of  a  great  career. 
Ignatius  met  him,  and  though  at  first  repulsed  he  determined  to 
gain  this  vessel  of  election  to  the  cause  of  Jesus  Christ.  JFTicrf 
shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  suffer  the  loss  of 
his  own  soul?*  Each  time  he  met  Francis  he  whispered  these 
words  to  him.  To  himself  they  had  come  home  once  with  such 
startling  vividness  that  long  since  he  had  learned  to  count  all  things 
to  be  but  loss  for  the  excellent  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ,  his  Lord) 
for  Whom  he  had  suffered  the  loss  of  all  things,  and  counted  them  but 
as  dung,  that  he  might  gain  Christ.'' 

The  tone  of  sincere  conviction  with  which  Ignatius  spoke,  the 
patience  and  the  gentle  courtesy  with  which  he  dealt  with  him, 
finally  had  its  effect  on  Francis.  "  What  shall  it  profit  ?  Ah, 
what  indeed,  though  a  man  gain  the  whole  world  for  himself;  but 
how  greatly  shall  it  profit,  if  a  man  gain  the  whole  world  for 
Jesus  Christ."  Saint  Francis'  conclusion  went  further,  not  than 
Ignatius'  final  hopes,  but  further  than  what  he  could  reasonably 

6  Romans,  ix.  3.  6  St.  Mark,  viii.  3.  T  Philippians,  iii.  8. 


ST.  IGNATIUS   OF  LOYOLA.  495 

expect  at  the  start.     Francis  did  gain  a  world  in  the  end,  but 

great  as  he  was,  in  the  presence  of  Ignatius  he  ceased  to  be  the  man 

of  learning,  the  Apostle  of  the  Indies;  he  was  as  a  child  before  his 

father.     A  man  who  could  inspire  such  an  attachment  could  not 

but  be  lovable.     Countless  other  traits  we  could  give  that  would 

confirm  this  view  of  Ignatius.     His  relations  with  the  wild  boy 

page,  Peter  Ribadaneira,  for  instance,  and  his  love  and  care  of  his 

children   but    especially   of 

the    sick,    recalling    in     so 

many  ways  his  great  Model 

and  Master  Who,  according 

to  the  tradition  left  by  St. 

Peter,   when   spending   the 

nights    in     prayer,    would 

come   at    intervals    to    the 

place    where    the    Apostles 

were    sleeping   and  replace 

the  clothes  they  had  thrown 

off,  or  spread  his  own  cloak 

over  them. 

In  speaking  of  the 
conquest  Ignatius  made  of 
Francis  Xavier,  we  must 
not  forget  another  Francis 
whom  he  also  gained  to 
God.  In  the  case  of  St. 
Francis  Xavier  we  might 
suppose  that  youthful  en- 

"I  WILL  BE  PROPITIOUS  TO  YOU  AT  ROME." 

thusiasm  and  the  ease  with 

which  generous  young  hearts  create  ideals  for  themselves  in  those 
who  win  their  affection,  would  have  much  to  do  with  his  attach- 
ment for  the  Saint.  But  in  the  case  of  St.  Francis  Borgia  we 
have  a  man  who  more  than  most  of  his  fellows  had  tasted  all  that 
the  world  had  to  offer.  Wealthy,  of  noble  lineage,  happily  mar- 
ried, and  with  children  worthy  of  him,  high  in  the  counsels  of 
his  sovereign  and  widely  experienced ;  a  man  too  of  great  holi- 


496  ST.  IGNATIUS  OF  LOYOLA. 

ness  and  spiritual  insight,  he  was  not  one  to  be  caught  by  any  but 
the  highest  and  noblest  qualities ;  and  yet  he  abandoned  all 
things  to  follow  Ignatius. 

Space  will  not  allow  us  to  speak  of  the  founding  of  the 
Society.  One  incident  in  its  first  beginnings  has  been  a  favorite 
subject  with  artists,  the  first  vows  of  Ignatius  and  his  early  com- 
panions in  the  crypt  of  Montmartre.  Little  probably  did 
Ignatius  then  dream  of  the  wonderful  extension  the  "  least 
Company  of  Jesus,"  as  he  loved  to  call  it,  was  destined  to 
take.  He  foresaw  indeed  much  of  the  opposition  and  persecution 
he  and  his  sons  were  to  meet.  He  even  prayed  that  they  might 
always  share  in  the  contradictions  which  the  holy  man  Simeon 
prophesied  for  their  Divine  Head,  for  he  knew  well  that  persecution 
of  this  kind  is  an  unequivocal  sign  of  the  active  hostility  of  the 
powers  of  darkness,  and  that  it  strengthens  weakness  and  fosters 
virtue ;  and  in  addition  he  had  always  before  his  mind  the  com- 
forting vision  that  had  been  vouchsafed  him,  when  he  was  on  his 
way  to  Rome  to  ask  the  confirmation  of  the  Society.  As  he 
prayed  at  a  wayside  shrine,  the  Blessed  Master  Himself  appeared 
to  him,  thorn-crowned  and  carrying  His  Cross,  and  said  :  "  I  will 
be  propitious  to  thee  at  Rome."  As  long  as  Jesus  carrying  His 
Cross  was  favorable  to  his  sons,  Ignatius  had  no  fears. 

We  have  tried,  imperfectly  indeed,  to  point  out  one  side  of 
the  character  of  Ignatius,  which  is  constantly  lost  sight  of. 
God's  Saints  are  not  without  power  to  influence  our  lives.  This 
influence  is  exerted  for  us  if  we  but  ask  it.  To  obtain  the  help 
of  St.  Ignatius  we  need  to  know  him,  and  we  must  not  allow 
ourselves  to  be  influenced  by  the  one-sided  and  false  notions  of  him 
that  are  current.  St.  Ignatius  was  above  all  a  gentle,  kindly, 
even  indulgent  father.  He  had  in  a  peculiar  degree  that  spirit 
of  sweetness  and  light  that  so  many  are  looking  for  now.  He 
was  free  from  exaggeration  of  every  kind.  He  was  the  great 
Doctor  of  the  prudent  and  the  practical  in  the  spiritual  life.  And 
it  is  under  this  aspect  we  should  appeal  to  him,  to  obtain  for  us 
something  of  the  clear  knowledge  and  absorbing  love  of  God 
which  led  him  to  take  for  his  device  :  Ad  Majorem  Dei  Gloriam. 


A  SAD   CAREER. 

A  SEQUEL  TO  "THROUGH  THICK  AND  THIN." 
By  Harry  Vincent. 

IV. 

ERALD  was  at  his  desk  at  his  usual  hour  in  the  morning. 
Success  had  not  spoilt  him  in  the  least.  The  fact  that  he 
was  now  in  authority  and  a  member  of  the  firm  had  in  no 
way  altered  him.  He  came  as  early  now,  and  left  as  late  as  he 
had  done  the  first  week  he  was  in  Mr.  Cassidy's  employment.  He 
did  just  as  much  work  and  looked  into  as  many  things  now  that 
he  was  making  three  thousand  dollars  a  year  as  had  been  his  wont 
when  he  was  only  in  receipt  of  thirty  dollars  a  month. 

He  was  sitting  in  his  little  sanctum,  going  carefully  through 
the  morning's  mail.  He  was  reading  the  letters  a  trifle  faster 
than  was  his  custom  this  morning,  as  he  was  expecting  Ralston 
and  perhaps  Mr.  Wolcott.  Indeed  he  was  somewhat  anxious  that 
the  Westerner  should  turn  up.  He  rather  flattered  himself  that 
he  was  going  to  make  Ralston  mend  his  ways,  and  if  he  succeeded 
in  doing  so,  he  felt  sure  it  would  have  an  excellent  effect  on  Mr. 
Wolcott.  It  appeared  to  him  that  after  having  travelled  about 
three  thousand  miles,  Mr.  Wolcott  was  now  almost  within  reach 
of  Rome,  as  he  had  expressed  it,  and  he  was  sanguine  that  by  aid 
of  a  drop  of  brandy  in  the  form  of  good  advice,  and  a  new  pair  of 
boots  in  the  shape  of  some  good  example,  which  the  Westerner 
said  had  so  much  effect  on  him,  he  would  be  able  successfully  to 
land  him  on  his  knees  under  the  great  dome  of  St.  Peter's. 

At  any  rate  he  was  going  to  make  a  struggle  for  it  in  the 
dogged,  persevering  way  in  which  he  did  everything.  Gerald 
Coates  was  not  the  man  to  be  stopped  in  his  purpose  by  difficul- 
ties, were  they  as  high  as  the  Adirondacks. 

There  was  a  noisy  knock  on  the  office  door. 

On  being  invited  to  enter,  Mr.  Wolcott  walked  in,  planted 

497 


498  A  SAD   CAREER. 

himself  down  in  the  chair  opposite  Gerald,  laid  his  umbrella 
across  the  desk  in  front  of  him,  tossed  his  hat  to  the  back  of  his 
head,  put  his  elbow  on  the  table  and  resting  his  chin  beard  on 
the  knuckles  of  his  clenched  fist,  looked  his  young  friend  straight 
in  the  face,  and  asked  him  through  his  teeth  and  his  cigar  :  "  Well, 
sir,  what  news  ?" 

"Apropos  of  what?"  asked  Gerald,  carelessly,  with  a  smile 
on  his  face,  as  he  still  went  on  opening  the  mail. 

"Apropos  of  what?"  echoed  Mr.  Wolcott,  "apropos  of  the 
greatest  affair  which  is  at  this  present  time  agitating  my  mind.  I 
am  more  anxious  to  learn  the  result  of  your  experiment  with  this 
ill-looking  school-fellow  of  yours  than  I  am  to  know  who  the 
Republicans  will  nominate  for  the  Presidency  at  the  convention 
in  Cincinnati  next  month.  Tell  me  first  of  all  if  you  found  the 
pocketbook,  or  purse,  as  you  English  folk  call  it." 

"  No,  of  course  not." 

"  Then  did  you  discover  the  old  lady  who  had  been  robbed  ?" 
inquired  Wolcott  eagerly. 

Gerald  related  to  him  in  full  their  fruitless  attempt  to  dis- 
cover the  purse  where  Ralston  had  thrown  it  down  in  his  flight 
from  the  police  and  the  howling  mob,  and  their  subsequent  visit 
to  the  old  lady  who  with  much  wailing  and  lamentation  had 
received  from  him  the  amount  stolen,  together  with  a  sum  to 
cover  the  value  of  the  purse,  which  she  put  carefully  into  the 
deep  pocket  of  her  dress  as  she  shut  herself  in  her  house  with 
many  thanks  to  her  kind  benefactor  and  with  dire  and  dread 
imprecations  on  the  thief. 

"Arrant  old  fraud  !"  sneered  Mr.  Wolcott,  "  she's  just  as  bad 
herself.  She  got  more  money  out  of  you  than  she  lost  herself, 
you  may  bet  your  sweet  life  on  that." 

"  I  scarcely  think  so,"  answered  Gerald.  "  What  astonishes 
me  is  that  Ralston  was  fool  enough  to  risk  so  much  for  such  a 
paltry  sum." 

"You  needn't  talk,"  said  Wolcott ;  "you  risked  expulsion 
from  college  for  a  mutton  chop  and  a  boiled  potato,  and  you  got 
it,  too !" 


A  SAD   CAREER.  499 

"  Don't  remind  me  of  unpleasant  things,  please." 

"  I  didn't  mean  to  be  unkind,"  said  Wolcott,  apologetically. 
"I  merely  meant  to  imply  that  Ralston  was  just  as  sure  as  you 
were  that  he  wouldn't  be  caught.  And  now,  tell  me  what  you 
intend  to  do  with  the  fellow?" 

"  I  mean  to  offer  him  work  here." 

"  What !"  cried  Ralston,  "  why,  he'll  empty  the  contents  of 
your  cash-box  into  the  pockets  of  his  pants  before  you  know 
where  you  are." 

"  Will  he  ?"  said  Gerald,  with  an  amused  smile  on  his  face. 
"  Then  I  shall  have  nobody  to  blame  but  myself,  and  I  shall  con- 
sider it  my  duty  to  make  the  amount  good  mvself  if  he  does. 
But  we  mustn't  look  at  it  in  that  way  :  we  must  give  him  credit 
for  a  desire  to  amend  and  turn  over  a  new  leaf.  After  all  he's 
had  beastly  hard  luck.  Kicked  out  of  his  father's  house  and 
never  able  to  get  anything  better  to  do  than  to  go  to  sea  as  a  com- 
mon seaman,  with  pay  for  about  twenty-two  days  at  the  .rate  of 
fifteen  dollars  a  month,  with  a  deduction  of  fifty  cents  for  a  cap 
and  two  dollars  for  a  jersey  and  perhaps  a  fine  of  a  dollar  or  so 
for  taking  a  drop  too  much  grog,  or  staying  away  from  the  ship 
after  hours  when  she's  in  port,  at  the  end  of  the  voyage,  is  not  the 
sort  of  luck  to  make  a  fellow  remember  the  Commandments.  I 
think  it  was  Longfellow  who  wrote : 

'  Oh,  fear  not  in  a  world  like  this, 

And  thou  shalt  know  ere  long — 
Know  how  sublime  a  thing  it  is, 
To  suffer  and  grow  strong!'" 

"  But  that's  all  very  well  in  poetry,"  said  Mr.  Wolcott. 

Just  at  this  moment  Ralston  made  his  appearance.  He 
shambled  rather  than  walked  towards  the  office,  and  without 
removing  his  hat  from  his  head  or  his  hands  from  his  pockets, 
he  stood  in  the  doorway,  without  speaking,  with  a  look,  half- 
ashamed,  half-defiant  on  his  face. 

He  was  certainly  a  sorry  sight.  The  habit  he  had  always 
had  of  standing  with  his  coat  collar  up  and  his  shoulders  shrugged 


5OO  A  SAD   CAREER. 

as  though  he  were  suffering  from  cold  had  grown  upon  him. 
His  thick,  straight  and  jet-black  hair  was  uncut  and  tossed  over 
his  forehead.  There  was  a  week's  growth  of  beard  on  his  chin, 
and  it  was  quite  evident  his  face  had  not  been  washed.  A  seedy- 
looking  suit  of  clothes,  minus  the  waistcoat,  with  a  red  handker- 
chief to  take  the  place  of  collar  and  necktie,  completed  the  picture. 

As  Gerald  looked  at  him,  he  could  not  but  make  up  his 
mind  that  his  work  was  cut  out  for  him.  He  invited  him  in  and 
placed  a  chair  for  him. 

For  some  moments  nobody  spoke.  Then  Gerald  with  a 
nervous  pull  at  his  moustache  and  an  anxious  look  at  Mr.  Wolcott 
said  to  him : 

"  Well,  Ralston,  are  you  ready  to  work  ?" 

"  Yes,  I  guess  so,"  was  the  surly  reply. 

His  manner  evidently  did  not  please  Gerald,  but  it  would 
have  been  madness  to  lose  his  temper  and  speak  angrily  at  this 
early  s,tage  of  the  game.  Accordingly  he  took  no  heed  of  this 
disrespectful  reply. 

"All  right,  then,"  he  replied  coolly.  "  I  shall  behave  towards 
you  in  a  strictly  business  manner,  and  I  shall  expect  you  to  begin 
at  the  bottom  round  of  the  ladder." 

"  What  does  that  mean  ?"  inquired  Ralston  in  the  same 
surly,  somewhat  defiant,  tone  of  voice. 

Again  a  look  of  disappointment  was  noticeable  in  Gerald's 
face,  and  Mr.  Wolcott  moved  angrily  in  his  chair. 

"  I  mean  to  say,"  said  Gerald,  "  that  I  shall  treat  you  as 
though  I  had  never  seen  you  before,  as  though  I  had  never  been 
at  school  with  you,  and  particularly  as  though  I  knew  nothing  of 
the  disagreeable  affairs  which  were  brought  to  light  yesterday. 
I  shall  treat  you  precisely  as  I  should  treat  any  one  who  had 
been  sent  to  me  to  apply  for  a  situation.  Do  you  follow  me  ?" 

"  I  suppose  you  mean,"  said  Ralston,  "  that  you  want  me  to 
work  for  nothing." 

"No,"  answered  Gerald,  testily,  "I  mean  nothing  of  the 
sort.  As  you  know  nothing,  it  is  only  right  that,  until  you  learn 
and  can  be  of  real  use,  you  should  only  receive  the  salary  that 


A  SAD   CAREER.  5O1 

you  are  worth,  as  I  did  when  I  commenced,  and  like  everybody 
who  is  making  a  beginning,  and  you  must  show  that  you  have 
strength  successfully  to  pull  through  your  first  six  months  or 
year  until  your  salary  can  be  raised  and  you  are  made  more 
acceptable." 

"  Well,  what  do  you  propose  to  do  ?"  said  Ralston. 

"I  offer  you  a  salary  of  forty  dollars  a  month  :  it's  ten  more 
than  I  got  when  I  started." 

"And  what  am  I  to  do  for  it  ?"  he  asked :  "  pull  flour 
barrels  about?" 

"  Certainly  not,"  replied  Gerald,  "  That  is  the  work  of  a 
laborer.  You  have  received  an  education  and  are  a  gentleman 
and  must  associate  with  your  equals  and  learn  to  use  your  brain 
and  not  your  hands." 

"What  salary  does  a  laborer  get?"  asked  Ralston  taking 
little  notice  of  what  Gerald  was  saying. 

"  My  laborers  receive  wages.  They  amount  to  fifteen  dollars 
a  week,  and  they  receive  their  money  every  Saturday  night." 

"  Then  I'd  rather  be  a  workman  and  get  fifteen  dollars  a 
week  than  be  a  gentleman  and  only  get  forty  dollars  a  month." 

"  That,"  said  Gerald,  "  is  only  a  temporary  arrangement.  A 
gentleman's  salary  is  increased,  but  a  workman's  wages  are  always 
the  same.  You  must  think  of  the  future." 

"  What  care  I  for  the  future !"  said  Ralston.  "  I'm  only 
thinking  of  the  present,  and  if  I  can  make  more  money  by  being 
a  workman,  then  I  don't  care  about  being  a  gentleman." 

"Very  well,"  answered  Gerald,  shrugging  his  shoulders, 
"as  you  wish.  I  have  no  doubt  you  will  change  your  mind 
before  long.  If  you  will  come  down  early  to-morrow  I  will  set 
you  to  work." 

"  You've  tackled  a  difficult  fellow,"  said  Mr.  Wolcott,  after 
his  departure,  "  and  I'm  afraid  he'll  be  too  much  for  you." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  think  so,"  said  Gerald ;  "  it  is  only  a  question 
of  a  little  time." 


5O2  A  SAD   CAREER. 

V. 

Much  to  Gerald's  delight  and  exceedingly  to  his  surprise, 
Ralston  turned  up  bright  and  early  the  following  morning.  He 
could  not  help  thinking  that  it  was  rather  a  pity  that  Mr.  Wolcott 
was  not  there  to  observe  the  vigorous  effort  the  fallen  man  was 
determined  to  make  in  the  difficult  task  of  retracing  his  steps  and 
turning  them  in  the  right  direction  again,  of  which  Virgil  so 
tersely  and  with  so  much  meaning  wrote  : 
Hoc  opus,  hie  labor  est. 

It  was  quite  evident  to  him  that  Mr.  Wolcott  had  made  up 
his  mind  that  Ralston  had  fallen  never  to  rise  again,  but  he  was 
rather  of  the  opinion  that  the  fellow  would  have  changed  his  ways 
long  ago  if  it  had  not  been  such  a  struggle  to  him,  and  that  all  he 
wanted  was  somebody  to  help  him,  to  give  him  a  push  on,  to  set 
him  going  in  the  right  direction. 

But  he  was  sorely  troubled  about  one  thing,  and  that  was  his 
preference  for  living  the  life  of  a  workman  to  that  of  a  gentleman, 
just  because  for  the  time  being  he  was  to  receive  a  little  more 
compensation  in  the  former  capacity  than  in  the  latter.  It  is 
always  a  most  dangerous  sign  when  a  young  man,  who  has  received 
a  good  education  and  has  spent  his  childhood  and  boyhood  amongst 
genteel  companions  and  who  ought  to  be  refined,  prefers  the  society 
of  people  who  have  not  had  his  chances  and  who  could  never 
associate  with  the  class  of  people  upon  whom  he  is  turning  his 
back.  Better  to  be  the  ridiculed  and  despised  of  the  set  to  which 
you  really  belong  than  be  the  leader  of  men  who  are  not  your 
equals.  If  you  cannot  be  friends  with  those  in  your  own  station 
of  life,  then  do  not  have  any  friends  at  all. 

However,  Gerald  was  not  the  man  to  try  too  much  to  alter  a 
person's  ideas  and  decisions.  Ralston  had  said  he  preferred  the 
work  of  a  laborer  and  he  intended  to  let  him  do  it  till  he  got  tired 
of  it  and  rose  to  his  own  level  again.  He  believed  firmly  in  what 
he  had  said  to  Mr.  Wolcott :  <'  You  will  see,  it  is  only  a  question 
of  a  little  time." 

Accordingly  he  appointed  Ralston  storeman.  He  was  to 
take  account  of  everything  that  was  delivered  into  the  house  and 


A  SAD   CAREER.  5O3 

everything  that  went  out.  Moreover,  he  was  to  sweep  the  store 
and  wash  the  windows  and  dust  the  desks  in  the  office.  Gerald 
gave  him  this  work  on  purpose.  "  He'll  get  tired  of  it  all  the 
sooner,"  he  thought  to  himself. 

There  was  one  thing  which  was  certainly  surprising,  and 
particularly  so  to  Mr.  Wolcott.  The  fellow  was  by  no  means 
idle.  He  was  working  every  minute  of  the  day,  and  there  were 
signs  of  his  work  in  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  building.  His 
tally-book  was  the  pink  of  perfection  and  Mr.  Wolcott  used  to 
say  he  wouldn't  mind  eating  his  hot  cakes  and  syrup  off  the  floor. 

So  things  went  on  for  two  or  three  weeks.  Gerald,  however, 
could  not  get  a  step  further  with  him,  and  Mr.  Wolcott  was 
getting  impatient.  It  was  impossible  to  get  a  word  out  of  him 
from  morning  till  night  except  when  perfectly  necessary.  Indeed 
Gerald  could  not  remember  having  once  caught  his  eye  since  the 
morning  he  had  started  work. 

"  When  do  you  sweep  the  office  out  ?"  Gerald  asked  him 
one  day. 

"Always  in  the  morning  before  you  come,  or  in  the  daytime 
whilst  you're  out.  I  don't  care  about  disturbing  you,"  was  his 
reply. 

It  was  impossible  to  get  more  than  one  sentence  out  of  him. 
He  always  walked  off  then.  So  he  did  on  this  occasion,  and  left 
Gerald  wondering. 

With  Mr.  Cassidy,  however,  he  was  very  different.  He 
sometimes  became  quite  talkative  with  him,  particularly  when 
Gerald  was  away.  There  were  mornings  when  Gerald  was 
obliged  to  spend  his  time  at  the  custom-house  and  on  the  steam- 
ship wharves,  when  their  grain  was  being  put  on  the  vessels  for 
shipment.  On  these  mornings  Ralston  spent  a  great  deal  of  time 
with  Mr.  Cassidy  in  his  office,  and  the  old  gentleman  who  had 
entered  into  the  case  heart  and  soul  was  in  the  habit  of  encoura- 
ging him.  Ralston  would  meet  him  at  the  door  and  follow  him 
into  the  office  and  talk  to  him  whilst  he  was  opening  the  safe  and 
getting  his  papers  and  books  ready  preparatory  to  looking  into 
his  mail.  But  if  he  was  a  little  free  with  Mr.  Cassidy  he  was 


5O4  A  SAD  CAREER. 

just  the  opposite  with  Mr.  Wolcott,  whenever  that  gentleman 
made  his  appearance  in  the  office.  The  Westerner  was  still 
suspicious  of  him  and  watched  him  closely. 

As  soon  as  it  was  time  to  close  the  place  up  in  the  afternoon, 
Ralston  always  went  straight  home.  He  was  living  in  a  small 
red  brick  house  on  Houston  Street  near  the  ferries.  Once  at 
home,  he  rarely  went  out  again  in  the  evenings.  Two  companions 
of  his  lived  with  him,  and  they  spent  all  their  time  together. 

They  were  both  older  than  he  was  and  both  exceedingly 
dissipated-looking.  One  whom  they  usually  called  "Ginger," 
and  who  stood  about  six  feet  two,  and  whose  red  face  and  bright 
red  hair  and  side-whiskers  gave  him  anything  but  a  prepossessing 
appearance  seemed  to  spend  most  of  his  time  on  his  back,  whilst 
the  other  who  was  short  and  very  thick-set,  with  exceedingly 
black  hair  and  eyes  and  a  very  dark  complexion,  was  usually  at 
anchor  in  an  apology  for  an  arm-chair  which  they  possessed, 
hidden  by  a  dense  cloud  of  smoke. 

Their  invariable  salutation  to  Ralston  in  the  evening  was  : 
"  Well,  any  news  ?"  So  it  was  this  evening. 

"  No,  none,"  answered  Ralston. 

"  Pshaw  !"  said  his  companions  in  concert. 

"  That's  all  very  well,"  said  Ralston,  but  why  don't  you 
fellows  do  something  ?  You  appear  to  spend  all  your  time  here, 
eating,  sleeping  and  smoking." 

"  Well  if  we  do,"  said  Ginger,  as  he  rolled  over  on  his  side 
on  the  bed  and  looked  at  Ralston,  "and  supposing  that  you  do 
miss  a  little  sleep  and  a  few  smokes  in  the  daytime,  you  make  up 
for  it  in  drink  at  night-time.  I'm  a  fraud  if  we  haven't  chucked 
you  into  bed  dead  drunk  every  night  for  the  last  fortnight." 

"  Yes,  you  have,"  retaliated  Ralston,  "  when  you've  been 
sober  enough  to  do  it." 

"  Oh,  we're  generally  sober  enough  to  do  it,"  said  Ginger. 
"  Our  heads  are  a  bit  stronger  than  yours.  And  when  we  do  get 
a  trifle  off,  our  tongues  are  not  as  long  as  yours.  You  must  learn 
to  keep  your  mouth  shut  whether  you're  in  your  cups  or  not." 

"  Besides,"  said  "  Shorty,"  as  the  stout  small  man  was  called, 


A  SAD   CAREER.  5O5 

going  back  to  the  original  subject,  "we're  waiting  for  develop- 
ments from  you." 

"All  in  good  time,"  said  Ralston.  "  It  takes  time.  Mean- 
while it'll  do  no  harm,  if  you  go  out  yourselves  and  do  something. 
I'm  getting  tired  of  doing  all  the  work  myself." 

This  sort  of  thing  went  on  every  evening  when  Ralston  made 
his  appearance  until  they  had  finished  their  suppers  and  sat  down 
to  their  regular  libations  which  gave  rise  to  good  feelings  again 
and  generally  continued  well  on  till  the  morning. 

But  at  last  there  came  a  change. 

Ralston  ran  upstairs  faster  than  was  his  custom  and  banging 
the  door  to  behind  him  said  :  "  Boys,  I've  got  it !  '  Three 
times  to  the  right  to  five,  once  to  the  left  to  ten,  and  twice  to  the 
right  to  twenty-five,'  and  it's  done." 

"Are  you  sure  ?"  they  both  asked  eagerly. 

"  Sure  !"  echoed  Ralston,  "  as  sure  as  I  had  that  purse  in  my 
pocket  when  Coates  was  looking  for  it  in  the  street.  I've  seen 
the  old  gentleman  do  it  twice  now,  so  I'm  doubly  sure.  '  Three 
to  the  right  to  five,  one  to  the  left  to  ten,  and  twice  to  the  right 
to  twenty-five.' '' 

This  was  the  combination  to  the  safe. 

VI. 

It  was  a  cold,  dreary,  winter  night. 

Outside  there  was  a  blinding  snowstorm  and  a  biting  north- 
west wind  blowing.  Old  gentlemen  as  they  sat  in  their  warm 
rooms  over  their  newspapers  said  they  had  not  seen  such  a  night 
for  twelve  years.  Never  since  the  fearful  storm  of  '78  when  it 
had  snowed  incessantly  for  forty-eight  hours  and  the  drifts  were 
six  feet  high  on  Broadway. 

The  streets  were  deserted.  There  was  not  a  sound  to  be 
heard  save  the  noise  of  the  snow  as  it  beat  up  against  the  windows 
and  the  creaking  of  business  signs  as  they  swayed  to  and  fro  in 
the  wind  which  kept  up  an  incessant  whistle  and  sigh  through  the 
telegraph  wires  overhead. 

It  was  no  night  for  visiting  when  cabs  and  street  cars  had 


506  A  SAD   CAREER. 

stopped  running  :  scarcely  the  evening  for  going  to  the  plays, 
when  actors  and  actresses  were  unable  to  make  their  way  to  the 
theatres ;  it  was  an  evening  for  everybody  who  had  a  home  to  sit 
over  his  fire  and  spend  it  peaceably  and  quietly.  On  such  nights 
as  these  tramps  creep  into  their  dens  and  keep  out  the  cold  as  well 
as  they  are  able. 

When  the  storm  was  at  its  height,  three  men  emerged  into 
the  darkness  from  a  small  red  brick  house  on  Houston  Street. 
They  crossed  the  street,  where  the  snow  was  already  knee-deep, 
and  stood  for  a  moment  on  the  opposite  corner. 

"  You're  sure  you  know  the  way  ?"  said  Ralston. 

"Of  course  we  do,"  answered  Ginger,  as  he  buttoned  the 
collar  of  his  overcoat  tight  round  his  neck.  "  You  let  yourself 
in,  and  be  ready  for  us  in  about  half  an  hour.  We're  just  going 
to  get  a  drop  of  something  hot  first." 

"  I'd  like  a  drop  of  something  hot,  too,"  said  Ralston. 

"  Don't  you  be  a  fool,"  said  Ginger :  "  go  and  get  your 
work  done  first,  and  then  you  can  have  as  many  drops  as  you 
like.  But  get  through  quickly.  Remember  we've  got  two  other 
places  to  visit  to-night." 

With  that  Ralston  turned  and  walked  off  in  the  direction  of 
Gerald's  store.  As  Ginger  finished  speaking  to  him,  a  thought 
occurred  to  his  mind.  Why  shouldn't  he  let  himself  into  the 
store,  open  the  safe  and  rob  the  till  and  make  off  before  the  other 
two  came  ?  Why  should  they  have  a  share  in  the  spoils,  when 
they  hadn't  done  any  of  the  work  ?  But  no,  he  argued,  they're 
up  to  this  sort  of  thing,  and  I'm  only  a  greenhorn  at  it,  and  it'll 
be  well  to  keep  in  with  them  for  a  while,  till  I  learn  some  of  the 
dodges  of  the  trade. 

He  went  round  to  the  back  entrance  of  the  store  which  was 
in  a  dark  narrow  alley  way,  and  unfrequented  at  night  at  the  best 
of  times.  He  quietly  opened  the  door  which  he  had  left  unlocked 
and  slipped  in.  Then  he  groped  his  way  into  the  office  and  struck 
a  light. 

The  opening  of  the  safe  was  an  easy  matter  and  with  a  little 
persuasion  he  soon  had  the  lid  of  the  cash-box  off. 


A  SAD   CAREER.  5O7 

"  Just  my  luck  !"  he  said,  as  he  counted  out  fifty-seven 
dollars  and  thirteen  cents.  "  I've  struck  a  bad  night.  I  dare  say 
they  had  as  much  as  five  hundred  dollars  this  night  a  week  ago. 
Let  me  see  my  share  of  fifty-seven  dollars.  Three  into  fifty-seven 
goes  nineteen  times.  I  haven't  forgotten  all  the  arithmetic  old 
Bankson  taught  me  yet.  Nineteen  dollars  !  well  it  isn't  much, 
but  it's  better  than  nothing." 

Just  then  he  heard  a  noise.  He  put  the  light  out  quickly 
and  listened.  Somebody  was  coming  in.  He  waited  anxiously 
for  the  signal  his  pals  were  to  give  him  on  their  arrival.  At  last 
it  came,  and  he  struck  another  light. 

"Blame  me  if  you  didn't  scare  me.  Why  didn't  you 
signal  ?" 

"  We  thought  we'd  got  here  before  you,"  said  Shorty. 

"  Not  much,"  replied  Ralston ;  "  I've  been  here  a  quarter  of 
an  hour." 

"  Well,  don't  let's  stand  here  talking,"  said  Ginger ;  "  I  see 
you've  got  the  safe  open.  Now  let's  know  what  you've  got." 

"  Only  fifty-seven  dollars  and  thirteen  cents,"  answered 
Ralston. 

"  Is  that  all  ?"  said  Ginger,  as  he  walked  over  to  the  safe, 
and  commenced  to  glance  over  the  papers  in  the  other  boxes  and 
pigeon-holes.  "  Well,  let's  have  a  look  at  it/'  he  continued,  turn- 
ing to  Ralston. 

"  Here  you  are,"  he  said,  as  he  spread  the  money  out  on  the 
desk. 

"All  right,"  said  Ginger,  as  he  picked  it  up  quietly  and 
deliberately,  "  we  must  have  a  fair  division  of  this.  Let  me  see  : 
four  tens,  three  fives  and  two  ones.  Well,  Shorty,  here's  two 
tens  and  a  five  for  you,  two  tens  and  a  five  for  myself,  and  you 
can  have  the  rest,  youngster,  and  we'll  pitch  the  thirteen  cents  in 
with  it." 

Ralston  planted  his  back  against  the  office  door. 

"  Look  here,"  he  said,  "  we're  not  going  to  have  any  of  this 
funny  business.  You  give  me  my  fair  share." 

"  Nonsense,"  replied  Ginger,  as  he  carefully  folded  the  notes 


5O8  A  SAD   CAREER. 

up  and  put  them  into  the  bottom  of  his  pocket.  "You're  only  a 
kid :  you  mustn't  expect  to  come  in  for  as  much  as  the  old  hands. 
So,  stand  out  of  the  way  and  let's  leave  the  place  quietly,  or  we'll 
all  be  nabbed." 

"I  don't  care  if  we  are,"  said  Ralston,  his  face  perfectly 
livid,  and  his  eyes  flashing  with  rage. 

Shorty  who  saw  there  was  going  to  be  a  row  blew  the  light 
out,  and  seizing  him  by  the  waist,  lifted  him  off  his  feet  and 
threw  him  out  of  the  doorway.  But  Ralston  had  not  played 
cricket  and  association  football  at  St.  Joseph's  for  nothing.  He 
flew  at  Ginger  and  seized  him  by  the  throat  and  held  on  like  a 
bull  dog. 

"  Hit  him  over  the  head  and  stun  him,"  gasped  Ginger. 

"  He'll  not  stun  me  till  I've  choked  out  every  breath  in  your 
body,"  said  Ralston. 

So  they  staggered  through  the  dark  storeroom,  tumbling 
against  the  flour  barrels,  till  they  reached  the  back  door  again. 
A  gleam  of  light  gave  Shorty  the  opportunity  he  was  waiting  for, 
and  a  well-aimed  blow  for  Ralston's  head  forced  him  to  let  go  his 
hold  on  Ginger's  throat.  He  staggered  to  his  feet  again  and 
rushed  this  time  at  Shorty,  but  he  met  him  more  than  half  way 
with  a  tremendous  blow  between  the  eyes  which  sent  him  reeling 
up  against  a  flour  barrel. 

"You've  done  for  him  now,"  said  Ginger,  "let's  be  off:" 
and  they  let  themselves  out  noiselessly  into  the  cold  stormy  night. 

Gerald  arrived  down  a  little  late  the  next  morning  on 
account  of  the  storm.  As  soon  as  he  entered,  the  boy  walked  up 
to  him  and  said  : 

"  Mr.  Coates,  thieves  broke  in  last  night,  sir,  and  robbed  the 
safe." 

"  What !"  cried  Gerald,  as  he  turned  sharply  round  and 
faced  the  boy,  and  looked  at  him  thoughtfully.  Then  without 
another  word  he  walked  quickly  into  the  office. 

The  sight  that  met  his  gaze  soon  told  the  story.  The  safe 
was  thrown  open,  the  papers  were  tossed  about,  the  broken  money- 
box was  upturned  on  the  desk  and  close  to  it  were  the  seven 


A  SAD    CAREER.  5O9 

dollars  and  thirteen  cents,  which  had  given  cause  to  the  quarrel 
the  night  before. 

"All  right/'  said  Gerald  to  the  boy,  "  you  may  go." 

In  less  than  a  minute  he  returned  to  the  office,  as  pale  as 
death.  "  Mr.  Coates,"  he  gasped  out,  "  Ralston,  the  storeman,  is 
lying  dead  at  the  back  of  the  store." 

He  followed  the  boy  out  quickly  to  the  place. 

"  Run  for  a  doctor "  he  shouted,  as  he  threw  himself  down 
on  his  knees  and  placed  his  ear  to  Ralston' s  heart,  and  felt  his 
ice-cold  hands  and  brow.  "  Dead,  beyond  a  doubt,"  he  sighed. 

The  body  was  perfectly  stiff  and  the  face  and  hands  abso- 
lutely colorless.  His  head  was  frozen  stiff  to  the  floor  in  a  mass 
of  congealed  blood  which  was  still  oozing  from  a  large  wound  at 
the  back  of  the  head.  The  fists  were  clenched  and  the  legs  drawn 
up  as  though  he  had  suffered  great  pain. 

Gerald  was  greatly  relieved  after  the  doctor's  arrival  to  hear 
that  life  was  not  yet  extinct.  Restoratives  were  administered 
and  he  was  taken  as  quickly  as  possible  to  the  nearest  hospital, 
whither  Gerald  at  once  despatched  a  priest.  He  remained  at  the 
store  himself,  as  he  felt  that  there  was  nothing  he  could  do  at  the 
hospital. 

Mr.  Wolcott,  who  now  made  it  a  practice  of  calling  every 
day,  arrived  soon  after  and  heard  the  whole  story. 

"  Ha,  ha,"  he  said,  pointing  to  the  back  of  the  store  and  then 
to  the  safe,  "  Ralston — safe,  you'll  see." 

"  Hush,"  replied  Gerald,  "  nil  de  mortuis  nisi  bonum." 

"  What !"  said  Wolcott,  "don't  swear  at  me." 

"  Nothing  but  good  of  the  dead,"  said  Gerald. 

"There's  nothing  good  to  be  said  about  him,"  answered 
Wolcott ;  "  besides  he  ain't  dead  yet." 

"  He  can't  live  many  hours,"  said  Gerald,  "  if  I  know  any- 
thing about  a  dying  man.  But,  to  change  the  conversation, 
suppose  we  go  on  with  our  little  chat  about  the  Catholic  religion 
which  was  interrupted  so  long  ago." 

"  Go  slow,  go  slow,"  said  the  Westerner,  "I  told  you  I  liked 
good  example,  and  I  confess  that  you  have  given  it  to  me,  but  it  has 


51O  THE  CHILDREN'S  PREL/tTE. 

been  more  than  overbalanced  by  Ralston's  rascally  behavior. 
Wait  till  I  find  out  whether  he  had  anything  to  do  with  that  safe 
before  we  go  on  with  our  argument." 

"  Very  well/'  replied  Gerald  "  if  you  insist,  we'll  put  it  off 
till  some  future  occasion." 

But  that  future  occasion  was  destined  never  to  come.  That 
very  day,  scarcely  two  hours  after,  he  was  knocked  down  and 
almost  instantly  killed  by  a  runaway  horse  on  Broadway. 

As  for  poor  Ralston,  he  died  that  night,  with  the  priest  at 
his  side  the  whole  day,  with  everything  ready  to  administer  all 
the  Sacraments  to  him,  with  Gerald  on  his  knees  by  his  side  pray- 
ing for  him,  and  they  were  unable  to  do  anything. 

He  did  not  regain  consciousness  for  even  a  moment,  and 
without  a  sound,  without  a  sign,  he  passed  into  the  other  world. 

All  that  happened  was  that  the  doctor  turned  to  them  and 
whispered  :  "  He's  dead." 


THE   CHILDREN'S  PRELATE. 

DR.  THOMAS  GRANT/  FIRST  BISHOP  OF  SOUTHWARK, 
ENGLAND,  1816-1870. 

By  E.  V.  N. 

OCTOR  THOMAS  GRANT,  the  first  Bishop  of 
Southwark,  though  descended  from  parents  of 
Irish  birth,  was  born  in  France,  at  Ligny-les- 
Aires,  on  November  25,  1816. 

His  father  was  a  non-commissioned  officer  in 

the  71st  Highlanders,  an  English  regiment  that  had  been  present 
at  the  memorable  and  disastrous  battle  of  Waterloo,  and  had 
entered  France  with  the  allied  armies,  as  stipulated  by  the  com- 
batants. The  absence  of  their  eldest  son  John,  who  being  only 
five  years  old  had  been  left  with  an  uncle  in  London,  and  per- 

1  Life  of  Thomas  Grant,  First  Bishop  of  Southward.     By  Kathleen  O'Meara. 
Second  edition.     London  :  W.  H.  Allen  &  Co. 


THE  CHILDREN'S  PRELATE.  511 

haps  the  long  time  between  the  birth  of  the  sons,  led  the  parents 
to  give  Thomas  a  warm  welcome.  It  may  also  account  in  some 
measure  for  the  unrivalled  position  he  ever  afterwards  held  in  the 
affection  of  both  his  parents. 

Thomas  was  very  amiable  and  winning  in  his  ways,  and  the 
soldiers  petted  him  enthusiastically.  As  soon  as  the  babe  could 
walk,  they  delighted  in  teaching  him  how  to  shoulder  a  popgun, 
and  fire  it  off  at  some  pretended  victim.  The  boy  became  passion- 
ately fond  of  the  men,  and  took  delight  in  playing  tricks  on  them, 
and  when  his  father  would  chide  him,  the  soldiers  would  always 
take  the  child's  part.  One  of  his  favorite  amusements  was  to  beat 
the  drum  ;  yet  in  spite  of  the  charm  of  these  juvenile  associations, 
Thomas  never  thought  of  becoming  a  soldier.  When  any  one 
asked  him,  as  children  generally  are,  "  What  will  you  be  when  you 
grow  up  ?"  he  would  always  answer :  "  I  should  like  to  be  a 
Bishop !" 

In  1824,  Sergeant  Grant's  regiment  sailed  for  North  America. 
John,  Thomas,  then  about  three  years  old,  and  William  accom- 
panied their  parents  to  Canada.  Mrs.  Grant's  health  quickly 
suffered  from  the  severity  of  the  climate,  and  the  nursing  of  her 
son  John  who  died  of  white  swelling,  the  result  of  an  accident, 
dealt  a  fatal  blow  to  the  sorrowful  mother's  life.  She  fell  into  a 
rapid  decline.  Her  husband,  cherishing  the  hope  that  a  sea 
voyage  and  her  native  air  might  check  the  progress  of  her  malady, 
set  out  with  her  for  England.  However  she  died  on  the  passage, 
and  the  deep  grief  of  her  husband  was  intensified  by  the  necessity 
of  consigning  her  remains  to  the  ocean  waves. 

Thomas  who  was  ten  years  old  could  never  recall  that 
melancholy  scene  of  the  ship's  deck  without  emotion.  When  the 
sailors  kindly  threw  sand  into  the  coffin  so  as  to  make  it  sink,  the 
little  William,  standing  by,  begged  them  with  tears  not  "  to  throw 
sand  on  mamma's  face,  lest  they  should  waken  her  or  hurt  her." 

After  his  wife's  death  the  young  widower  was  quartered  at 
Chester,  and  there  faithfully  discharged  the  double  duty  of  father 
and  mother  that  thus  devolved  upon  him.  The  first  step  of  Ser- 
geant Grant  on  settling  at  Chester  was  to  pay  his  respects  to  the 


512  THE  CHILDREN'S  PRELATE. 

priest,  Doctor  Briggs,  and  introduce  his  interesting  boys.  They 
were  kindly  received,  and  Thomas  asked  to  be  allowed  to  serve 
Mass.  Dr.  Briggs  was  much  pleased  with  him,  and  took  the 
trouble  to  teach  the  lad  the  Latin  responses. 

Though  quite  unworldly  Mr.  Grant  was  a  thrifty  man,  and 
he  as  well  as  his  boys  attracted  attention  by  their  neat  dress  and 
regularity  at  Mass.  When  asked  what  he  meant  to  do  with  his 
boys,  he  always  replied  :  "  I  hope  to  make  them  stout  Christians." 
Beyond  this  he  formed  no  schemes. 

Dr.  Briggs  became  tenderly  attached  to  Thomas,  and  after 
he  had  served  Mass  a  few  months,  he  called  him  up  one  day,  and 
said  : 

"  Tommy,  my  lad,  would  you  really  like  to  be  a  priest  ?" 

"  Oh,  yes,  Sir,  I  should  very  much,"  was  the  prompt  reply, 
the  boy's  countenance  glowing  with  a  flush  of  pleasure. 

"  Then  a  priest  you  shall  be  !"  rejoined  Dr.  Briggs.  "  Tell 
your  father  to  come  here  and  talk  with  me  about  it." 

The  pious  Sergeant  quickly  obeyed  the  welcome  summons, 
and  the  result  was  that  he  agreed  to  pay  twelve  pounds  a  year 
towards  Thomas'  maintenance,  and  his  patron  at  once  removed 
the  happy  boy  to  his  own  residence.  Shortly  after  this  the  71st 
was  ordered  away  from  Chester.  Thomas  made  his  First  Commu- 
nion under  Dr.  Briggs'  care  on  Christmas  Eve,  1827.  In  January, 
1829,  the  pious  boy  entered  St.  Cuthbert's  College,  Ushaw,  as 
a  subject  of  Dr.  Briggs.  Though  now  eighteen  years  old,  Thomas 
was  still  small  and  slender,  a  child  in  innocence,  simplicity  and 
guileless  joy. 

Sergeant  Grant  was  in  many  ways  superior  to  the  position 
that  he  held  in  the  service ;  he  had  often  been  promised  promo- 
tion, but  from  one  cause  or  another  that  promise  had  not  been 
fulfilled.  Shortly  after  Thomas  entered  college  his  father  married 
again.  Mrs.  Grant  was  a  high-spirited  and  well-informed 
woman,  possessing  a  nice  little  fortune,  and  her  first  step  was  to 
purchase  him  a  commission.  So  we  shall  henceforth  know  him  as 
Captain  Grant. 

The  college  diary  of  Ushaw  shows  Thomas  at  the  head  of 


THE   CHILDREN'S  PRELATE.  513 

his  class,  during  the  entire  course  of  "Humanities."  In  1836 
Dr.  Briggs  decided  to  send  him  to  Rome ;  and  after  a  rest  of  six 
months  and  a  little  tour  in  Scotland,  a  day  was  fixed  upon  for  his 
departure.  The  young  student's  success  in  Rome  was  so  brilliant, 
that  when  a  scheme  was  devised  among  his  fellow-students  for 
offering  a  lamp  to  our  Lady,  Thomas  gave  eight  silver  medals, 
received  at  the  public  examinations,  as  his  share.  This  number 
doubled  that  of  every  other  student  but  one. 

Immediately  after  his  ordination  Thomas  Grant  received  the 
degree  of  D.  D.,  and  in  a  short  time  after  this  he  was  appointed 
secretary  to  Cardinal  Acton.  His  Eminence  soon  took  a  warm 
interest  in  him ;  and  under  so  consummate  a  master  of  canon  lawr 
Dr.  Grant  acquired  that  proficiency  which  was  destined  to  gain, 
for  him  the  reputation  of  the  first  canon  lawyer  in  the  English 
Church.  His  intercourse  with  the  venerable  prelate  was  advan- 
tageous to  him  in  several  respects.  Strict  method  in  business 
habits  and  devotedness  to  the  poor  were  bonds  of  sympathy 
between  the  English  Cardinal  and  his  bright,  unselfish  secretary, 
and  soon  the  official  relationship  warmed  into  friendship  founded 
on  the  deepest  mutual  esteem.  Dr.  Grant  had  spent  rather  more 
than  three  years  in  the  capacity  of  secretary  to  Cardinal  Acton, 
when  Dr.  Baggs,  Rector  of  the  English  College,  was  appointed  to 
the  Vicariate  Apostolic  of  the  Western  District,  and  the  young 
Doctor  was  nominated  to  succeed  him  in  that  burdensome  office. 
By  energetic  and  skilful  administration  he  soon  discharged  the 
heavy  debts ;  and  by  his  gentle  rule  won  the  heartfelt  affection  of 
the  collegians. 

But  great  events  in  the  temporal  and  spiritual  order  were 
operating  to  restore  the  hierarchy  in  England.  It  is  not  within 
the  scope  of  this  summary  notice,  to  relate  the  series  of  highly 
interesting  events  that  led  to  the  promulgation  of  the  Apostolic 
Letters  issued  in  1850,  declaring  England  to  be  an  ecclesiastical 
province,  with  one  archbishop  and  twelve  suffragans.  This  joy- 
ful culmination  was  the  prelude  to  a  great  change  in  the  life  of 
Dr.  Grant.  The  new  dioceses  were  filled  up,  and  Southwark  was 
assigned  to  the  Rector  of  the  English  College.  The  regret  of  the 


514  THE   CHILDREN'S  PRELATE. 

students  was  great  and  general,  and  Dr.  Grant  sympathized  in  it. 
Only  obedience  could  make  him  overcome  his  reluctance  to 
accepting  the  office. 

His  consecration  took  place  in  the  chapel  of  the  English 
College  on  July  4,  the  ceremony  being  performed  by  Cardinal 
Fransoni,  who  had  expressed  himself  willing  to  sing  his  Nunc 
Dimittis  and  die,  as  soon  as  the  event  of  which  this  consecration 
would  be  the  first-fruit  would  have  come  to  pass. 

II. 

Dr.  Grant  found  himself  almost  a  stranger  in  England,  and 
a  complete  stranger  in  his  diocese.  The  difficulties  of  his  charge 
were  very  great,  for  national  pride  and  Protestant  prejudice  were 
thoroughly  aroused,  and  the  storm  was  at  its  height  when  he  took 
possession  of  his  diocese.  He  entered  at  once  upon  his  pastoral 
duties,  and  was  soon  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  wants  and 
claims  of  every  corner  of  the  district  assigned  to  his  jurisdiction. 
"  In  the  course  of  a  few  years  he  organized  a  new  diocese,  and 
almost  tripled  the  number  of  its  churches,  clergy  and  religious 
institutions ;  and  all  these  he  accomplished  by  prayer,  by  the 
influence  of  his  charity,  his  incessant  activity,  and  his  patient 
endurance."  We  would  call  attention  to  some  of  the  examples 
and  maxims,  recorded  in  the  full  and  authentic  record  of  the  life 
and  spirit  of  Dr.  Grant  by  Miss  O'Meara  ;  for  "  he  was  a  great 
light  in  his  generation  and  accomplished  great  things." 

The  Orphan  Asylum  of  Norwood,  which  was  to  form  the 
chief  external  monument  of  Dr.  Grant's  episcopacy,  from  the  first 
engaged  his  warmest  interest.  The  Sisters,  who  had  been  invited 
to  England  by  Cardinal  Wiseman,  occupied  Park  Hotel ;  but 
though  its  walls  seemed  to  be  elastic,  yet  the  day  came  when  it 
was  impossible  to  stretch  them  further.  It  was  at  once  decided 
that,  that  what  money  would  be  received,  should  be  applied  to  the 
erection  of  a  larger  house,  for  the  accommodation  of  these  favorites 
of  our  Lord. 

The  Crimean  War  however  obliged  him  to  turn  his  attention 
to  furnishing  chaplains  to  the  army,  and  nurses  for  the  wounded 


THE   CHILDREN'S  PRELATE.  515 

at  Scutari ;  but  no  sooner  was  the  war  ended  than  Dr.  Grant  took 
up  vigorously  the  plan  adopted  for  the  new  Orphanage,  and  in 
1858  the  house  was  opened.  The  Bishop  had  great  confidence  in 
children's  prayers,  and  whenever  he  wished  to  obtain  favors  from 
Heaven  he  would  set  them  to  praying  for  his  pious  intention. 
A  timid  counsellor  having  met  his  confident  proposals  for  rescu- 
ing children  from  the  workhouse  by  the  word  "  impossible,"  the 
Bishop  exclaimed :  "  Christ  has  died  for  these  souls,  and  they 
must  be  saved  !" 

The  year  1863,  in  which  he  dedicated  his  diocese  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus, ,  and  the  two  ensuing  ones,  saw  churches 
and  chapels  springing  up  through  the  diocese  with  great  rapidity, 
simultaneously  with  schools.  Converts  were  very  numerous,  and 
there  was  great  fervor  visible  in  those  approaching  the  holy  Sacra- 
ments. Altars  to  the  Sacred  Heart  rose  up  in  every  direction. 
Viewing  the  abundant  harvest  of  these  two  years,  Dr.  Grant 
attributed  with  grateful  emotion  the  visible  blessing  that  had 
come  upon  the  diocese  to  the  loving  protection  of  the  Sacred  Heart 
of  our  Lord.  "  Let  any  one  compare,"  he  exclaims,  "  the  present 
state  of  our  education  with  the  condition  of  our  schools  when  they 
were  commended  to  the  Sacred  Heart,  and  he  will  own  that  only 
He  Who  blesses  seed-time  and  harvest  can  have  produced  such 
a  wonderful  contrast." 

In  1856  Captain  Grant  departed  this  life  at  the  age  of  69, 
after  some  years  of  declining  health.  The  Bishop  set  out  for  the 
North,  and  arrived  in  time  to  soothe  the  last  moments  of  his 
venerable  parent.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  Dr.  Grant  ever 
treated  his  stepmother  with  the  most  filial  respect,  thus  setting  a 
good  example  to  all  who  may  be  placed  in  similar  circumstances. 

In  1864,  Cardinal  Wiseman  convened  a  meeting  of  his 
brother  prelates  to  discuss  the  establishment  of  a  Catholic  college 
within  the  precincts  of  the  English  Universities.  Bishop  Grant 
took  a  prominent  part  in  the  meeting,  expressed  himself  strongly 
before  his  assembled  brethren,  and  then  addressed  a  letter  to  his 
flock,  placing  before  them  the  dangers  which,  dazzled  by  the  hope 
of  superficial  advantages,  they  had  so  readily  overlooked.  "  Faith 


516  THE   CHILDREN'S  PRELATE. 

is  a  treasure  more  precious  than  silver  or  gold — a  treasure  to  be 
watchfully  guarded,  not  lightly  compromised  for  any  dross  of 
earthly  gain,  nor  rashly  exposed  to  danger  without  drawing  on  its 
possessor  the  guilt  of  criminal  imprudence.  Could  Catholic  youth 
be  expected  to  preserve  their  faith  unmarred  and  unmolested, 
where  the  air  is  charged  with  the  cdtatagious  breath  of  heresy,  and 
free-thinking  ?" 

Another  delusion  against  which  the  Bishop  raised  his  voice 
in  earnest  warning  was  that  of  supposing  that  Catholics  may  con- 
tract marriage  with  non-Catholics,  without  thereby  incurring  great 
danger  to  their  own  faith,  and  falling  into  serious  difficulties  of 
conscience. 

III. 

Dr.  Grant  was  wont  to  say  that  the  devout  observance  of  the 
season  of  the  Church  was  in  itself  enough  to  make  a  saint,  and  a 
well-spent  Lent  he  considered  one  of  the  most  important  acts  of  a 
Christian  life.  At  the  approach  of  Lent  the  Bishop  would  go 
round  to  the  Poor  Schools,  and  make  a  solemn  appeal  to  these 
coadjutors  of  the  priesthood,  "the  little  ones,"  and  explain  to  them 
how  they  might  help  in  the  salvation  of  souls  during  this  season 
by  prayer  and  offering  their  acts  of  obedience.  "  You  must  coax 
your  parents  to  come  to  the  Sacraments  at  Easter,"  he  would  say ; 
"  tease  them  affectionately,  give  them  no  peace  till  they  have  com- 
plied with  this  duty.  It  was  a  happy  day  for  them  and  the 
Bishop,  when  a  father  or  brother,  who  had  been  years  absent  from 
the  Sacraments,  came  to  St.  George's,  led  by  a  little  child,  and 
asked  if  his  Lordship  would  hear  his  confession.  When  a  rich 
harvest  blessed  the  prayers  of  these  innocent  apostles  at  the  close 
of  Lent,  and  the  Bishop  had  been  kept  standing  two  hours  and  a 
half  giving  Communion,  the  little  ones  would  say :  "  His  Lord- 
ship's face  is  shining  to-day,"  and  it  was  hardly  a  figure  of  speech, 
for  the  joy  of  his  soul  shone  through  his  features,  and  thrilled  in 
the  tones  of  his  voice. 

In  the  education  of  children  Dr.  Grant  preferred  illustration 
rather  than  dry  instruction  ;  and  it  was  wonderful  to  see  how 


THE   CHILDREN'S  PRELATE.  517 

readily  he  could  produce  stories,  and  improvise  figures  just  to  suit 
the  occasion.  He  could  not  bear  to  compress  children  by  rules 
and  forms,  so  as  to  make  them  stiff  and  shy  of  showing  their  real 
selves  to  those  placed  over  them.  Those  among  the  children  that 
were  poorest  and  least  cared  for  were  sure  to  be  the  most  noticed 
and  caressed.  He  often  deplored  the  dearth  of  good  and  amusing 
story-books  for  children  in  English ;  but  he  liked  them  to  be 
religious  as  well  as  moral,  and  always  to  end  in  temporal  happi- 
ness. 

It  would  be  a  vain  attempt  to  notice  fully  all  the  various 
devotions  of  our  holy  religion,  as  they  reigned  in  the  soul  of  the 
saintly  Bishop.  After  love  of  the  Holy  Eucharist  and  the  filial 
veneration  of  the  Immaculate  Mother,  he  had  a  lively  faith  in  the 
power  of  the  suffering  souls  of  Purgatory,  and  intense  pity  for 
their  woes.  The  Holy  Souls  were  to  him  a  living  presence  in  all 
his  actions,  prayers,  instructions  and  works  of  mercy.  He  was 
never  tired  of  adjuring  his  flock  to  make  devotion  to  them  a  prac- 
tical part  of  their  religion,  assuring  them  that  when  our  turn 
comes  to  fill  up  the  scanty  measure  of  our  penance  in  Purgatory, 
they  will  put  it  into  the  hearts  of  others  to  do  by  us  as  we  had 
done  by  them,  only  more  abundantly. 

The  life  of  Dr.  Grant  is  barren  of  great  events,  and  rich  in 
small  ones.  It  is  harmonious,  for  the  child  foreshadows  the 
youth,  and  the  youth  the  man,  and  the  ripe  manhood  abundantly 
fulfils  the  pledges  of  both.  His  vocation  came  to  him  intuitively, 
like  the  faith  instilled  into  his  heart  by  a  devout  ancestry,  and 
almost  as  early.  It  is  related  that  an  old  lady  bequeathed  to 
"  Little  Tommy  "  a  golden  cross  that  had  belonged  to  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  to  be  given  him  when  he  would  be  a 
Bishop ;  and  a  young  lady  gave  him  a  handsome  gold  chain  that 
she  wished  he  would  use  to  support  his  future  pectoral  cross. 
This  was  given  to  him  by  the  students  of  the  English  College  who 
piously  stole  the  chain,  lest  the  Rector  would  give  it  to  the  poor, 
and  handed  it  down  for  safe-keeping  from  class  to  class. 
Dr.  Grant  was  not  an  eloquent  preacher ;  but  his  discourses  had 
excellent  effects.  His  words  came  from  him  with  unpretending 


518  THE   CHILDREN'S  PRELATE. 

simplicity,  flowing  from  the  light  and  charity  of  his  soul,  and  were 
therefore  fall  of  grace.  He  was  a  father  to  the  orphan,  a  brother 
to  the  poor,  and  a  friend  to  all  who  stood  in  need  of  counsel, 
assistance  or  direction.  It  is  wonderful  to  reflect  upon  his 
unwavering  cheerfulness,  amidst  so  many  labors,  and  so  many 
responsibilities,  despite  his  mental  and  corporal  sufferings. 

His  first  and  most  constant  suffering  arose  from  his  extreme 
delicacy  of  conscience,  sensitive  to  the  slightest  breath  of  wrong 
that  passed  over  his  soul  of  what  seemed  to  him  imperfect. 

His  second  suffering  arose  from  his  great  horror  of  evils  and 
scandals  by  which  God  was  offended,  or  that  other  souls  might  be 
affected. 

The  third  source  of  suffering  came  from  an  internal  malady 
that  gave  him  intense  physical  pain,  but  which  he  bore  with 
extraordinary  patience. 

Dr.  Grant  was  summoned  to  the  Vatican  Council,  and  had 
received  the  appointment  of  Latinist  of  the  Council,  and  member 
of  the  Oriental  Rite  and  the  Apostolic  Missions.  The  Bishop 
was  delighted  to  find  himself  once  more  in  Rome.  His  health 
seemed  to  be  improving,  and  all  his  friends  rejoiced :  foremost 
was  the  Holy  Father,  who  fondly  styled  him  his  "piccolo  santo." 

But  the  Angel  of  Death  was  hovering  near ;  and  on  the  last 
day  of  the  month  of  Mary,  Dr.  Grant  said :  "  Now,  the  hand  of 
death  is  upon  me  !"  From  the  time  that  he  received  the  last  rites 
of  the  Church,  he  was  rapt  in  God,  praying  constantly  for  his 
diocese,  the  Holy  Father,  the  Council,  and  the  welfare  of  the 
Church.  His  familiar  aspirations  were,  "  Credo,  amo,  spero :" 
"•Jesus,  Mary  and  Joseph,  I  give  you  my  heart  and  my  soul." 

It  was  pre-arranged  that  the  body  of  the  deceased  prelate 
should  be  taken  to  Norwood,  and  interred  in  the  spot  that  he  had 
himself  selected,  wishing  to  have  the  prayers  of  the  "  Sisters  of 
the  Faithful  Virgin,"  and  their  interesting  proteges.  They  laid 
him  to  rest  in  the  midst  of  the  little  ones  whom  he  had  resembled 
so  truly  and  so  well :  their  hymns  and  their  laughter  blend  with 
the  prayers  of  those  generous  souls,  who  left  all  things  to  teach 
them  the  loveliness  of  Jesus  and  His  Divine  Heart. 


THE    DEVOTION    OF   THE    SACRED    HEART  IN 
THE  PASTORAL  MINISTRY.1 

By  tbe  Head  Director. 
I. 

THE  cure  of  souls  is  often  likened  to  the  work  of  a  shepherd 
whose  business  it  is  to  lead  his  flock  through  "green  fields 
and  pastures  new."  The  food  which  the  shepherd  of  souls 
is  to  supply  to  his  flock  is,  speaking  generally,  made  up  of  the 
instruction  and  exhortation  which  he  presents  to  their  minds,  and 
the  administration  of  the  Sacraments  which  God  has  intrusted 
to  him  for  their  good.  There  is  nothing  essentially  new  to  be 
given  in  the  nineteenth  century  any  more  than  in  the  first ;  and 
the  Sacraments  are  quite  the  same  as  when  they  were  instituted 
by  Christ  Himself.  But  circumstances  vary  and  the  ways  of 
looking  at  things — the  unavoidable  ignorance,  the  negligence  and 
misunderstanding  from  things  around,  in  fact,  the  whole  temper 
of  minds — change  with  the  different  ages.  The  Holy  Ghost  Who 
breathes  through  the  Church's  action  sees  to  it  that  the  pastors  of 
her  children  have  always  ready  to  their  hand  practical  and 
efficacious  means  for  assisting  the  faithful  to  lead  the  Christian 
life.  These  means  consist  largely  in  a  spirit  of  devotion  which 
makes  Christians,  in  the  words  of  St.  Ignatius,  in  the  Spiritual 
Exercises  "know  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  better,  love  Him  more 
ardently,  and  follow  Him  more  closely."  This  spirit  of  devotion, 
though  essentially  directed  to  the  Person  of  our  Lord,  will 
evidently  change  its  outward  form  with  the  different  needs  which 
it  is  intended  to  meet.  After  all  the  developments,  which  the 
devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart  has  taken  during  the  last  two 
centuries,  and  the  solemn  pronouncements  of  the  Church  concern- 

1  Reprinted  with  permission  from  the  American  Ecclesiastical  Review,  pub- 
lished by  Pustet  &  Co.,  New  York,  under  the  editorship  of  the  Reverend  H.  J. 
Heuser,  Professor  of  Exegesis  and  Scripture,  St.  Charles'  Seminary,  Overbrook,  Pa. 

519 


52O  THE  DEMOTION  OF   THE  SACRED  HEART. 

ing  it,  it  is  impossible  not  to  recognize  in  it  the  means  which  the 
Holy  Ghost  inspires  in  the  Church  of  our  day  for  the  use  of  her 
pastors  in  their  ministry. 

From  this  point  of  view  the  devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart 
may  rather  be  called  a  universal  devotion  of  general  interest  to 
all,  the  divinely  appointed  means  of  better  realizing  to  ourselves 
the  great  work  of  the  Incarnation,  than  a  particular  devotion  of 
interest  only  to  those  spiritually  inclined.  And  if  this  is  true, 
it  ought  evidently  to  become  a  living  factor  in  the  Christian  life 
of  a  parish. 

I  believe  that  the  work  of  this  devotion,  not  only  in  our 
great  city  parishes  but  in  the  wide  circuits  attended  by  our  hard- 
working missionary  priests  in  country  places,  is  uniformly  such  as 
to  warrant  the  description  I  have  given  of  it. 

My  only  object  in  the  present  article  is  to  point  out  the 
ordinary  means  which,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  are  to  be  used 
if  the  devotion  is  to  have  any  real  and  lasting  effect.  For  this 
devotion,  like  any  other  work  of  faith,  demands  a  certain  amount 
of  attention  if  it  is  to  be  spread  and  kept  up  among  the  faithful. 
Otherwise  the  mere  learning  of  the  Catechism  by  the  children 
would  serve  them  for  all  necessary  purposes  during  their  whole 
lives,  and  they  would  need  no  further  instruction  or  exhortation. 
Indeed,  the  Catechism  contains  all  and  more  than  all  that  it  is 
absolutely  necessary  to  know.  For  the  devotion  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  I  ask,  then,  only  that  moderate  attention  and  labor  which 
a  pastor  must  give  to  every  part  of  his  ministry  if  he  expects  it 
to  be  effective  of  lasting  good. 

II. 

The  devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart  is,  of  course,  distinct  from 
any  particular  society  or  organization  intended  to  promote  it 
among  the  faithful.  It  would  be  quite  useless  to  bring  in  any 
such  society  unless  pains  were  taken  to  make  the  devotion  itself 
understood.  Now  this  can  be  done  only  by  the  ordinary  means 
which  are  in  the  possession  of  every  pastor.  These  are  briefly  : 

1.     To  take  frequent  and  regular  opportunities  of  explain- 


THE  DEMOTION   OF   THE  S4CR.ED  HEART.  521 

ing  it.  If  the  people  do  not  come  to  the  first  Friday  sermon, 
then  something  must  be  said  on  a  Sunday,  and  what  is  said  should 
be  plain  and  clear.  It  should  make  each  member  of  the  congrega- 
tion understand  that  devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart  is  to  make  him 
know  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  Who  is  God  and  man,  with  a 
better  acquaintanceship  than  He  may  have  had  heretofore.  For 
example,  as  "  our  Friend  and  Neighbor."  The  lack  of  Catholic 
practices  in  our  ordinary  life,  such  as  would  be  found  in  a  purely 
Catholic  country,  and  the  tide  of  ideas  and  tendencies  quite  apart 
from  religion,  which  surround  us  in  this  busy  age,  make  it  very 
necessary  that  some  such  means  of  bringing  Christians  into  a  more 
real  and  constant  sympathy  with  our  Lord,  should  be  brought  to 
bear  upon  them.  The  ideas  that  centre  around  the  Sacred  Heart 
form,  so  to  speak,  so  human  and  sympathetic  an  aspect  of  the 
Divinity  that  we  can  easily  understand  how  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
God  has  inspired  this  devotion  in  the  Church  of  our  day.  For 
that  matter,  our  Lord  Himself  has  said  :  This  is  life  everlasting 
that  they  may  know  Thee,  the  only  true  God  and  Jesus  Christ  whom 
Thou  hast  sent." 

On  the  nature  of  the  devotion  and  its  applications,  many 
excellent  books  have  been  written  which  will  supply  pastors  with 
the  needed  material  for  their  instructions.  This  has  been  the 
intention  of  the  Quarterly  Sacred  Heart  Library,  published  during 
the  last  two  years. 

2.  Instruction  mainly  enlightens  the  understanding,  and, 
although  it  moves  the  will  for  a  time,  it  does  not  fasten  down,  as 
it  were,  a  devotion  unless  accompanied  by  some  practices  of  piety 
in  which  the  priest  will  lead  his  people.  It  is  not  enough  to 
leave  the  practice  of  what  is  said  in  matter  of  devotion  to  the 
mere  private  work  of  each  individual.  This  is  one  reason  of 
existence  for  all  the  many  societies  which  have  been  approved  in 
the  Church,  to  keep  alive  her  different  devotions. 

But  without  any  society  at  all,  the  devotion  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  offers  certain  practices  which  have  received  the  highest 
approbation  of  the  Church  for  use  among  the  faithful,  and  which 

*  St.  John,  xvii.  3. 


522        THE  DEMOTION  OF  THE  SACRED  HEART. 

demand  the  public  co-operation  of  the  priest.  Indeed,  these 
practices  form  a  part  of  the  supernatural  revelation  of  the  devo- 
tion itself.  They  consist,  mainly,  in  the  observance  of  the  first 
Friday  of  each  month,  in  Communion  and  other  public  devotions 
in  honor  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  and  in  the  yearly  feast  which  is 
often  preceded  by  a  solemn  novena. 

Whatever  responsibility  in  organizing  the  devotion  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  into  an  association  may  be  given  to  an  assistant 
priest,  it  is  clear  that  this  primary  inculcating  of  the  devotion 
belongs  directly  to  the  pastor  in  person.  He  must  at  least  decide 
what  devotions  are  to  be  practised  in  public  and  how  official  a 
character  they  are  to  have  in  the  church  which  is  under  his 
charge.  Moreover  the  high  repute  of  the  work  in  his  parish  will 
largely  depend  on  the  attention  he  pays  to  it  in  person.  A  few 
earnest  words  from  himself,  an  occasional  sermon  from  his  own 
lips,  his  personal  presiding  at  the  more  solemn  functions,  will 
give  an  esteem  to  the  devotion  which  the  people  are  not  likely  to 
have  otherwise.  In  fact,  this  will  be  apt  to  make  all  the  differ- 
ence between  a  particular  devotion  applying  only  to  some  small 
element  in  the  parish  and  a  general  means  of  increasing  the 
knowledge  and  love  of  Jesus  Christ  among  all  the  parishioners. 

What  has  thus  far  been  said  relates  simply  to  the  devotion  as 
considered  in  itself,  and  quite  apart  from  any  formal  association 
or  attempt  to  organize  it  in  practice. 

in. 

In  most  of  our  churches  there  already  exist  Sodalities  and 
Confraternities,  some  of  which  are  frequently  under  the  invoca- 
tion of  the  Sacred  Heart  and  all  of  which  appeal  more  or  less 
exclusively  to  a  certain  class  only  of  the  faithful.  For  a  devotion 
so  universal  in  its  scope  as  that  to  the  Sacred  Heart,  it  is  desir- 
able that  something  may  be  done  which  will  appeal  to  every  class 
of  the  faithful.  This  is  accomplished  in  a  measure,  by  what  we 
have  explained  concerning  the  practice  of  the  devotion  on  the  first 
Friday  and  for  the  Feast,  without  reference  to  any  definite  organ- 
ization. But  it  is  evident  that  a  simple  organization,  with 


THE  DEVOTION   OF   THE  S/tCRED  HEART.  523 

practices  elementary  enough  to  reach  every  Christian,  is  a  great 
advantage  for  spreading  the  devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart  and 
thus  obtaining  the  fruit  which  it  is  desired  to  bring  forth  in  the 
parish.  The  League  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  called  the  Apostleship 
of  Prayer,  from  small  beginnings  has  grown  into  a  most  fruitful 
work  of  this  kind  in  a  great  number  of  dioceses  throughout  the 
world.  On  this  account  it  has  been  called  by  Leo  XIII.  "  a  truly 
Catholic  work."  I  shall  accordingly  limit  myself  to  its  practices 
in  speaking  of  the  means  which  a  definite  organization  can  offer 
for  bringing  the  devotion  home  to  the  people  and  making  it  a 
lasting  reality  in  their  spiritual  lives* 

The  great  hold  which  any  devotion  is  likely  to  have  over  the 
generality  of  people  must  come  from  its  satisfying  some  one  or 
other  of  their  most  pressing  needs.  Now,  whether  these  needs 
are  temporal  or  spiritual,  the  most  ordinary  Christian  spontane- 
ously has  recourse  to  prayer,  in  order  that  his  needs  may  be 
satisfied.  But  a  prime  doctrine  of  the  Christian  faith  teaches 
that,  whereas  all  prayer  is  efficacious,  the  prayer  of  many  united 
together  is  of  multiplied  force ;  and  the  first  revelation  and  con- 
stant progress  of  devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart  have  attached  a 
new  and  special  efficacy  to  prayer  in  union  with  this  devotion. 
Prayer,  indeed,  in  union  with  the  Sacred  Heart  brings  our  Lord 
Himself,  the  Incarnate  God,  into  the  circle  of  those  who  pray  for 
each  other's  needs  and  intentions. 

This  is  the  theological  basis  of  the  League  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  which  unites  all  its  members  in  the  promise  to  offer  its 
special  practices  for  the  intention  of  our  Lord's  Sacred  Heart  and 
of  the  multitude  of  Christian  hearts  which  have  thus  come  into 
a  special  union  with  Him.  This  has  been  developed  with  great 
power  of  thought  and  fervor  of  eloquence  in  the  classical  work  of 
Father  Ramiere  on  The  Apostleship  of  Prayer.  I  need  only  say 
here  that  the  marvellous  spread  of  the  League  finds  a  natural 
explanation  in  the  personal  sympathy  with  which  it  appeals  to 
the  people ;  and  the  great  fruits  which  it  undoubtedly  has  pro- 
duced might  find  a  supernatural  explanation  in  the  promises 
made  by  our  Lord  to  all  devotion  to  His  Sacred  Heart. 


524  THE  DEMOTION  OF   THE  SACRED  HEART. 

However  much  a  devotion  may  seem  to  satisfy  the  needs  of 
the  faithful  people,  it  must  also  be  kept  constantly  before  their 
minds  if  it  is  to  prove  lasting  in  its  work.  For  one  reason  or 
another,  merely  public  practices  of  devotion  in  the  Church  are 
not  likely  to  be  sufficient  for  this  purpose.  Here,  too,  the  great 
success  of  the  League  has  been  largely  due  to  the  method  by 
which  it  forms  devoted  helpers  ready  to  the  pastor's  hand  for 
work  among  his  people.  The  more  regular — I  will  not  say  the 
more  fervent,  for  no  special  fervor  is  demanded — among  the 
Associates  of  the  League  promise  the  daily  Decade  of  the  Beads  in 
addition  to  the  Morning  Oifering  of  all  their  prayers,  good  works, 
and  sufferings  for  the  intentions  recommended  to  this  Association 
of  Prayer.  Thus  they  naturally  fall  into  bands  of  fifteen,  and  the 
monthly  tickets  which  make  known  the  intentions  of  the  League 
to  them  also  refer  to  a  Mystery  of  the  Rosary.  The  head  of  each 
band  is  styled  a  Promoter — a  kind  of  lay  dignity  which  has  been 
recognized  and  highly  privileged  by  the  Holy  Father.  It  is  the 
business  and  the  interest  of  Promoters  to  bring  the  work  of  the 
League  to  the  knowledge  of  as  many  Catholics  as  they  prudently 
can,  to  secure  as  many  monthly  or  even  weekly  Communions  as 
possible,  and  in  general  to  do  the  practical  exterior  work  of  this 
Apostleship,  under  the  direction  of  the  priest  who  is  in  charge  of 
the  Local  Centre.  Without  going  into  details  for  which  we  may 
refer  to  the  Handbook  of  the  work,  it  is  evident  that  this  gives  to 
the  parish  priest  a  kind  of  Conference  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  in 
spirituals.  Of  course  the  priest  who  is  directly  charged  with  the 
work  must  give  an  earnest  and  constant  attention  to  it — a  condi- 
tion which  is  essential  to  the  success  of  any  associated  work 
among  men.  But  the  material  details  can  nearly  always  be  done, 
in  the  main,  by  a  secretary  who  is  at  the  same  time  a  Promoter. 
It  is  also  necessary  that  the  parish  priest  should  give  his  official 
recognition  to  the  work  that  is  going  on,  and  from  this  the 
interest  taken  in  it  by  the  whole  parish  will  largely  depend. 
This,  however,  needs  little  more  than  his  encouragement  and 
occasional,  intervention  in  the  solemn  functions  of  the  League. 
Father  Ramiere,  who  had  seen  the  work  grow  up  to  its  present 


THE  DEMOTION  OF  THE  SACRED  HEART.        525 

next  to  universal  state,  considered  its  efficiency  depended  upon 
this  part  of  its  organization  ;  and  I  think  that  the  experiences  of 
many  parishes  in  our  own  country  where  it  has  been  successfully 
established  point  the  same  moral. 

IV. 

In  whatever  way  the  devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart  may  be 
introduced  into  a  parish,  it  is  certain  that  it  will  not  bear  its 
proper  fruit  unless  much  is  made  of  it.  It  may  be  impressed 
upon  this  or  that  soul,  whom  perhaps  the  Holy  Ghost  is  drawing 
by  this  means ;  but  it  will  not  make  the  generality  of  the  faithful 
know  better  the  Incarnate  Word  nor  inspire  in  them  that  love 
and  obedience  toward  Him  which  is  the  end  of  this  devotion. 
Where  much  is  made  of  it,  however,  it  is  sure  to  bring  forth 
much  fruit  in  the  true  Christian  sense,  that  is,  by  giving  a  new 
impulse  to  all  the  good  already  existing — to  frequency  of  Com- 
munion and  devotion  to  the  Blessed  Sacrament  in  general,  to 
Sodalities  and  Rosary  Societies,  and  to  that  devotion  to  the 
Blessed  Virgin  and  Angels  and  Saints  and  for  the  holy  souls, 
which  is  the  rich  variety  wherewith  the  Spouse  of  Christ  sur- 
rounds herself.  It  will  also  help  on,  as  the  event  has  often 
proved,  the  practice  of  charity  among  the  faithful ;  in  fact,  the 
General  Conference  of  the  Society  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  has 
given  a  general  recommendation  in  this  sense. 

Where  a  prudent  organization  is  made  and  constantly  kept 
up — without  any  close  or  annoying  insistence  being  required — 
the  devotion  is  sure  to  act  and  re-act  on  the  entire  life  of  faith  in 
the  community.  Men  of  very  ordinary  piety  thus  learn  to  have 
recourse  to  Almighty  God  by  prayer  in  their  most  common  needs. 
It  is  clear  how  great  a  defence  of  the  faith  this  must  be  in  a 
country  where  religion  is  so  hidden  from  view  in  the  common 
life  of  man,  while  everything  around  naturally  leads  him  to  look 
out  for  himself  and  trust  to  Providence  only  in  extreme  cases. 
Besides  this,  there  is  the  daily  recollection  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  as  though  He  were  still  wandering  to  and  fro  the  earth, 
calling  His  sheep  after  Him  like  the  Good  Shepherd. 


526  THROUGH  BLESSED  MARGARET  MARY. 

One  fact  which  has  been  constantly  noted  in  regard  to  the 
workings  of  the  League  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  is  the  great  number 
of  priestly  and  religious  vocations  which  have  come  from  the 
midst  of  its  Bands  and  especially  from  among  the  Promoters. 
It  is  clear  also  that  the  work  of  the  priest  along  these  lines  will 
sooner  or  later  be  amply  rewarded.  There  will  be  more  anxiety 
among  his  people  that  piety  should  flourish,  and  they  will  pay 
less  attention  to  those  merely  material  questions  which,  in  a 
country  where  everything  is  judged  by  every  one,  are  so  apt  to 
divide  opinion  and  cause  annoying  criticism  among  those  who  are 
otherwise  docile  Christians. 

All  this  is  quite  apart  from  the  supernatural  blessing  which 
has  been  promised  and  is  sure  to  follow  :  "  To  Priests  I  will  give 
the  power  of  touching  the  most  hardened  hearts." 


THROUGH   BLESSED   MARGARET  MARY. 

BOTH  the  Catholic  and  secular  press  have  given  accounts  of 
the  extraordinary  and  sudden  cure  wrought  on  one  of  the 
Sisters  of  the  First  Visitation  Monastery  in  St.  Louis. 
We  have  not  hitherto  taken  notice  of  the  accounts  given  because 
of  a  lack  of  accurate  details  as  to  the  cure,  and  a  want  of  authen- 
tication of  the  facts  in  the  case.  However,  we  have  now  a  letter 
written  by  one  of  the  Sisters  in  the  convent,  who  was  a  witness 
of  the  cure  and  has  given  the  minutest  details  of  what  promises 
to  be,  very  likely,  one  of  the  test-miracles  in  the  cause  of  the 
canonization  of  Blessed  Margaret  Mary.  We  may  say  here  that 
a  recent  issue  of  The  Ave  Maria  published  the  facts  of  the  cure 
as  furnished  by  the  Reverend  Mother  of  the  convent.  There  is 
as  yet  no  juridical  ecclesiastical  authority  that  has  pronounced  on 
the  matter,  and  in  giving  this  account  we  do  not  wish  to  antici- 
pate the  decision  of  the  proper  authority,  but  merely  relate  an 
event  with  all  its  details  that  is  now  fairly  well  known  through- 


THROUGH  BLESSED  MARGARET  MARY.  527 

out  the  United  States.  The  following  is  the  account  given  by 
the  Sister : 

"I  have  wanted  to  write  you  ever  since  your  letter  came 
asking  for  the  facts  in  regard  to  Sister  Philomena's  cure.  Con- 
cerning what  is  called  the  miracle  I  will  tell  you  briefly  of  our 
dear  Sister  Philomena's  condition,  and  you  will  see  that  her  cure 
was  a  special  favor  obtained  by  our  Blessed  Sister  Margaret  Mary. 

"Sister  Philomena  has  been  in  our  community  nearly  ten 
years.  During  the  latter  half  of  this  time  she  has  been  an  almost 
constant  sufferer.  She  had  several  attacks  of  laryngitis  in  the 
beginning ;  from  these  she  recovered  sufficiently  to  be  on  duty, 
but  was  never  free  from  suffering.  Later  on  she  had  a  constant 
pain  in  the  upper  part  of  the  left  side  of  her  head,  as  if  something 
was  boring  into  it,  and  at  irregular  periods  had  copious  hemor- 
rhages from  the  mouth,  nose  and  left  ear.  The  pain  in  her  head, 
always  severe,  was  sometimes  excruciatingly  so.  Last  January 
she  had  a  very  high  fever.  Her  temperature  was  112  degrees 
and  even  rose  on  one  occasion  to  120  degrees.  Our  doctor,  who 
is  not  a  Catholic,  advised  us  to  have  the  last  Sacraments  given 
her.  This  was  done,  and  for  the  sixth  time  from  her  first  illness 
she  was  anointed.  She  was  seen  by  ten  or  twelve  doctors  during 
this  time,  not  one  of  whom  was  able  to  do  more  than  endeavor 
unsuccessfully  to  procure  her  relief.  She  took  whatever  they 
ordered,  whenever  her  stomach  would  bear  the  remedies.  For 
some  time  before  her  cure  she  could  take  none  of  the  remedies 
and  scarcely  any  food,  sometimes  for  whole  days  tasting  not  a 
single  morsel.  Her  left  shoulder,  neck  and  arm  were  much 
swollen,  and  for  some  days  before  her  cure  they  were  unusually 
painful.  Her  face  and  hand  were  also  swollen.  Her  sight, 
which  had  become  much  impaired,  became  very  weak ;  she  could 
scarcely  distinguish  the  Sisters,  except  by  their  voices.  After 
Easter  her  eyes  began  to  bleed,  and  an  oculist  was  called  in. 
He  said  he  could  do  nothing  for  her. 

"On  Tuesday,  April  7,  she  asked  to  have  a  Novena  made  to 
our  Blessed  Sister.  We  began  the  Novena  after  Mass  on  Wednes- 
day morning.  The  girls  of  the  Academy  began  it  on  Tuesday 


528  THROUGH  BLESSED  MARGARET  MARY. 

night.  On  Wednesday  morning  a  little  vial  of  water,  in  which 
was  a  relic  of  our  Blessed  Sister,  was  given  to  Sister  Philomena 
to  sip.  During  the  day  no  relief  came.  After  one  o'clock  that 
night,  not  having  slept  on  account  of  the  intense  pain,  she  took 
the  vial  to  drink.  In  the  water,  as  I  said,  was  the  relic,  but  the 
Sister  in  drinking  emptied  the  contents  of  the  vial — water,  relic 
and  all.  There  was  not  water  enough  to  enable  her  to  swallow 
the  relic,  so  she  took  some  water  from  a  glass  that  was  near  the 
bedside,  and  felt  the  relic  going  down  her  throat.  Wakefulness 
and  pain  continued  until  six  o'clock  on  Thursday  morning.  The 
bleeding  of  the  eyes  also  continued.  Shortly  after  six  o'clock  she 
fell  into  a  sound  sleep  that  lasted  for  about  an  hour.  On  awak- 
ing she  felt  that  there  was  something  in  her  left  eye,  and  on 
applying  her  finger  felt  that  it  pricked.  Then  with  finger  and 
thumb  she  drew  out  the  object,  which  proved  to  be  a  needle ;  on 
the  point  of  the  needle  was  the  relic  she  had  swallowed  some 
hours  before.  After  doing  this  she  felt  that  she  was  cured,  and 
hastened  as  soon  as  possible  to  the  tribune  in  the  chapel,  to  thank 
our  Lord.  She  reached  there  just  before  Holy  Communion.  She 
remained  until  the  end  of  Mass,  and  then  went  during  the  thanks- 
giving of  the  Sisters  after  Communion  to  the  Reverend  Mother, 
who  had  been  sick  for  a  few  days  and  confined  to  her  room  with 
a  heavy  cold.  She  had  with  her  the  relic,  which  she  showed  to 
the  Mother  and  at  the  same  time  related  what  had  taken  place. 

"There  was  no  sign  of  bleeding  about  the  eyes,  and  the 
swelling  of  the  face,  arm  and  shoulder  had  all  disappeared.  She 
still  continues  well,  eating,  drinking,  sleeping,  working  and 
following  the  community  exercises  like  the  strongest.  The 
publicity  given  this  cure  here  in  St.  Louis  has  caused  a  wonderful 
increase  of  devotion  to  our  Blessed  Sister.  Two  women  have 
made  Novenas  with  beneficial  results, — in  fact  with  prompt  cures. 
We  are  frequently  asked  for  relics,  and  the  Sisters  are  obliged  to 
keep  some  on  hand." 

These  are  the  facts  as  given  by  one  who  is  not  inclined  to 
exaggerate  in  one  single  detail. 


ONLY   A   CROSS. 
*By  S.  A.  P. 

T  was  only  a  cross,  Love's  token, 
Held  by  a  silken  strand — 

The  pledge  of  a  tryst  unbroken ; 
It  lay  near  a  cold,  white  hand 

One  day,  when  the  light  had  faded 
From  out  all  the  sky  and  land. 


It  was  only  a  cross ;  I  touched  it 

With  tender  and  loving  care, 
And  the  thought  of  its  gracious  legend 

Made  death,  in  that  hour,  fair. 
For  the  peace  of  the  Father's  kingdom, 

I  read  in  the  dear  face  there. 

It  was  only  a  cross ;    no  jewel, 

No  silver,  nor  burnished  gold, 
Flashed  from  its  arms ;  half-hidden, 

It  lay  'neath  the  sombre  fold, 
Over  the  heart  that  had  cherished 

Its  lesson,  so  sweet  and  old. 

A  tiny  cross ;    but  it  whispered 

That  day  when  our  hearts  were  numb, 
As  we  bent  over  hands  that  stirred  not, 
And  lips  that  in  death  were  dumb, 
This  pledge  from  the  Heart  of  Jesus, 

"Unto  her  hath  My  Kingdom  Come." 

529 


ST.  IGNATIUS   IN   ART. 


SA.INT  IGNATIUS. 

(Del  Conte.) 


>E  SIDES  the  portrayal  of 
character  which  St.  Ignatius 
has  left  us  of  himself  uncon- 
sciously in  the  Spiritual  Exer- 
cises and  in  the  Constitutions 
of  the.  Society  of  Jesus,  and 
consciously  in  the  incomplete 
autobiography  dictated  to 
Father  Louis  Gonzalez,  there 
is  no  lack  of  information  con- 
cerning his  virtues  in  the 
histories  of  his  life.  But  of 
his  external  appearance  ac- 
counts are  not  so  full,  nor 
have  we  a  single  original 
portrait  of  him  to  help  us  form  to  ourselves  an  entirely  accurate 
idea  of  his  outward  semblance  and  bearing.  All  attempts  made 
during  his  lifetime  to  induce  him  to  allow  his  portrait  to  be 
painted  were  in  vain.  Father  Bartoli  in  his  "  Life  of  St.  Igna- 
tius "  speaks  of  a  picture  painted  by  an  artist  whom  a  Roman 
prelate  had  engaged  to  watch  the  Saint  while  he  conversed  with 
him,  and  then  paint  his  portrait.  We  have  been  unable  to 
ascertain  anything  more  of  this  picture.  The  engraving  on  the 
following  page  represents  the  young  knight  Don  Inigo  de  Loyola 
before  that  memorable  Whit-Monday,  A.  D.  1521,  when  he  was 
wounded  at  Pampeluna.  He  is  clad  in  steel  corselet  and  paul- 
drons,  the  dress  of  military  officers  engaged  in  active  service. 
The  shield  encloses  the  arms  of  Loyola,  two  wolves  erect  peering 
into  a  pendant  caldron.  The  original  from  which  the  engraving 
was  made  is  in  the  former  Professed  House  of  the  Society  in 
Rome,  which  is  now  occupied  as  a  barrack  by  the  Piedmontese. 
In  the  "Vigil  of  Arms,"  page  4,  the  Roman  painter  Gagliardi, 


530 


ST.  IGNATIUS  IN  ART. 


531 


to  whom  the  League  owes  its  typical  picture — the  Heart  of  Jesus 
Pleading — presents  a  scene  described  elsewhere  in  this  number  of 
the  MESSENGEE.  The  steel  corselet  has  given  place  to  the  coarse 
rough  garment  of  serge,  the  sword  and  belt  laid  upon  the  altar 


IGNATIUS  OF  LOYOLA  AS  A  KNIGHT. 

(From  antique  design.) 


steps  are  replaced  by  the  pilgrim's  staff  and  a  girdle  of  rope,  and 
the  helmet  is  laid  aside  forever. 

Two  of  our  engravings  illustrate  the  life  led  by  Ignatius  the 
penitent  knight  in  the  cave  at  Manresa.     Learning  from  what 


ST.  IGNATIUS   AT  MANRESA. 
(Segers.) 


ST.  IGNATIUS  IN  ART.  533 

passed  within  his  own  soul  under  the  impulse  of  the  good  and 
evil  spirits  many  secrets  of  the  spiritual  life,  he  composed  the 
marvellous  Book  of  the  Spiritual  Exercises.  Not  however  without 
direct  help  from  on  high  was  this  task  executed.  The  constant 
tradition  of  the  Society  is  that  the  Exercises  "  were  inspired  of 
Heaven  and  dictated  by  the  Sovereign  Queen  of  Angels." 

This  is  the  scene  depicted  by  both  painters,  though  Mignard's 
picture  is  the  more  realistic.  The  emaciated  face,  the  coarse 
rough  gown,  the  rope  girdle,  the  discipline,  and  the  rock  that 
serves  as  writing-desk — all  help  us  to  realize  something  of 
Manresa.  The  painting  by  Segers  is  rather  conventional.  The 
cave  has  become  a  large  roomy  apartment,  the  cassock  and  cloak 
of  the  Spanish  clergy  have  replaced  the  coarse  gown,  the  feet 
are  covered,  while  a  kneeling-bench  and  table  have  been  con- 
siderately furnished  the  Saint.  The  execution  of  the  original  is 
excellent,  especially  in  color  and  design  and  reflects  great  credit 
upon  the  artist,  the  humble  Brother  Gerard  Segers,  whose  works 
adorn  many  of  the  Society's  churches  in  Belgium. 

Gagliardi's  "Conquest  of  Francis  Xavier"  is  exquisitely 
artistic.  Walking  in  the  corridors  of  the  University,  he  tells  Igna- 
tius of  his  ambitious  plans.  The  Quid  prodest  troubles  his  soul 
to  its  very  depths,  and  the  trouble  is  reflected  in  his  face ;  the 
clenched  hand  raised  to  his  breast  helps  to  tell  of  the  mental  strain. 
What  is  the  comment  of  the  young  philosophers  who  watch  Igna- 
tius and  Francis? 

The  artist  seems  to  have  caught  the  true  spirit  of  "The  First 
Vows  at  Montmartre."  Blessed  Peter  Faber,  the  first  priest  of  the 
Society,  has  celebrated  Holy  Mass  in  the  crypt  of  St.  Denis.  He 
turns  towards  his  companions  with  the  Sacred  Host  raised.  We 
can  almost  hear  the  words  Ecce  Agnus  Dei  that  accompany  his  rapt 
look  of  adoration.  St.  Ignatius  kneeling  on  the  altar  step  bends 
low  in  reverence.  On  his  right  kneels  St.  Francis  Xavier,  while 
James  Laynez  is  at  his  left.  The  youthful  Salmeron  is  next  to 
Xavier,  and  beside  him  kneels  Simon  Rodriguez.  Nicholas  Boba- 
dilla,  destined  to  outlive  all  his  companions,  completes  the  group. 

1  MESSENGER,  April  1891,  p.  295. 


ST.  IGNATIUS  OF  LOYOLA. 
(Rubens.) 


ST.  IGNATIUS  IN  ART.  535 

"St.  Ignatius  writing  the  Constitutions  of  the  Society  of  Jesus" 
is  a  reproduction  of  a  masterpiece  preserved  in  the  Ricasoli  Palace, 
Florence.  The  artist  is  unknown  but  the  pronounced  character- 
istics of  his  painting  give  assurance  that  he  was  a  countryman  of 
St.  Ignatius,  or  at  least  trained  in  the  Spanish  school.  The  head 
is  typical  and  very  finely  drawn,  the  eyes  have  something  of  that 
penetrating  look  whose  absence  Peter  Ribadeneira  regretted  in  the 
painting  executed  for  him  by  Sanchez  Coello.  The  motto  of  the 
Society  "A.M.D.G.,"  and  its  title,  Socielas  Jesu,  are  written  on 
the  open  page  at  the  right ;  on  the  opposite  page,  partly  hidden  by 
the  Saint's  hand,  is  the  seal  of  the  Society,  the  I.  H.  S.,  with  the 
cross  and  nails  surrounded  with  rays  of  glory. 

The  picture  painted  l?y  Rubens  for  the  church  of  the  Society 
in  Antwerp  is  among  the  best  known  paintings  of  St.  Ignatius. 
An  engraving  of  it  was  given  as  a  frontispiece  to  the  Philadelphia 
edition  of  John  Dryden's  translation  of  Father  Bouhour's  Life, 
published  in  1840. 

The  painting  presents  a  full  length  figure  of  the  Saint  clad 
in  sacerdotal  garb  as  vested  for  Holy  Mass.  The  vestments  are 
red  and  embroidered  in  gold.  The  chasuble  is  Spanish,  similar  to 
that  shown  in  the  engraving  of  St.  Roderick,  in  the  April  MES- 
SENGER. 

The  period  in  the  Saint's  life  chosen  by  the  artist  seems  to  be 
that  at  which  he  was  engaged  in  writing  the  Constitutions.  During 
that  time  especially,  he  was  favored  with  heavenly  visions,  as  the 
fragments  of  his  spiritual  notes  preserved  from  destruction  fully 
attest.  The  I.  H.  S.  in  the  clouds  at  the  left,  towards  which  his 
tear-stained  face  is  raised,  is  intended  by  the  artist  to  recall  these 
ecstasies.  Rubens  was  one  of  the  first  to  represent  St.  Ignatius  in 
priestly  vestments,  and  his  example  has  been  followed  by  many 
painters  and  engravers  since  his  tfme.  St.  Ignatius  celebrating  Holy 
Mass  or  carrying  the  Blessed  Sacrament  in  solemn  procession  has 
been  a  favorite  subject  for  brush  and  pencil.  Appropriately  too 
is  the  Saint  .thus  represented,  for  who  among  modern  Saints  was 
more  devoted  to  the  Sacred  Mysteries,  or  who  has  done  more  to 
restore  the  practice  of  frequent  Communion  among  the  faithful  ? 


536 


ST.  IGNATIUS  IN  ART. 


Those  of  his  sons  who  have  received  the  priesthood  are  obliged 
by  rule  to  confess  oftener  than  once  a  week,  and  so  to  live  that  they 
may  be  fit  to  offer  every  day  the  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass. 


ALTAR  OF  SAINT  IGNATIUS. 

(Church  of  the  Gesu,  Rome.) 


Here  too  we  may  recall  the  vision  of  Corpus  Christi  in  heaven,  in 
which  St.  Teresa  saw  St.  Ignatius  carrying  the  ostensorium  which 


ST.  IGNATIUS  IN  ART.  537 

contained  the  Sacred  Host.  Although  we  have  not  an  original 
portrait  of  St.  Ignatius,  for  the  reason  given  at  the  beginning  of 
this  paper,  yet  two  of  our  illustrations  represent  works  that  were 
admitted  by  his  contemporaries  to  be  in  some  measure  at  least 
accurate  representations  of  him.  The  more  familiar  of  these  two 
pictures  is  the  one  painted  after  the  death  of  the  Saint  by  James 
del  Conte,  who  had  long  been  his  penitent  in  Rome.  This  picture 
presents  us  with  the  typical  head,  "  the  square,  high,  powerful  brow, 
the  melancholy  and  determined,  rather  than  stern,  countenance,  the 
short  black  hair,  bald  on  the  temples,  [the  face  with]  very  little 
beard,  and  the  slight  black  mustache.  'So  majestic'  says  one  of 
his  biographers  '  was  the  aspect  of  Loyola,  that,  during  the  six- 
teenth century  few  if  any  of  the  books  of  his  Order  appeared 
without  the  impress  of  that  imperial  countenance.' "  These  heads 
of  St.  Ignatius  in  the  beautifully  engraved  frontispieces  prefixed 
to  works  of  the  most  varied  kinds,  the  results  of  the  labors  of 
Jesuits  in  every  field  of  learning,  show  the  influence  of  del  Conte's 
portrait.  A  close  examination  of  many  volumes  in  the  libraries 
of  the  Society  at  Woodstock,  Maryland,  and  Georgetown,  has  con- 
vinced the  present  writer  that  traditional  ideas  have  guided  the 
artists  in  their  work  and  that  these  ideas  have  had  their  origin  for 
the  most  part  in  del  Conte's  portrait. 

And  now  we  come  to  the  Vera  Effigies,  the  most  celebrated  of 
the  portraits  of  St.  Ignatius.  Its  history  in  brief  is  this.  Imme- 
diately after  the  Saint's  death  casts  in  plaster  and  in  wax  were 
taken  of  his  face  and  portraits  painted  from  them.  One  of  these 
casts  was  sent  to  Father  Peter  Ribadeneira  who  had  been  a  dear 
disciple  of  the  Saint  and  for  years  the  youngest  of  all  his  children. 
When  Father  Ribadeneira  received  this  cast  he  could  not  trace  in 
it  any  resemblance  to  his  beloved  Father's  face,  and  turned  away 
from  it  in  indignation.  He  besought  Alonzo  Sanchez  Coello,  the 
Portuguese  Titian,  to  undertake  the  task  of  painting  a  portrait  of 
St.  Ignatius,  giving  him  the  cast  and  supplying  for  its  silence  by 
detailed  descriptions  of  his  Father. 

Difficult  as  the  task  must  have  been,  for  the  artist  had  never 
seen  the  Saint,  the  result  of  his  work  gave  great  satisfaction  to 


538 


ST.  IGNATIUS  IN  ART. 


many  of  those  who  had  known  St.  Ignatius  intimately  during  his 
life.  Father  Ribadeneira  in  his  "  Life  of  St.  Ignatius  "  declares 
that  this  painting  resembles  him  most  closely.  He  admitted,  how- 
ever, that  it  lacked  the  lifelike  expression  which  he  so  much 
desired  to  see,  but  he  excused  this  defect  on  account  of  the  diffi- 
culty of  the  undertaking  to  attain  perfect  success  in  which  "  it 
would  have  been  necessary  for  the  painter  to  be  inspired  from  on 
high  or  to  have  an  Angel 
guide  his  pencil."  The 
Vera  Effigies  is  now  in 
the  possession  of  the 
Father  Provincial  of 
Spain.  Our  engraving 
is  from  a  photograph 
which  the  late  Father 
Joseph  Prachensky,  for 
many  years  chaplain  to 
the  emigrants  at  Ward's 
Island,  New  York,  was 
instrumental  in  obtain- 
ing. 

The  bust  in  silver 
and  bronze  designed  by 
Alonzo  Cano  seems  to 
have  been  modelled  from 
Coello's  painting.  Our 
engraving  reproduces  the 
lifelike  expression  of  the 
face.  Cano's  work  cor- 
responds to  the  description  given  us  o±  the  Saint  by  Father 
Ribadeneira.  "His  forehead  was  broad  and  free  from  wrinkles, 
the  eyes  deep  set,  their  glance  penetrating  into  the  heart,  the  nose 
aquiline,  .  .  .  the  whole  aspect  agreeably  grave  and  gravely 
agreeable."  Profound  peace  of  soul  reflected  in  his  face  inspired 
joy  in  all  who  looked  upon  him,  while  the  maturity  that  dignified 
all  his  actions  never  failed  to  inspire  respect.  No  one  was  so 


VERA  EFFIGIES. 

(From  Wax  Cast  taken  after  Death.) 


57.  IGNATIUS  IN  ART.  539 

popular  with  all  persons  even  of  the  most  opposite  characters  as 
was  St.  Ignatius. 

He  was  below  medium  height  indeed,  if  we  are  to  believe 
Father  John  Pien,  the  Bollandist,  for  his  stature  did  not  exceed 
sixty  inches.  The  line  printed  on  page  521,  vol.  33,  of  the  -Ada 
Sanctorum  for  July,  is  one-sixth  the  Saint's  height :  this  line 
measures  but  little  over  nine  and  five-eighths  inches. 

Our  last  engraving  presents  a  view  of  what  may  justly  be 
styled  an  artistic  tribute  to  St.  Ignatius.  It  is  the  altar  dedicated 
in  his  honor  in  the  Church  of  the  Gesu  at  Rome.  This  altar  is 
according  to  Moroni,  an  acknowledged  authority  in  such  matters, 
the  most  beautiful  in  Rome  or  in  all  Christendom.  The  design 
of  the  altar  and  shrine  is  due  to  Andrew  Pozzi,  a  lay-brother  of 
the  Society,  who  was  assisted  in  the  execution  of  his  design  by  a 
number  of  distinguished  artists,  some  of  whom  owed  their  conver- 
sion from  heresy  to  the  prayers  of  the  Saint  whose  tomb  they 
adorned.  In  the  centre  of  the  arch  which  surmounts  the  altar  is  a 
white  marble  group  of  the  Blessed  Trinity,  the  globe  of  the  world 
— the  symbol  of  omnipotence — is  made  of  the  largest  and  most 
beautiful  single  piece  of  lapis  lazuli  hitherto  known  to  exist.  In 
the  great  niche  beneath  the  arch  stands  the  statue  cast  by  Canova, 
to  replace  the  silver  statue  that  had  been  melted  down  by  Pope 
Pius  VI.  at  the  end  of  the  last  century,  when  he  was  forced  to  pay 
the  enormous  tribute  levied  on  Rome  by  the  Directory  during  the 
French  Revolution.  The  head  and  chasuble  only  of  the  present 
statue  are  of  silver,  the  rest  is  covered  with  metal  gilt. 

In  front  of  the  statue  and  completely  covering  the  entire 
niche  is  a  great  painting  of  the  Saint,  due  to  the  brush  of  Brother 
Pozzi.  By  an  ingenious  mechanical  arrangement  this  picture  is 
removed  on  great  festivals  and  the  statue  presented  to  view. 
Beneath  the  table  of  the  altar  is  the  rich  casket  that  enshrines  the 
relics  of  St.  Ignatius.  It  is  of  gilded  bronze,  and  adorned  with 
precious  stones.  A  masterpiece  of  the  sculptor's  art  in  low  relief 
depicting  the  Saints  of  the  Society,  the  sons  whom  God  has  given 
Ignatius,  encircles  the  casket.  The  four  great  columns  that  sup- 
port the  entablature  are  covered  with  lapis  lazuli  and  gilded 


540 


ST.  IGNATIUS  IN  ART. 


bronze.  The  pedestals  of  these  columns,  as  well  as  the  pediment 
and  entablature,  are  of  verd-antique.  The  plinths  of  the  columns 
and  the  space  above  the  table  of  the  altar  are  adorned  with 
exquisite  bronze  casts  in  low  relief,  representing  events  in  the  life 
of  St.  Ignatius  and  miracles  wrought  by  him. 


SILVER  AND  BRONZE  BUST  OF  THE  SAINT. 

(Alonzo  Cano.) 


Space  will  not  permit  us  to  describe  other  tributes  of  art  to 
the  Founder  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  Enough  however  has  been 
said  to  show  that  the  spell  of  his  name  and  his  glorious  deeds  have 
not  been  altogether  forgotten. 


THOUGHTS  ABOUT  ST.  PETER. 
I. 

jjHENEVER  I  think  of  St.  Peter  I  always  look 
upon  him  as  the  man  who  stands  highest  in 
dignity  of  all  the  sons  of  Adam,  ever  since  the 
race  began.  And  by  this  I  do  not  mean  to  lessen 
dear  St.  Joseph's  glory,  or  to  imply  that  in  the 
adornments  of  personal  holiness  Peter  was  his 
equal.  But  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that,  whereas  Joseph  was 
the  faithful  guardian  of  the  living  Son  of  God  through  His 
infancy  and  youth,  Peter  was  the  one  chosen  by  Him  to  stand 
before  the  world,  after  the  Lord  Himself  had  left  it,  as  the 
plenipotentiary  of  his  Master,  empowered  to  speak  in  His  name 
and  to  decide  with  His  authority.  Hence,  his  dignity  of  position, 
due  to  his  official  character  rather  than  to  any  merit  of  his,  singles 
him  out,  in  the  annals  of  human  history,  as  the  man  of  men 
authorized  to  act  as  the  visible  representative  and  spokesman  of 
the  invisible  Son  of  God. 

Surely  a  solemn  moment  it  was  when  our  Blessed  Lord,  at 
Cesarea  Philippi,  under  the  shadows  of  storied  Hermon,  asked 
His  disciples  what  were  the  opinions  afloat  among  the  people 
about  Him ! 

He  clearly  meant  to  ask  what  were  the  guesses  or  the  beliefs 
of  men  about  His  official  character:  for,  as  a  matter  of  simple 
fact,  He  was  known  everywhere  personally,  throughout  Galilee 
and  Judea,  as  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Wherefore,  we  find  in  the 
answers  such  names  as  Elias,  or  John  the  Baptist,  or  one  of  the 
Prophets.  Their  answers,  as  St.  Leo  very  aptly  remarks,  "  were 
human  as  long  as  they  were  the  answers  of  human  reason,  unillu- 
minated  by  Divine  light.  At  last,  when  the  glimmerings  of  earthly 
conjecture  were  spoken,  he  whose  apostleship  is  the  first  in 
dignity,  was  the  first  to  confess  his  Lord.  And  Simon  Peter 

541 


542  THOUGHTS  ABOUT  ST.  PETER. 

answered  and  said :  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living 
God."  1  That  is  to  say,  Peter  recognized  the  Anointed  of  God, 
the  Desired  of  the  Nations,  the  Messiah.  He  proclaimed  the  true 
character  and  office  which  belonged  to  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Nor 
was  this  accuracy  on  Peter's  part  due  to  any  keenness  of  observa- 
tion or  brightness  of  understanding  which  he  possessed  beyond 
the  others.  The  Lord  Himself  tells  him  that  it  was  owing  to  the 
enlightening  grace — the  lifting  of  the  veil — which  the  Father  in 
Heaven  had,  of  His  bounty,  bestowed. 

Peter,  then,  having,  by  divine  illumination,  caught  the  full 
meaning  of  the  office  which  Jesus  the  Son  of  God  had  come  on 
earth  to  discharge,  our  Lord  speaks  back  to  Peter  to  tell  him  of 
his  official  character  which,  up  to  that  time,  he  could  not  have 
dreamed  of.  The  words  are  clear  and  graphic  in  their  simple 
meaning ;  and  it  is  passing  strange  that  there  should  be  any 
human  mind  so  obtuse  as  not  to  understand  them.  Perhaps  it  is 
a  perversity  of  will  which  misdirects  the  aim  of  the  understand- 
ing !  Howsoever  it  may  be,  this  seems  to  be  the  plain  statement 
of  the  case.  Peter  had  said  :  1  hou  art  the  Christ ;  and  for  this 
he  had  been  commended  and  called  blessed.  Then  our  Lord 
speaks :  And  I  say  aho  unto  thee,  that  thou  art  Peter,  and  upon 
this  rock  I  will  build  My  Church.*  How  could  He  have  said  in  a 
clearer  way :  Even  as  My  Father  hath  revealed  unto  thee  that  I 
am  the  Christ,  even  so,  I  now  make  known  unto  thee  that  thou 
art  the  Rock — Cephas,  //er^oo?,  petra — the  name  I  have  already 
given  you  to  signify  the  office  to  which  I  have  assigned  you. 

The  language  is,  of  course,  metaphorical,  but  none  the  less 
truthful,  since  our  Lord  would  not  deal  in  metaphor  either  to 
mystify  or  to  mislead  those  who  are  eager  for  the  truth.  How, 
then,  are  we  to  gather  the  full  meaning  of  His  words  ?  Just  in 
this  way.  He  was  about  to  found  what  He  called  His  Church, 
or  the  Kingdom  of  God  upon  earth.  The  idea  and  the  words 
in  which  it  is  conveyed,  are  taken  from  the  common  notion  of  a 
building.  If  therefore  we  ask  what  is  the  best  foundation  for  a 
building,  common  sense  replies :  a  solid  rock.  How  was  Peter 

1  St.  Matthew,  xvi.  16.  •  Ib.,  18. 


THOUGHTS  ABOUT  ST.  PETER.  543 

such  a  rock  ?  Is  it  the  flesh  and  bones  of  the  man  we  are  to  look 
to  as  furnishing  the  solidity  ?  Manifestly  not :  for  they  were  like 
the  flesh  and  bones  of  other  men  destined  to  crumble  into  dust 
and  ashes.  We  must  pass  from  the  metaphor  to  that  which  it 
illustrates,  and  then  we  find  the  meaning  to  be :  Even  as  the 
solid  rock  is  the  sure  foundation  of  a  building,  so  also  is  that 
faith  of  thine  and  its  profession  the  foundation  of  My  Church. 
Peter  believing  and  professing  his  belief  is  the  foundation  of  the 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  it  is  only  by  union  with  Peter  in 
that  same  faith  and  in  that  same  confession  thereof  that  any  one 
can  have  assurance  of  being  in  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Peter's  clearness  of  idea  and  strength  of  profession  had  come  from 
God.  As  St.  Leo  says,  it  is  just  as  if  our  Lord  had  said  to  him  : 
"  Upon  this  strength  of  thine,  whereof  I  am  the  Strength,  I  will 
build  My  eternal  temple,  and  upon  the  truth  of  thy  confession  of 
Me  I  will  make  to  rise  My  glorious  Church  whose  spires  shall 
pierce  to  heaven." 

Somewhat  in  the  same  strain  does  St.  Augustine  speak  of  this 
official  dignity  conferred  upon  the  blessed  Apostle.  "  It  was  the 
Lord  Himself,"  says  he^  "  Who  called  Peter  the  foundation  of  the 
Church  :  and  therefore  it  is  right  that  the  Church  should  reverence 
this  foundation  upon  which  her  mighty  structure  riseth.  Justly 
is  it  written  in  the  Psalm  :  Let  them  exalt  him  in  the  congregation 
of  the  people  and  praise  him  in  the  assembly  of  the  elders.  Blessed 
be  God,  Who  hath  commanded  that  the  Blessed  Apostle  Peter 
should  be  exalted  in  the  congregation  !  Worthy  to  be  honored  by 
the  Church  is  that  foundation  from  which  her  goodly  towers  rise, 
pointing  to  heaven !" 

These  are  but  two  out  of  a  host  of  witnesses  who  might  be 
summoned,  from  the  far  past,  to  give  evidence  of  the  lofty  esteem 
in  which  the  name  and  the  office  of  Peter  were  held  by  the  Christ- 
ian Church,  in  days  gone  by.  He  had  no  competitor  in  fame, 
and  the  splendor  of  his  glory  among  Christians  had  no  cloud  to 
dim  its  lustre  !  But  why  was  it  thus  ?  Was  there  anything  in 
the  man  himself  which  fitted  him  for  such  sublime  honors,  or 
which  rendered  him  more  worthy  than  others  to  receive  them  ? 


544  THOUGHTS  ABOUT  ST.  PETER. 

The  answer  must  be  yes ;  although,  by  human  standards  judged, 
and  measured  by  the  laws  of  worldly  wisdom,  it  would  be 
emphatically  no.  For  it  is  undeniably  true  that  of  the  chosen 
twelve,  Peter  who  denied  his  Master  was  almost  as  low  as  Judas 
who  first  betrayed  Him  ;  and  mankind  seldom  pardons  such  an  act 
of  disloyalty.  Still,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  divine 
benevolence  of  our  Lord  had  something  far  higher  and  nobler  in 
view  than  the  mere  punishing  of  culprits  or  the  branding  of  the 
disloyal.  He  wished  to  arouse  in  the  very  weakest  of  men  a 
spirit  of  hope,  and  to  show  to  every  fickle  offender  that  there  is 
still  in  him  a  power  which,  at  the  divine  bidding,  may  render  him 
capable  of  rising  above  his  lowly  estate  and  of  striving  to  place 
himself  among  the  elect  of  God.  Wherefore  He  chose  Peter,  the 
impulsive,  the  loving,  the  loyal,  the  blundering,  the  presump- 
tuous, the  valiant,  the  cowardly,  the  unfaithful,  the  Repentant,  to 
be  the  foundation  of  His  Church,  because,  by  that  Church's  minis- 
tration, He  wished  to  save  from  perdition  such  fickle,  wavering, 
cowardly  and  unsteady  sons  of  Adam  as  we  have  found  ourselves 
to  be.  Peter's  example  gives  us  courage  and,  at  the  same  time, 
extols  the  divine  tenderness  of  Him  Who  raised  Peter  to  such  a 
height  of  dignity,  for  our  instruction. 

The  character  of  the  man,  as  we  find  it  portrayed  in  the 
Gospel  history,  furnishes  a  splendid  illustration  of  the  combat 
between  nature  and  grace ;  and  it  shows,  moreover,  how  grace 
victorious  acts  towards  the  human  nature  it  has  conquered.  It 
does  not  obliterate  or  destroy  :  it  simply  directs  and  controls.  It 
does  not  take  men  and  fit  them  into  one  mould  and  then  force 
them  out  mechanically,  impressed  with  the  same  shape  and 
doomed  to  act  with  the  same  automatic  precision.  Nothing  of  the 
sort.  The  grace  of  God  benignly  takes  the  individual  as  he  is 
and,  by  enlightening  his  understanding  and  moving  his  will,  leads 
him  to  show  himself,  in  his  own  individuality,  a  better  man, 
though  the  same  man ;  a  holier  man,  though  not  another  man. 

Peter's  character  and  impulsive  nature  show  themselves  at 
his  very  first  meeting  with  our  Lord.  It  was  on  the  Sea  of 
Tiberias,  the  theatre  of  several  subsequent  characteristic  exploits. 


THOUGHTS  A 'BOUT  ST.  PETER.  545 

They  had  been  fishing  all  night  and  had  taken  nothing,  when  a 
stranger  appeared  and  told  them  how  to  cast  their  nets.  At  once 
Peter  spoke  up  and  told  him  of  their  ill-success.  But  he  added, 
as  if  in  respectful  recognition  of  the  kindly  interest  displayed  :  "  at 
thy  word  I  will  let  down  the  net."  The  result  was  an  immense 
haul  of  fish ;  and,  whilst  the  others  were  busy  in  gathering  them 
into  the  boat,  Peter  had  thrown  himself  at  the  knees  of  his  bene- 
factor— who  was  no  other  than  Jesus — and  said :  Depart  from  me 
for  I  am  a  sinful  man,  0  Lord.9  It  was  the  beginning  of  his 
great  faith :  the  work  of  grace  was  not  as  yet  complete.  The 
invitation  to  follow  Jesus  and  to  engage  in  the  work  of  fishing  for 
men  was  accepted  with  ready  cheerfulness  and  an  abandonment  of 
all  things  which  before  had  engaged  his  thoughts  or  his  cares. 
He  loved  our  Lord  with  that  enthusiastic  or  impulsive  affection 
which,  as  a  rule,  sets  sober  thought  aside  and  makes  the  one  who 
is  under  its  spell  imagine  that  he  can  dare  and  do  things  far  above 
his  strength.  It  has  a  natural  tendency  to  give  rise  to  presump- 
tion, inasmuch  as  it  takes  no  heed  of  difficulties  and  does  not 
easily  brook  opposition.  This  trait  of  Peter's  devotedness  is 
illustrated  in  the  well-known  incident  of  the  walking  upon  the 
water.  The  disciples  had  been  ordered  by  their  Master  to  go  up 
into  the  ship,  that  they  might  go  before  Him  over  the  water  to  Beth- 
saida.4  Accordingly  they  started  and  very  soon  discovered  that 
wind  and  wave  were  against  them.  But  the  boat  in  the  midst  of  the 
sea  was  tossed  with  the  waves :  for  the  wind  was  contrary.  And  in 
the  fourth  watch  of  the  night.  He  came  to  them  walking  upon  the  sea. 
And  they  seeing  Him  walking  upon  the  sea  were  troubled,  saying : 
It  is  an  apparition.  And  they  cried  out  for  fear.  And  imme- 
diately Jesus  spoke  to  them,  saying :  Be  of  good  heart :  it  is  I,  fear 
ye  not.  And  Peter  making  answer  said :  Lord,  if  it  be  Thou,  bid 
me  come  to  Ihee  upon  the  waters.6  This  seems  to  be  a  direct 
challenge  to  our  Lord  to  put  His  disciple's  love  and  confidence  in 
Him  to  a  severe  test.  And  He  said :  Come.  And  Peter  going 
down  out  of  the  boat,  walked  upon  the  water  to  come  to  Jtsus.  But 
seeing  the  wind  strong,  he  was  afraid :  and  when  he  began  to  sink, 
3  St.  Luke,  v.  4  St.  Mark,  vi.  45.  5St.  Matthew,  xiv.  24,  etc. 


546  THE  READER. 

he  cried  out,  saying :  Lord  save  me.  And  immediately  Jesus 
stretching  forth  His  hand  took  hold  of  him,  and  said  to  him :  0  thou 
of  little  faith,  why  didst  thou  doubt?"  The  fact  was  that  Peter 
presumed  upon  his  own  strength  and  found  that  it  was  a  very 
unsafe  reliance  for  such  a  wonderful  work  as  walking  upon  water. 
How  very  different  was  his  conduct  at  a  later  day.  His  love  of 
Jesus  was  not  less  but  far  greater,  yet  experience  and  divine  grace 
had  trained  its  impulses  to  work  by  safer  methods.  Wishing  to 
pass  from  the  boat  to  our  Lord  he  plunged  into  the  water  and 
swam  like  an  ordinary  man.  The  bitter  memory  of  what  had 
taken  place  in  the  house  of  the  High  Priest  was  an  abiding 
exhortation  to  him  and  a  warning  against  trust  in  self.  He  was, 
in  a  sublime  degree,  that  which  he  urged  others  to  become : 
children  of  obedience,  not  fashioned  according  to  the  former  desires 
of  your  ignorance.7 

And  is  it  not  a  beautiful  manifestation  of  Christian  spirit 
that  we  see  in  the  writings  of  St.  Peter  ?  He  is  so  helpful  and 
comforting ;  gives  such  a  lofty  idea  of  the  dignity  of  being  a 
Christian ;  speaks  with  such  fatherly  warning  of  the  dangers 
which  surround  the  follower  of  Christ,  and  everywhere  shows 
forth  so  much  mercy,  hope  and  love. 


THE   READER. 


Protestants  are  forever  asserting  that  the  Bible,  interpreted 
by  each  individual,  is  the  only  guide  in  matters  of  belief.  We 
need  no  other  proof  of  the  falsehood  of  such  teaching  than  the  dis- 
cordant tenets  of  its  apostles.  While  professing  that  the  Bible  is 
their  only  guide  and  that  there  are  certain  essential  truths  that  all 
readers  of  Holy  Scripture  easily  perceive,  there  seems  to  be — 
excepting  perhaps  the  necessity  of  faith — no  one  truth  that  all 
admit.  The  sublime  dogma  of  our  Lord's  Divinity  some  deny 

•Ib.  29,  etc.  TI.  Peter,  i.  14. 


THE  READER.  547 

and  others  question,  while  many  clearly  prove  by  their  words  and 
writings  that  they  have  but  a  very  imperfect  idea  of  it.  Each 
individual  has  his  own  views  and  shapes  his  own  creed  accord- 
ingly, denying  to-day  what  yesterday  he  held  as  true. 

There  can  be  no  common  belief  unless  there  be  a  divinely- 
constituted  power  to  control  minds  and  enforce  agreement.  This 
we  learn  from  the  Bible,  for  St.  Peter  assures  us  that  in  the 
Scripture  there  are  some  things  hard  to  be  understood  which  the 
unlearned  and  unstable  wrest  to  their  own  perdition.  That  there  is 
question  here  of  essential  truths  the  words,  wrest  to  perdition,  indi- 
cate, for  no  man  can  wrest  to  his  perdition  a  truth  so  indifferent  as 
to  be  unnecessary  for  the  salvation  of  his  soul.  There  must  then 
be  an  interpreter  of  Holy  Scripture,  and  there  is  none  other  than 
the  Church.  She  has  always  claimed  this  exclusive  privilege,  and 
her  claim  is  a  proof  that  it  is  hers.  Holy  Scripture  attests  that 
her  claims  are  solidly  grounded,  for  they  are  founded  on  the  word 
of  God.  This  prerogative  the  Son  of  God  solemnly  conferred  on 
her,  for  He  commissioned  her  to  teach  all  nations,  to  make  known 
to  them  all  truth,  promising  His  special  assistance  and  hurling  an 
anathema  of  eternal  reprobation  against  those  who  would  not 
believe.  Reverently  did  she  take  up  the  sacred  deposit  entrusted 
to  her  keeping  and  with  Christ's  special  guidance  she  has  borne  it 
down  through  the  ages.  All  the  truths  she  then  received  she 
declares  to  the  world  to-day.  We  must  listen  to  her  and  believe 
what  she  teaches  if  we  wish  to  be  saved,  for  she  is  the  repository 
of  the  divine  word  and  the  truths  she  proposes  constitute  the  creed 
absolutely  requisite  for  salvation. 

With  Protestants  then  we  hold  that  the  Bible  is  the  word  of 
God,  but  to  know  what  books  are  a  part  of  Scripture,  what 
passages  are  revealed,  what  explanation  must  be  given  to  certain 
texts,  we  must  turn  to  the  Church  whose  office  it  is  to  teach  all 
truth.  The  Bible  is  a  rule  of  faith,  but  not  the  only  one ;  Tra- 
dition is  a  guide,  for  Christ  bade  His  Apostles  and  their  divinely- 
constituted  successors  to  teach  and  not  to  write ;  and  to  their 
teaching  we  must  look  for  our  belief,  and  they  have  ever  taught 
that  both  Tradition  and  Holy  Writ  contain  the  revealed  word  of 
God. 


548  THE  RE/fDER. 

The  celebration  of  the  Tercentenary  of  St.  Aloysius  was 
generally  observed  in  our  American  churches,  and  in  many  places 
the  novena  or  triduum  recommended  by  the  Holy  Father  pre- 
ceded the  feast.  Some  cities,  like  our  own  city  of  Philadelphia, 
gathered  the  various  societies  of  young  men  into  the  Cathedral 
where  heart  and  mind  were  refreshed  with  devotional  exercises  and 
instructed  by  the  discourses  of  noted  preachers.  In  some  dioceses 
the  commemoration  of  the  Tercentenary  was  of  episcopal  regula- 
tion and  was  made  the  subject  of  a  special  circular  letter. 

*  *  * 

The  Circular  Letter  of  the  Right  Reverend  John  A.  Watter- 
son,  Bishop  of  Columbus,  printed  in  the  Catholic  Columbian,  was 
particularly  applicable  in  its  directness  and  eloquent  in  its  fervor, 
as  may  be  seen  by  this  extract : 

"Aloysius  Gonzaga,  having  in  a  short  life  of  three  and 
twenty  years  fulfilled  the  long  time  of  the  Holy  Scripture,  has  now 
for  three  centuries  stood  before  the  world  as  a  lovely  pattern  of 
chaste  innocence,  a  noble  specimen  of  devoted  love  for  God  and 
self-sacrificing  charity  for  man,  and  a  glorious  example  of  saintly 
courage  and  constancy ;  in  short,  a  perfect  model  of  a  blameless 
character  and  an  heroic  type  of  young  Christian  manliness. 
During  the  Novena  or  Triduum,  which  you  will  celebrate  in  your 
church  in  anticipation  of  his  Feast,  and  which  you  will  invite  old 
and  young  to  join  in,  you  will,  I  trust,  make  St.  Aloysius  known 
to  your  flock  in  a  series  of  attractive  and  instructive  sermons. 
His  life  will  reveal  the  reasons  and  motives,  which  have  moved 
many  Sovereign  Pontiffs  to  propose  him  as  the  Model  of  Youth, 
the  Patron  of  innocence,  the  Protector  of  school-children,  the 
Defender  of  all  Christian  students  and  the  faithful  Fosterer  of  all 
those  Catholic  principles,  which  the  young  of  both  sexes  stand  in 
special  need  of  in  these  perilous  times,  and  which  will  be  impressed 
upon  their  characters  and  lives  by  the  happy  influence  of  his 
patronage  and  the  faithful  imitation  of  his  example.  Not  only 
school-children  but  all  the  sodalities  and  societies  of  men  and  women, 
old  and  young,  should  be  urged  to  celebrate  this  Feast  and  to  do 
the  things  which  are  prescribed  for  the  gaining  of  the  Indulgences. 
Parents  also  should  join  with  their  children  in  honoring  this 
Angelic  Protector  of  Youth ;  for  surely  Catholic  fathers  and 
mothers  have  a  special  interest  in  securing  the  patronage  of  one, 
whose  example  and  intercession  are  so  important  to  their  children." 


THE  READER.  549 

The  Tercentenary  has  added  considerably  to  Aloysian  litera- 
ture. Benziger  Brothers,  of  Einsiedeln,  Switzerland,  have  issued 
a  splendid  Life  of  St.  Aloysius,  based  on  the  first  biography  of  the 
Saint  by  Father  Cepari.  Its  editor  is  Father  P.  Michel,  S.J., 
who  has  annotated  the  work  and  added  many  unpublished  letters 
and  documents.  It  is  beautifully  and  profusely  illustrated.  It 
was  published  simultaneously  in  French,  German,  Italian,  Spanish 
and  English.  The  popularity  of  the  Life  written  by  the  rheto- 
ricians of  St.  Francis  Xavier's  College,  New  York,  and  edited  by 
Father  J.  F.  X.  O' Conor,  S.  J.,  their  professor,  is  shown  by  the 
extraordinary  demand  for  it.  Within  two  months  from  its  issue 
it  reached  the  tenth  edition.  Both  these  biographies  should  be 
within  easy  reach  of  our  young  men  and  women.  We  may  add 
that  the  smaller  Life  published  by  the  MESSENGER  has  had  its 
share  of  readers,,  for  it  has  reached  its  thirtieth  thousand. 

***** 

The  library  of  Saints'  biographies  has  been  still  further 
enriched  by  the  Paris  publishers,  Plon,  Nourrit  et  Cie.,  who  have 
issued,  for  the  fourth  centenary  of  his  birth,  a  Life  of  St.  Ignatius. 
Father  C.  Clair,  S.  J.,  is  the  author.  He  follows  closely  the  text 
of  the  Saint's  first  biographer,  the  Spanish  Father  Ribadeneira. 
The  book  is  richly  illustrated  with  cuts,  etchings  and  heliogravures, 
after  designs  from  the  artists  Rubens,  Mignard,  Cano,  Seghers, 
Wierx,  and  others.  Some  of  these  we  have  reproduced  in  this 
number  of  the  MESSENGER.  Unfortunately,  the  work  is  for 
French  readers  only. 

The  Catholic  press  has  well  employed  the  space  in  its  col- 
umns by  printing  in  full  the  Encyclical  Letter  of  our  Holy 
Father  on  the  Condition  of  Labor.  Nothing  proves  so  convinc- 
ingly the  unerring  guidance  of  the  Father  of  the  faithful  as  this 
latest  pronouncement  of  Pope  Leo  XHI.  on  the  question  of  labor 
which  is  uppermost  in  a  multitude  of  minds  to-day.  Every  one 
who  can  read  should  read  this  Encyclical  Letter.  Benziger 
Brothers,  New  York,  have  issued  it  in  a  convenient  and  cheap 
form. 


GENERAL  INTENTION 

FOR  JULY,    1891. 

Designated  by  His  Holiness,  Leo  XIII. ,  with  his  special  blessing,  and  given  to  His 
Eminence  the  Cardinal  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda — the  Protector  of  the 
League  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  called  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer — for  recom- 
mendation to  the  prayers  of  the  Associates. 

CHRISTIAN   DOCTORS. 
I. 

"  Where  there  are  three  doctors,  there  are  two  atheists,"  say 
the  Italians.  And  the  truth  is,  the  medical  profession  more  than 
any  other,  seems  to  expose  its  members  to  the  danger  of  moral 
and  religious  shipwreck.  Constant  familiarity  with  human 
misery  and  weakness  blunts  their  sense  of  awe  and  reverence. 
The  two  great  mysteries  of  life,  birth  to-day  and  death  to-morrow  ; 
the  entrance  into  the  world  of  a  living  soul  and  its  final  passage 
into  eternity,  cease  after  awhile  to  impress  the  man  of  the  test  tube 
and  the  scalpel.  These  events  are  for  him  merely  occasions  to 
display  his  skill  and  experience.  They  do  not  speak  to  him  of 
God,  and  the  immortality  of  souls,  of 'the  nothingness  of  man  and 
the  greatness  of  the  Creator.  Or  if  they  do  he  feels  inclined  to 
put  these  thoughts  out  of  his  head,  as  likely  to  disturb  his  judg- 
ment and  weaken  his  nerves.  Chemistry  he  knows,  and  the  eifects 
of  some  few  drugs  on  the  human  compound,  the  use  of  the  knife 
he  is  familiar  with,  but  the  influence  of  faith,  and  of  prayer  on 
his  own  skill  and  on  his  patient's  condition,  the  possibility  of  help 
and  suggestion  from  supernatural  sources  he  rarely  thinks  of. 
These  are  not  merely  negligeable  quantities  in  his  practice,  they 
are  entirely  outside  his  life.  And  this  is  true  of  many  who  never- 
theless practise  their  religion.  What  must  be  the  result  in  the 
case  of  doctors  who  have  no  faith,  whose  entire  training  has  been 
in  materialistic  and  infidel  hands  ? 


550 


GENERAL   INTENTION. 

II. 

Now  though  it  be  true,  to  borrow  the  rule  laid  down  by  Saint 
Ignatius  of  Loyola  for  the  conduct  of  life,  that  "  in  all  things 
we  must  act  as  if  God  did  not  exist,  and  as  if  we  were  entirely 
dependent  on  ourselves,"  we  should  not  forget  the  second  part  of 
the  same  rule,  that  we  must  at  the  same  time  "  act  as  if  every- 
thing depended  on  God,  and  as  if  we  were  for  nothing  in  the  work 
we  have  in  hand."  All  healing  is  from  God,  says  the  Wise  man,1 

The  Most  High  hath  created  medicines  out  of  the  earth. 

The  virtue  of  these  things  is  come  to  the  knowledge  of  men 
and  the  Most  High  hath  given  this  knowledge  to  men  that  He  may  be 
honored  in  His  wonders.  The  Lord  created  the  Physician.  To 
ignore  God  then  in  the  practice  of  the  healing  art,  to  shut  one's 
eyes  to  the  continual  intervention  of  His  special  Providence  is 
folly. 

III. 

Where  this  spirit  goes  farther  and  becomes  as  it  were  a  sys- 
tem, influencing  the  views  of  the  physician,  and  ruling  his  prac- 
tice, it  is  not  only  folly ;  it  becomes  a  clear  menace  to  society  and 
to  religion.  What  sense  of  responsibility  can  we  expect  in  a 
doctor,  who  practically  denies  the  existence  of  God,  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul,  the  dignity  of  human  nature  ?  Pain  is,  in  his 
view,  a  pure  and  unadulterated  evil.  To  alleviate  pain  is  with  him 
a  first  principle.  Does  it  cost  innocent  life  to  do  this  ?  What 
matters  it  that  a  soul  is  hurried  into  eternity  without  Baptism, 
and  so  shall  never  see  God  ?  Will  it  cause  a  sinner  who  has  spent 
long  years  far  from  God,  to  sink  into  a  stupor  from  which  only 
the  searching  light  that  surrounds  the  tribunal  of  the  Eternal  Judge 
will  arouse  him  ?  What  matters  it  ?  The  man  dies  peacefully 
and  quietly.  The  animal  has  been  ministered  to.  The  immortal 
soul  has  been  damned  perhaps  :  but  the  doctor  goes  his  way  satis- 
fied. Perhaps  it  is  question  of  gaining  quick  results,  of  satis- 
fying a  patient  at  any  cost.  Stimulants,  disguised  perhaps,  but 
deadly  still,  will  effect  this.  What  matters  it,  that  the  patient, 
for  the  sake  of  immediate  relief,  is  inducted  into  habits  which 

1  Ecclesiasticus,  xxxviii. 


562  GENERAL  INTENTION. 

will  finally  cloud  his  life  and  cause  him  to  sink  into  a  dishonored 
grave  ?  This  is  only  one  side  of  the  evil  which  doctors,  whose 
responsibilities  sit  lightly  on  them,  may  inflict  on  the  world. 
What  might  we  not  add  on  the  influence  of  such  men  on  public 
and  private  morality? 

IV. 

Greatly  then  do  we  need  to  pray  for  Christian  Doctors.  We 
need  men  not  inferior  in  attainments  to  the  best ;  men  who  can 
speak  with  authority  to  their  professional  brethren.  We  need 
them  to  leaven  the  mass.  Already  in  one  of  our  large  cities  a 
movement  has  been  set  on  foot  among  the  Catholic  physicians,  to 
induce  promising  Catholic  young  men  to  take  up  the  study  of 
medicine.  God  grant  that  this  action  of  theirs  may  prove  success- 
ful. The  good  they  will  do  is  incalculable ;  for  great  as  is  the 
power  of  the  medical  faculty  for  evil,  greater  far  is  its  influence 
for  good. 

Indeed  it  is  not  without  deep  significance  that  our  Blessed 
Lord  is  called  the  Physician  of  Souls  or  that  He  pointed  out  the 
parallelism  between  His  work  among  men  and  that  of  the  doctor. 
"They  that  are  whole,"  He  said  to  the  carping  Pharisees,  "  need 
not  the  physician,  but  they  that  are  sick.*  The  physician  and  the 
priest  stand  side  by  side.  Birth,  life  and  often  enough  a  happy 
death,  depend  much  on  the  skill  and,  the  conscience  of  the  doctor, 
and  let  us  hasten  to  add,  on  his  friendship  with  God.  Heavier 
responsibilities  were  never  laid  on  human  shoulders. 

And  if  we  take  him  out  of  the  sick-room  and  put  him  in  the 
laboratory,  what  service  may  he  not  render  the  cause  of  truth, 
that  is  of  Jesus  Christ.  To  watch  the  tactics  of  the  open  enemies 
of  religion  and  revelation ;  to  follow  them  step  by  step  in  the 
researches  and  experiments  on  which  they  rely  to  disprove  and 
dethrone  God ;  to  point  out  their  fallacies  and  mispresentatious  of 
facts ;  to  put  himself  in  the  van  of  discovery  and  to  force  the 
world  to  see  that  truth  cannot  be  opposed  to  truth,  that  the  God 
Who  created  medicines  out  of  the  earth  and  gave  the  knowledge  of 
them  to  men,  is  the  same  God  Who  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers 

1  St.  Luke,  v.  31. 


WHAT   THE  LEAGUE  IS.  553 

manners  spoke  in  times  past  to  the  fathers  by  the  prophets  ;  and  last 
of  all,  in  these  days  hath  spoken  to  us  by  His  Son,  Whom  He  hath 
appointed  heir  of  all  things.4  One  and  the  same  is  the  God  of 
Science  and  the  God  of  Revelation  and  between  these  two  there 
can  be  no  conflict. 

Let  us  then,  Associates  of  the  League  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
pray,  fervently  during  this  month  that  in  view  of  the  pressing 
needs  of  the  world  and  of  souls  and  in  view  of  the  interests  of  the 
Church,  God  may  raise  up  a  generation  of  truly  learned  and  truly 
Christian  Doctors. 

OFFERING  FOR  THE  INTENTIONS  OF  THE  MONTH. 

O  Jesus,  through  the  Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary,  I  offer 
Thee  all  the  prayers,  work,  and  sufferings  of  this  day  for  all  the 
intentions  of  Thy  Divine  Heart,  in  union  with  the  Holy  Sacrifice 
of  the  Mass,  in  reparation  for  all  sin,  and  for  all  requests  pre- 
sented through  the  Apostleship  and  especially  for  the  increase 
of  learned  and  practically  Christian  Doctors.  Amen. 


WHAT  THE  LEAGUE   IS. 

THE  Apostleship  of  Prayer,  as  organized  and  approved  in  the 
Church,  is  best  known  by  the  name  of  the  League  of  the 
Sacred  Heart — the  title  chosen  for  it  by  Father  Kamiere 
and  used  in  the  Briefs  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiffs  (28  May,  1879  ; 
24  August,  1884). 

The  practice  of  the  First  Degree,  the  daily  Morning  Offer- 
ing, is  an  essential  condition  for  gaining  the  Indulgences  and 
privileges,  or  for  sharing  in  the  Mutual  Prayer,  by  the  Associates. 

The  Bands  of  the  Second  Degree  are  essential  to  the  organi- 
zation of  the  League  in  a  Local  Centre  by  the  Promoters. 

Where  religious  communities  become  Centres  of  the  League, 
it  is  necessary  that  each  member  should  be  admitted  singly. 

A  full  explanation  of  the  very  simple  but  effective  working 
of  the  League  is  found  in  the  authorized  Handbook. 

4  Hebrews,  i.  1. 


APOSTLESHIP  n  iimarn  NOTICES 


RECENT  AGGREGATIONS. — To  the  Apostleship  of  ^Prayer,. 
League  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  (May  12  to'"' June  12, 
1891). 

(Name  of  diocese  in  italics,  before  parish  or  community  aggregated.) 

Alton,  Illinois :  Ursuline  Convent,  Decatur. 

Boston,  Massachusetts :  -House  of  the  AngelXjuardian  (Broth- 
ers of  Charity),  Boston. 

Brooklyn,  New  York :  Church  of  the  Holy  Rosary  and  St.. 
Matthew's  Church,  Brooklyn. 

Chicago,  Illinois:  Nativity  Church  and  St.  Bernard's  Church, 
Chicago;  St.  Patrick's  Church,  St.  Charles;  Church  of  the 
Immaculate  Conception,  Morris. 

Cleveland,  Ohio:  Church  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,. 
Bellevue;  Church  of  Our  Lady  of  Perpetual  Help,  Defiance. 

Columbus,  Ohio :  St.  Paul's  Church,  Athens  ;  St.  Genevieve's 
Church,  Calmoutier ;  Church  of  Sts.  Peter  and  Paul,  Black 
Creek ;  St.  Peter's  Church,  Millersburg ;  St.  George's  Church, 
Coshocton. 

Davenport,  Iowa :  Academy  of  Our  Lady  of  Lourdes  (Sisters 
of  Charity),  Burlington. 

Grand  Rapids,  Michigan :  St.  Mary's  Church,  Hemlock. 

Helena,  Montana :  St.  Xavier's  Mission,  Fort  Custer. 

Lincoln,  Nebraska :  Church  of  St.  John  Baptist,  Plattsmouth. 

Little  Rock,  Arkansas :  St.  Andrew's  Cathedral,  Little  Rock.. 

Louisville,  Kentucky :  St.  Peter's  Church,  Louisville. 

Monterey  and  Los  Angeles,  California :  Church  of  Our  Lady 
of  Sorrows,  Santa  Barbara. 

554 


APOSTLESHIP  NOTICES. 


555 


Newark,  New  Jersey :  Church  of  St.  Rose  of  Lima,  Newark 
(Roseville). 

New  Orleans,  Louisiana:  Church  of  St.  Maurice,  New 
Orleans. 

New  York,  New  York  .•  St.  John's  Church,  Goshen ;  Church 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  Tompkin's  Cove. 
•  Peoria,  Illinois :  St.  Joseph's  Church,  Loda. 

Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania :  Novitiate  of  "  St.  Michel " 
(Sisters  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament),  Torresdale. 

Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania :  Sacred  Heart  Church,  Emsworth  ; 
St.  John's  Church,  Johnstown ;  Holy  Trinity  Church,  Hunting- 
don ;  St.  Paul's  Church,  Butler. 

St.  Louis,  Missouri :  St.  Louis'  Cathedral,  St.  Louis ;  St. 
Vincent's  Church,  Cape  Girardeau ;  St.  Joseph's  Asylum  (Sisters 
of  St.  Joseph),  St.  Louis. 

Scranton,  Pennsylvania:  St.  Joseph's  Church,  Minooka. 

Sioux  Falls,  S.  Dakota:  St.  Peter's  Church,  Standing  Rock 
Agency ;  St.  Barbara's  Church,  Centerville. 

Vincennes,  Indiana :  St.  Augustine's  Church,  Leopold  ;  St. 
Patrick's  School  (Sisters  of  Providence),  Terre  Haute. 

Wheeling,  West  Virginia:  St.  Joseph's  Church,  Huntington. 

THE  TREASURY  OF  THE  SACRED  HEART. 

Associates  can  gain  100  days'  Indulgence  for  each  action  offered  for  the 
Intentions  of  the  League. 

Offerings  for  the  Intentions   of  the   Sacred   Heart,    received   from   May   12   to 

June  12,  1891. 

No.  OF  TIMES.  No.  or  TIMES. 


1.  Acts  of  Charity  . 


1,018,599        11,  Masses  Heard 


135,869 


2.  Beads 285,262 

3.  Stations  of  the  Cross     .  49,186 

4.  Holy  Communions    .    .  71,793 

5.  Spiritual  Communions  .  292,763 

6.  Examens  of  Conscience  213,142 

7.  Hours  of  Labor  ....  410,045 

8.  Hours  of  Silence    .    .    .  218,776 

9.  Pious  Reading    ....  158,193 
10.  Masses  Celebrated      .    .  2,130 

Total  . 


12.  Mortifications    ....       227,568 

13.  Works  of  Charity     .    .       102,881 

14.  Works  of  Zeal  ....    1,256,399 

15.  Prayers 5,173,020 

16.  Charitable  Conversation       35,903 

17.  Sufferings  or  Afflictions     148,986 

18.  Self-Conquest     ....       105,708 

19.  Visits  to  B.  Sacrament      260,110 

20.  Various  Good  Works   .      511,257 


10,713,590 


The  above  returns  represent  five  hundred  and  sixty-one  Centres! 


ALL  YOU  THAT  UBOUR»AND  ARE  BURDENED 


IN  THANKSGIVING   FOR  GRACES   OBTAINED. 

TOTAL  NUMBEE  OP  THANKSGIVINGS  FOB  LAST  MONTH,  105,754. 
— The  Lord  hath  done  great  things  for  us;  we  are  become  joyful  (Psalm  cxxv.  3). — 

NEWBURGH,  N.  Y.,  MAY  12. — My  brother,  who  had  ruined 
a  happy  home  by  drink,  has  reformed. 

NEW  YORK,  MAY  14. — Thanks  for  the  grace  of  a  happy 
death  granted  to  our  father.  He  was  stricken  down  with  apo- 
plexy, but  recovered  consciousness  for  five  or  six  hours  and 
received  all  the  last  Sacraments.  He  was  recommended  to  the 
prayers  of  the  League  for  the  past  two  years,  and  we  feel  it  is 
through  those  prayers  that  the  Sacred  Heart  has  granted  him  that 
greatest  of  all  graces. 

SANTA  BARBARA,  CAL.,  MAY  16. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  for  a  journey  made  in  safety. 

BALTIMORE,  MD.,  MAY  18. — Thanks  for  a  knowledge  of  my 
vocation  and  for  having  successfully  passed  my  examinations. 

HALIFAX,  NOVA  SCOTIA,  MAY  16. — Very  grateful  thanks 
to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  a  special  favor  obtained  through  the 
intercession  of  St.  Joseph  as  "  Friend  of  the  Sacred  Heart." 

SYRACUSE,  N.  Y.,  MAY  19. — Thanks  for  a  great  favor. 
This  favor  was  almost  a  miracle. 

STAMFORD,  CONN.,  MAY  24. — Thanks  for  a  favor  granted 
one  day  after  I  promised  to  have  it  published  in  the  MESSENGER 
OF  THE  SACRED  HEART. 


556 


IN    THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES   OBTAINED.  557 

PHILADELPHIA,  MAY  20. — A  Promoter  desires  to  return 
thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  recovery  of  a  lady  whose  case 
was  thought  incurable  by  several  physicians. 

GLENDIVE,  MONTANA,  MAY  21. — I  wish  to  return  thanks 
to  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  for  the  recovery  from  sickness  of  a 
family. 

VICKSBURG,  Miss.,  MAY  23. — Many  thanks  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  for  spiritual  and  temporal  favors — especially  for  overcoming 
my  temper. 

NASHVILLE,  TENN.,  MAY  25. — The  young  man  for  whom 
I  offered  thanksgiving  for  restored  health,  has  been  again  pros- 
trated, but  greater  thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart,  for  the  first  time 
in  thirteen  years  he  made  his  confession  and  is  now  reconciled 
perfectly  to  God's  Holy  Will.  A  happy  death  is  begged  for  him. 

HIGH  BRIDGE,  N.  Y.,  MAY  28. — Thanks  are  returned  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  for  success  of  an  operation  performed  on  the  12th 
inst. 

MOLINE,  ILL.,  MAY  27. — A  year  ago  I  gave  in,  among 
other  intentions,  one  for  the  conversion  of  my  mother  to  the  Faith. 
Mother  was  born  in  Wales,  of  Protestant  parents,  and  her  child- 
hood was  past  where  Catholics  are  almost  unknown.  She  has 
been  a  member  of  several  Protestant  denominations.  I  am  very 
grateful  to  say  that,  after  the  intention  being  repeated  a  year, 
mother  was  converted  and  received  into  Holy  Church. 

HASTINGS,  NEB.,  MAY  19. — A  special  thanksgiving  for  the 
conversion  of  one  of  our  pupils.  She  was  baptized  when  a  child 
but  had  never  been  instructed,  in  fact  hardly  knew  she  was  a 
Catholic.  She  was  unwilling  to  be  instructed,  so  the  badge  was 
given  her  with  injunction  to  say  one  our  Father  and  Hail  Mary 
every  day.  She  herself  told  me  that  it  was  the  only  thing  that 
changed  her.  She  made  her  first  Holy  Communion  on  the  1 7th 
with  all  possible  fervor. 

Los  ANGELES,  CAL.,  MAY  21. — Special  thanksgiving  for  a 
young  man  who  has  been  recommended  to  the  Sacred  Heart  since 
the  League  was  established  in  Los  Angeles.  He  recently  went  to 
Holy  Communion  for  the  first  time  in  eighteen  years.  His  con- 


558  IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES   OBTAINED. 

version  is  a  real  miracle  of  grace.  He  was  a  very  immoral  man 
and  also  a  member  of  a  Secret  Society. 

PATERSON,  N.  J.,  MAY  25. — A  young  man  on  whose  bond 
I  went  for  his  honesty  went  off  with  some  money.  I  expected  to 
have  it  to  pay  which  to  me  would  have  been  a  very  serious  matter 
as  I  could  not  afford  it.  On  Friday  I  promised,  on  the  Monday 
following  I  was  informed  that  a  relative  of  his  would  refund  to 
me  any  money  I  would  have  to  pay  for  him.  The  young  man  is 
back  to  the  city.  His  affairs  I  understand  are  all  settled  with  the 
concern  and  I  am  satisfied  I  have  heard  the  last  of  the  claim. 

MARTIN'S  FERRY,  O.,  MAY  25. — There  are  three  favors  for 
which  we  return  our  sincere  thanks.  This  town  and  school  were 
preserved  through  the  prayers  of  the  Holy  League,  from  the 
diseases  which  proved  so  fatal  all  around  us.  We  wanted  an 
organ  for  our  Sodalities  and  school.  There  was  not  a  ray  of  hope 
of  getting  one.  About  three  months  ago,  I  sent  this  intention  to 
the  Holy  League,  and  to  our  great  joy  we  got  an  organ  the  first 
of  our  dear  Mother's  month.  A  music  class  was  recommended  to 
the  Holy  League  last  February.  It  has  increased  rapidly  since. 

SHREVEPORT,  LA.,  MAY  25. — Special  thanks  for  the  conver- 
sion of  a  lady,  who  with  her  two  youngest  children,  recently 
received  the  sacrament  of  baptism.  They  had  been  recommended 
monthly  for  more  than  a  year.  Also,  for  the  conversion  of  a 
gentleman  who  was  baptized  and  made  his  first  Communion,  after 
having  been  recommended  for  seven  or  eight  months  to  the  prayers 
of  the  Holy  League. 

,  MINN.,  MAY  27. — I  desire  to  return  thanks  to  the 

Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  for  the  grace  of  having  made  a  good  con- 
fession and  Communion  after  an  absence  of  several  years  from  my 
religious  duties.  I  had  become  more  bitter  than  Voltaire  against 
the  Church  from  reading  infidel  books.  In  a  single  moment 
Almighty  God  literally  smote  me  in  the  dust  by  taking  from 
me  a  child  whom  I  idolized.  Since  then  I  have  found  no  consola- 
tion in  life  only  in  the  practice  of  my  religious  duties.  I  have 
reason  to  believe  that  the  favor  I  asked  of  the  Sacred  Heart 
has  been  granted  me. 


IN   THANKSGIVING   FOR   GRACES  OBTAINED.  559 

BAY  ST.  Louis,  Miss.,  MAY  28. — Special  thanks  for  the 
preservation  of  the  community  and  the  pupils  from  la  grippe 
during  the  whole  session,  although  it  was  raging  all  around  us. 

STEVENS  POINT,  Wis.,  MAY  29. — Thanks  for  the  conversion 
of  several  Protestants,  and  lukewarm  Catholics.  Among  the  lat- 
ter was  one  who  had  not  approached  the  Communion  railing  for 
twenty-three  years,  and;  another  who  had  been  a  Freemason  and 
had  neglected  his  religious  duties  for  twenty-four  years. 

YONKERS,  N.  Y.,  JUNE  5. — My  sister  was  sick  for  two  years, 
and  could  find  no  relief.  For  the  last  five  months  I  have  recom- 
mended her  to  the  prayers  of  the  League,  and  she  is  now  steadily 
improving,  so  that  we  soon  expect  her  complete  restoration  to 
health.  My  niece  was  taken  suddenly  ill  one  night  lately  and  we 
all  thought  her  at  the  point  of  death ;  I  placed  a  Badge  on  her 
forehead  and  implored  the  help  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  and  almost 
immediately  she  became  better.  For  these  two  signal  favors,  I 
desire  to  render  my  sincere  thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart,  and  I 
trust  my  experience  may  encourage  others  to  a  confiding  faith  in 
the  love  and  mercy  of  God. 

HARPER'S  FERRY,  W.  VA.,  JUNE  5. — Special  thanks  are 
returned  the  Sacred  Heart  for  having  averted  a  great  flood  here 
when  everyone  was  convinced  that  a  flood  was  inevitable.  The 
two  rivers  which  hem  our  town  in,  were  already  flowing  over  the 
streets  and  were  still  rising  and  the  rain  falling  in  torrents,  when 
in  our  distress  we  called  upon  the  Sacred  Heart,  promising  that 
if  aid  was  vouchsafed  to  us,  we  would  publish  His  mercy  in  the 
MESSENGER  OF  THE  SACRED  HEART.  Immediately  our  prayer 
was  heard,  for  the  rain  ceased  at  once  and  our  preparations  for 
moving  to  the  hillside  were  stopped.  The  rivers  returned  to 
their  beds  more  rapidly  than  they  are  known  ever  to  have  done 
before. 

BALTIMORE,  MD.,  JUNE  5. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for 
the  return  to  the  faith  and  happy  death  of  a  relative. 

PITTSBURGH,  PA.,  JUNE  6. — Sincere  thanks  for  the  entire 
amendment  of  a  friend  who  was  addicted  to  drunkenness. 

BOSTON,  JUNE  7. — In  March  a  young  man  was  told,  by  his 


60O  IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES  OBTAINED. 

physician,  not  to  think  of  going  South,  as  he  could  not  stand  a 
long  journey,  his  lungs  were  in  such  a  condition.  I  put  an 
intention  in  the  League  box  for  his  recovery,  and  promised  to 
write  to  the  MESSENGER  if  he  recovered.  In  a  few  days  he  felt 
better,  and  went  South,  where  he  has  improved  in  health  ever 
since,  and  expects  to  return  to  his  family  in  a  short  time.  I  asked 
for  his  recovery  through  the  intercession  of  St.  Aloysius. 

UTICA,  N.  Y.,  JUNE  9. — Thanks  for  the  conversion  of  a 
brother  who  had  not  attended  church  nor  approached  the  Sacra- 
ments in  two  years.  He  made  his  Easter  duty,  and  received 
employment  the  next  day,  having  been  idle  about  a  year. 

CHICAGO,  JUNE  8. — A  thanksgiving  for  the  recovery  of  my 
sister  from  a  severe  illness  and  also  for  a  successful  operation  per- 
formed on  my  niece.  All  the  doctors  had  given  up  the  case  of  my 
niece. 

WILKINSBURG,  PA.,  JUNE  11. — A  man  who  had  not 
approached  the  Sacraments  for  more  than  twenty-five  years,  joined 
the  League,  the  first  degree ;  his  two  sons  joined  the  third  degree 
at  the  same  time.  He  has  been  recommended  to  the  prayers  of 
the  Associates  by  them  and  others.  He  made  his  Easter  and  has 
received  Holy  Communion  twice  since,  the  last  time  on  the  feast 
of  the  Sacred  Heart. 

VARIOUS  CENTRES. — Thanks  for  the  gaining  of  a  law-suit,  a 
raise  in  salary,  cure  of  a  person  of  unsound  mind,  and  reform  of 
a  woman  who  drank. — Also,  for  the  restoration  of  five  people  to 
health,  three  reconciliations,  three  spiritual  favors,  one  temporal, 
and  the  happy  death  of  a  Promoter,  all  recommended  for  four 
months. — For  the  conversion  of  a  young  man  recommended  last 
month. — Special  thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  a  vocation  that 
had  been  prayed  for  during  years. — Conversion  of  the  parents  of 
one  of  our  pupils,  which  has  been  the  means  of  securing  a  priest 
for  a  district  never  before  visited  by  a  priest. — For  a  good  reso- 
lution kept. — For  my  brother's  conversion. — For  employment 
obtained  in  a  very  unexpected  way. — For  the  complete  restora- 
tion of  failing  eye-sight.  It  had  been  frequently  recommended  to 
the  prayers  of  the  League. 


(From  a  photograph  after  Furn.) 


VOL.  VI  (xxvi).  AUGUST,  1891. 


No.  8 


MARY. 

By  Helen  Grace  Smith. 

BOVE  all  dreams  that  mortals  e'er  have 

dreamed, 

Above  all  sense  of  beauty  or  delight, 
Thou,  love  of  loves,  most  dear  hast  ever  seemed, 
Thou  star  forever  shining  through  our  night ! 

O  mystery  of  loving !     Deep  inwound 

Within  the  deep  recesses  of  our  heart, 
We  hold  thee  close,  for  closely  thou  art  bound 

To  us  with  bands  no  time,  no  death  can  part. 

For  that  same  death  that  pierced  thy  Mother's  soul, 
And  laid  thy  wounded  Son  upon  thy  knee, 

That  death  hath  made  thee  ours,  and  now  the  whole 
Of  life,  with  love,  is  consecrate  to  thee. 


Copyright,  1891,  by  Rev.  R.  S.  Dewey,  S.  J.    All  rights  reserved.] 


561 


562        THE  HOSPICE  OF  MT.  CARMEL  AT  NIAGARA  FALLS. 

And  for  His  sake,  Who  chose  thee  above  all 
To  be  His  Mother ;  He  Whose  baby  brow 

And  tender  cheek  felt  thy  soft  kisses  fall, 

For  His  sweet  sake,  we  love  and  praise  thee  now. 

We  love  and  praise  thee,  trusting  in  thy  care, 

For,  though  we  lose  all  else,  thou  still  art  near, 

To  help  and  comfort  with  thy  promise  fair 

Of  love  enduring  through  all  doubt  and  fear. 

Of  love  so  great  that  thou  didst  give  thine  own, 
Thy  Child  for  us,  Who  was  thine  all  to  give, 

So,  give  we  unto  thee  our  hearts  alone 

For  love  of  Him,  Who  died  that  we  might  live. 


THE   HOSPICE    OF   MT.   CARMEL  AT   NIAGARA 

FALLS. 

By  the  Rev.  Philip  A.  Best,  0.  C.  C. 
I. 

ARMEL — "  the  garden  of  God  " — rich  in  its  growth 
of  oaks,  pines  and  olives,  is  the  name  of  the 
Mount  often  alluded  to  in  the  imagery  of  the 
Prophets,  and  renowned  in  the  history  of  the 
Jewish  people,  among  whom  it  was  proverbial  as 
a  place  abounding  in  all  good  things.  Mount  Carmel  is  likewise 
the  prolific  soil  in  which  the  great  Prophet  Elias  planted  that 
vine  which  as  yet  has  never  ceased  to  bloom,  whose  branches  have 


I 


564       THE  HOSPICE  OF  MT.  CARMEL  AT  NIAGARA  FALLS. 


spread  throughout  the  world,  and  whose  members  still  denote 
their  birthplace  by  their  time-honored  name — the  Carmelites. 
930  B.  C.  to  A.  D.  1891  would  be  the  terminating  points  of  their 
chronology  if  the  history  of  the  Carmelites  were  published. 

This  is  no  mere  assertion.  It  is  clear  to  every  student  of 
Bible  history  that  the  claim  for  such  antiquity  is  a  justifiable 
one.  The  Carmelites  do  not  claim  to  have  existed  as  an  Order 
from  the  days  of  the  Prophets,  since  they  were  not  recognized  as 
such  until  two  thousand  and  sixty-seven  years  after  their  patriarch 
St.  Elias.  Then,  at  the  first  general  chapter  held  on  Mount  Carmel 
in  1141,  St.  Berthold  was  elected  the  first  general  of  the  Order. 

What  the  religious  of  the  Order  of 
Mt.  Carmel  claim,  is  that  the  disciples  of 
St.  Elias  persevered  on  Mt.  Carmel,  and 
put  into  practice  the  rule  of  life  laid 
down  for  them  by  the  holy  Prophet,  and 
that  their  successors  imitated  them,  and 
continued  to  lead  the  same  life  until  with 
the  sanction  of  Holy  Church  they  became 
an  Order,  compact  and  organized.  Proofs 
are  plenty.  The  claim  was  disputed  in 
1374.  After  a  careful  examination  of 
the  question,  the  famous  University  of 
Cambridge,  England,  conceded  to  the 
Carmelites  their  just  claim,  and  declared 
that  they  were  justified  in  styling  themselves  "  the  successors  of 
the  holy  Prophet  Elias." 

One  more  proof  will  suffice.  Popes  Sixtus  IV.,  Julius  II., 
Gregory  XIII.  and  Clement  VIII.,  in  their  Bulls,  declared  that 
"  the  sacred  Order  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary  of  Mount  Carmel, 
which  now  flourishes  in  God's  Church,  and  the  members  of  it,  are 
the  lawful  successors  of  the  Holy  Prophets  Elias  and  Eliseus." 
Besides,  Pope  Benedict  XIII.  allowed  Father  Gaspar  Pizzolanti, 
the  Father  General  of  the  order  in  1722,  to  erect  in  St.  Peter's 
Church  in  Rome  a  statue  of  St.  Elias  bearing  the  inscription, 
"  Founder  and  Patriarch  of  Carmelites,"  which  to-day  occupies 


CARMELITE  COAT-OF-ARMS. 


THE  HOSPICE  OF  MT.  CARMEL   AT  NIAGARA  FALLS.       565 

the  first  place  among  the  statues  of  the  founders  of  religious 
orders. 

The  most  prominent  feature  in  the  history  of  the  Carmelites 
is  the  close  relation  which  they  bear  to  the  Blessed  Virgin. 
It  is  a  tradition  among  them  that  their  Order  was  founded  in 
honor  of  the  Immaculate  Virgin  long  before  she  had  appeared  in 
this  world. 

The  habitation  of  the  hermits  being  but  three  miles  from  the 
house  of  St.  Anne,  it  is  said  that  the  Blessed  Virgin,  accompanied 
by  her  mother,  frequently  visited  these  sons  of  the  Prophets,  who 
were  very  much  devoted  to  her.  Knowing  her  future  greatness, 
they  had  great  veneration  for  her,  and  looked  up  to  her  as  the 
mother  of  their  congregation. 

More  than  this.  During  the  lifetime  of  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
in  the  year  38,  these  same  religious  built  the  first  chapel  ever 
erected  in  her  honor.  On  account  of  this  intense  devotion  to 
their  Queen  they  were  generally  known  as  the  "Brothers  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary."  The  Holy  Virgin  showed  in  a  won- 
derful manner  how  pleased  she  was  with  this  title  used  by  her 
brethren.  -  In  1317  the  Carmelites  had  a  Convent  at  Chester, 
England.  They  assumed  their  usual  title  of  "  Brothers  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  Mary  of  Mount  Carmel."  Many  took  offence 
at  this,  and  treated  the  friars  with  contempt.  Mary  was  not 
slow  in  coming  to  the  defence  of  her  favorite  Order.  A  scourge, 
in  the  shape  of  a  pestilence,  fell  upon  their  enemies. 

The  Abbot  of  St.  Bamburg,  then  governor  of  the  city, 
ordered  a  solemn  procession  in  order  to  appease  the  divine  wrath. 
The  Carmelites  joined  the  procession,  and  whilst  passing  a  statue 
of  the  Blessed  Arirgiii  bowed  their  heads  in  veneration,  saluting  it 
with  an  Ave  Maria.  As  they  did  so,  the  statue  bowed  its  head, 
stretched  forth  its  finger  and  pointing  to  the  Carmelites  repeated 
thrice  in  a  distinct  voice  :  "  Behold,  these  my  brethren  !"  The 
Church  approved  of  this  honored  title  and  encouraged  the  faith- 
ful to  use  it  when  addressing  those  to  whom  it  belonged. 

The  crowning  proof  of  Mary's  love  for  her  favorite  Order 
was  given  when,  in  the  person  of  St.  Simon  Stock,  she  bequeathed 


. 


THE  HOSPICE  OF  MT.  CARMEL  AT  WAGARA  FALLS.       567 

to  her  children  what  she  herself  called  "  the  sign  of  my  con- 
fraternity," the  Brown  Scapular. 

During  St.  Simon's  time  many  persecutions  had  been  raised 
against  the  holy  Order ;  some  opposed  its  privileges,  others  disliked 
the  title  it  enjoyed.  St.  Simon  invoked  the  Blessed  Virgin  to 
come  to  the  assistance  of  the  Order,  and  begged  her  to  give  some 
special  mark  of  her  protection.  As  he  was  praying  in  the  oratory 
of  the  Convent  at  Cambridge  on  July  16,  1251,  the  glorious 
Queen  appeared  to  him,  holding  the  holy  Scapular  in  her  hands, 
and  said  to  him  : 

"Receive,  most  beloved  son,  the  Scapular  of  thy  Order,  a 
sign  of  my  confraternity,  a  privilege  both  to  thee  and  to  all  Car- 
melites, in  which  he  that  dieth  shall  not  suffer  eternal  fire ;  behold 
the  sign  of  salvation,  a  safeguard  in  danger,  the  covenant  of  peace 
and  everlasting  alliance." 

Having  said  these  words  she  left  the  sacred  habit  in  his  hands 
and  disappeared.  It  is  unnecessary  to  explain  this  promise  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  contained  in  the  above  words.  Nor  need  I  speak 
'of  the  propagation  of  the  Scapular  among  the  faithful,  the  mira- 
cles wrought  by  it,  or  the  numerous  Indulgences  attached  to  it. 
Let  it  suffice  to  refer  the  reader  to  the  ably  written  series  of  arti- 
cles on  "  The  Meaning  of  the  Scapular,"  which  appeared  in  the 
MESSENGER  in  1889. 

The  chief  end  of  the  Carmelite  order  was,  and  is,  the  culti- 
vation of  the  life  of  prayer — a  life  interior,  hidden  and  contem- 
plative. At  the  request  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiffs  the  Carmelites 
joined  the  active  to  the  contemplative  life,  but  only  where 
necessity  and  the  utility  of  the  neighbor  demanded  it.  Although 
they  are  now  in  the  Latin  Church  and  are  ranked  among  the 
great  mendicant  orders,  they  still  retain  the  Oriental  customs  in 
their  liturgy.  In  the  celebration  of  Mass  and  recitation  of  the 
Divine  Office,  they  conform  to  the  ancient  rite  of  the  Church  of 
Jerusalem. 

Their  habit  is  distinctly  Oriental.  It  is  of  brown  wool,  and 
comprises  a  tunic  and  cincture.  Over  this,  subsequent  to  St. 
Simon  Stock's  time,  they  wear  the  Scapular,  similar  in  form  to 


568        THE  HOSPICE  OF  MT.  C ARM  EL  AT  NIAGARA  FALLS. 

the  one  worn  by  St.  Simon,  and  of  which  the  small  Scapular  worn 
by  the  faithful  is  an  imitation :  the  habit  is  completed  by  a  cowl 
of  similar  material.  In  addition  to  this,  these  .religious  have  also 
a  white  cloak,  which  is  an  imitation  of  the  cloak  of  the  Prophet 
Elias,  and  is  worn  on  particular  and  solemn  occasions,  such  as  in 
choir  on  great  festivals,  in  processions,  when  giving  missions,  etc. 
Hence  it  is  that  they  are  distinguished  among  the  other  regulars 
as  the  White  Friars. 

Parochial  duties  are  not  the  calling  of  the  Carmelite  Order. 
Necessity,  as  in  a  missionary  country  like  our  own,  may  for  a  time 
demand  their  services  in  that  direction,  but  it  is  only  for  a  time. 
The  province  of  the  Order  is  to  give  missions  and  retreats,  to 
direct  souls  called  to  a  higher  state  of  perfection,  and  to  sanctify 
its  own  members. 

As  regards  their  Rule,  the  Carmelites  can  be  said  to  have  had 
three :  The  first  began  with  the  order  itself.  It  was  unwritten. 
It  was  simply  an  imitation  of  the  lives  of  the  Prophets  in  which 
the  religious  persevered  until  the  time  of  the  Apostles.  Then 
they  embraced  the  Evangelical  Counsels.  The  Carmelites  obtained 
their  second  rule  from  John,  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  in  the  year 
400.  This  rule  was  a  compendium  of  the  sayings  and  practices 
of  the  old  Fathers  of  the  desert.  The  third  and  principal  rule 
is  that  drawn  up  for  them  by  St.  Albert,  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusa- 
lem, A.D.  1151. 

This  last  rule,  somewhat  modified  by  the  Popes  to  suit 
different  times  and  countries,  is  the  one  observed  by  the  Carmel- 
ites of  the  present  day. 

This  rule  is  interpreted  by  the  constitutions.  The  latter  pre- 
scribe everything  for  the  working  of  the  order  in  general  and  give 
in  detail  the  duties  of  the  individual  members.  They  rarely 
dispense  or  allow  a  curtailing  of  the  time  appointed  for  mental 
prayer,  and  frequently  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  first  office 
of  the  Carmelite  is  interior  prayer,  and  that  the  duties  of  Martha 
must  not  absorb  those  of  Mary.  Every  order  has  its  peculiar  spirit 
and  that  of  the  Carmelites  is  the  spirit  of  prayer.  Their  devotion 
to  Mary  shows  itself  even  in  the  smallest  things  ;  for  instance,  if  a 


57O        THE  HOSPICE  OF  MT.  CARMEL   AT  NIAGARA  FALLS. 

Carmelite  writes  a  book  or  letter,  you  will  invariably  find  that  it 
starts  with  the  name  "Maria."  Even  answering  a  knock  at  the 
door  of  his  cell  the  monk  of  Mt.  Carmel  will  instinctively  reply 
with  an  Ave  Maria. 

Having  spoken  of  the  rule  and  its  spirit,  it  may  not  be  out  of 
place  to  remark  here  that  during  divers  reformations  other  consti- 
tutions have  been  framed,  for  example,  those  of  the  Discalced  Car- 
melites. Those  who  still  adhere  to  the  old  observance  are  usually 
known  as  the  Calced  (Shod)  Carmelites  :  hence  the  meaning  of  the 
letters  the  Fathers  are  accustomed  to  attach  to  their  names, 
"  O.  C.  C."  (Order  of  Calced  Carmelites). 

The  Rule  of  the  Order  of  Mount  Carmel  has  produced  many 
great  Saints :  witness  Sts.  John  of  the  Cross,  Andrew  Corsini, 
Mary  Magdalen  de  Pazzi,  Teresa  and  many  others.  Witness,  too, 
the  many  Martyrs  during  the  persecutions  in  the  East.  "  It  is 
as  easy  to  count  the  stars  of  heaven,  as  it  is  to  number  the  Saints 
of  the  Order  of  Mount  Carmel,"  says  Trithemius,  a  Jesuit  writer, 
who  wrote  a  work  entitled  :  De  laudibus  Ordinis  Carmelitani. 

The  vine  of  Carmel  has  spread  in  various  directions.  The 
Order  has  had  as  many  as  37  provinces  which  covered  Europe  as 
a  network.  Persecution  has  destroyed  many  houses.  Gasquet  in 
his  famous  book,  Henry  the  VIII.  and  the  English  Monasteries, 
gives  the  names  of  fifty  flourishing  convents  belonging  to  the  Car- 
melites at  the  time  of  the  suppression  in  England. 

A  new  offshoot  from  the  old  trunk  of  the  Order  was,  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century  back,  transplanted  to  American  soil.  During 
these  twenty-five  years  Carmelites  have  come  from  different 
European  Provinces.  They  settled  wherever  their  services  were 
most  needed :  their  life  was  more  that  of  missionaries  than 
that  of  regulars,  and'  each  house  was  independent  of  the  other. 
In  1881  at  the  request  of  the  scattered  religious  a  union 
was  made  and  the  different  houses  were  formed  into  a  Commis- 
sariate,  the  Rev.  Anastasius  J.  Smits  being  appointed  Commissary 
General. 

At  the  general  chapter  held  in  Rome  in  1889,  the  American 
Commissariate  was  formed  into  a  "Province,"  the  Very  Rev.  Pius 


. 


572        THE  HOSPICE  OF  MT.  CARMEL  AT  NIAGARA  FALLS. 

R.  Mayer  being  made  first  Provincial.  The  new  Province  is 
known  as  the  "  Province  of  the  most  Pure  Heart  of  Mary."  It 
embraces  six  houses ;  viz.,  the  Priory  of  St.  Cecilia,  Englewood, 
N.  J.,  Holy  Trinity  Convent,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  Convent  of  St. 
John,  including  scholasticate  and  novitiate,  New  Baltimore,  Pa., 
Priory  of  St.  Joseph,  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  and  Monastery  of 
Mount  Carmel,  Scipio,  Kansas.  The  sixth  is  that  at  Niagara 
Falls,  the  only  Canadian  house  of  the  Carmelites. 

The  Carmelites  are  about  to  build  a  "  Hospice,"  and  have  wisely 
chosen  Niagara  Falls  as  the  most  suitable  spot  on  which  to  erect 
it.  The  word  "  Hospice  "  explains  itself.  Monasteries  have  been 
renowned  for  their  hospitality,  and  Mount  Carmel  was,  and  is,  no 
exception.  From  the  day  on  which  St.  John  the  Baptist  sought 
its  shelter  while  fleeing  from  his  persecutors  till  now,  it  has  never 
lost  its  reputation  as  an  asylum  wherein  were  found  not  only 
rest  and  food  for  the  weary  body,  but  peace  and  solace  for 
the  troubled  soul.  How  many  would  wish  to  withdraw  from 
their  distracting  surroundings  and  seek  refuge  in  such  a  haven 
of  rest !  But  distance,  expense  and  want  of  time  prevent  it.  The 
want  of  such  an  institution  in  this  country  has  been  deplored. 
We  have  retreat-houses,  but  a  Hospice  is  something  more.  It 
too  is  a  retreat-house,  but  possesses  many  other  advantages  pecu- 
liar to  itself. 

"All  of  us,  priests  and  people,  want  a  Carmel  in  London," 
said  Father  Faber,  and  what  the  great  Oratorian  said  of  the  busy 
metropolis  of  his  country  can  be  said  of  America.  The  Hospice 
of  Mount  Carmel  at  Niagara  Falls  will  soon  be  a  reality,  and  the 
hope  of  His  Eminence  Cardinal  Gibbons  (in  his  beautiful  letter 
approving  the  undertaking)  that  such  an  institution  will  "  con- 
tribute to  the  diffusion  of  religion  in  the  Western  Hemisphere  " 
will  soon  be  accomplished. 

To  reproduce  in  this  country  a  faithful  copy  of  the  Hospice 
of  Mt.  Carmel  proper,  three  things  are  needed ;  viz.,  the  monks, 
the  locality  and  a  house.  As  regards  the  first,  let  it  suffice  to 
say  that  the  religious  now  at  Niagara  Falls  are  identical  with  the 
Order  outlined  in  the  foregoing  sketch.  We  re-echo  the  popular 


THE  HOSPICE  OF  MT.  CARMEL  AT  NIAGARA  FALLS.       573 

verdict  when  we  affirm  that  no  better  locality  could  have  been 
thought  of  than  the  one  selected.  If  there  is  any  place  where 
nature  more  lavishly  unfolds  its  beauty  and  grandeur,  or  a  place 
where  the  hand  of  the  Creator  is  more  manifest,  it  is  surely 
Niagara  Falls  "  where,"  to  use  the  words  of  Archbishop  Walsh  of 
Toronto,  "nature  itself  invites  to  solemn  thought,  and  serious 


reflections,  and  where  in  very  deed  one  hears  The  voice  of  the 
Lord  upon  the  waters"  But  nowhere  are  the  religious  thoughts 
suggested  by  the  great  cataract  and  its  surroundings  better 
expressed  than  in  the  beautiful  Pastoral  Letter  of  the  late  saintly 
Archbishop  of  Toronto,  Dr.  Lynch.  His  Grace  says : 


574        THE  HOSPICE  OF  MT.  CARMEL  AT  NIAGARA  FALLS. 

"  We  have  for  many  years  searched  for  a  fervent  congregation 
of  men  to  found  a  monastery  and  church  worthy  of  the  place  and 
its  destination.  Enthusiastic  pilgrims  of  nature's  grandeur  come 
here  to  enjoy  its  beauty ;  others,  alas  !  to  drown  remorse.  We 
desired  to  have  a  religious  house  where  those  pilgrims  would  be 
attracted  to  adore  nature's  God  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  and 
who  would  there  find,  in  solitude  and  rest,  how  great  and  good 
God  is. 

"  The  Fathers  of  the  Order  of  Our  Lady  of  Mount  Carmel, 
the  most  ancient  in  the  Church  and  dear  to  the  heart  of  our 
Blessed  Mother,  have  commenced  this  good  work.  Our  Holy 
Father  Pius  IX.  has  been  graciously  pleased  to  confer  upon  the 
present  little  church  Plenary  Indulgences  and  other  favors  granted 
to  the  most  ancient  pilgrimages  of  the  old  world.  The  Fathers 
also  propose,  when  a  suitable  house  is  built,  to  receive  prelates 
and  clergy  of  the  church  as  well  as  laity  to  make  retreats :  and 
to  provide  priests,  worn  out  in  the  service  of  their  Divine  Master, 
with  a  home  where  they  can  quietly  prepare  for  eternity." 

The  building  to  be  erected  by  the  Carmelites  will  in  many 
respects  rival  their  mother-house  in  Palestine.  Besides  the  natural 
beauty  of  the  place,  the  extensive  grounds  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  house  will  be  artistically  adorned.  In  addition 
to  this,  it  must  be  remembered  that  between  the  grounds  of  the 
monastery  and  the  Falls  is  the  Park,  which  is  kept  in  order  by 
the  Ontario  Government. 

At  stated  periods  retreats  will  be  given  by  the  Fathers. 
These  spiritual  exercises  will  be  adapted  to  all  classes — clergy 
and  the  laity  of  both  sexes,  not  excluding  non-Catholics. 

The  Hospice  of  Mount  Carmel  will  be  of  easy  access  from 
all  parts  of  the  country.  It  is  but  an  hour's  ride  by  rail  from 
Buffalo,  N.  Y.  Niagara  Falls  is  also  the  terminal  point  of  the 
great  trunk-lines,  the  New  York  Central,  the  Erie,  West  Shore, 
Lehigh  Valley  and  Grand  Trunk.  The  Michigan  Central  brings 
its  passengers  almost  to  the  doors  of  the  monastery.  Its  station, 
"  Falls  View,"  is  but  a  stone's  throw  from  the  Hospice. 

Who  will  defray  the  expense  of  such  an  undertaking?  The 
best  answer  to  this  question  is  to  ask,  Who  will  not  help  such  a 
noble  work  ?  Surely  no  one  devoted  to  Our  Lady  of  the  Scapular. 
All  those  contributing  receive  a  certificate  entitling  them  to  a 


THE  HOSPICE  OF  MT.  CARMEL   AT  NIAGARA  FALLS.       575 


PROPOSED  HOSPICE. 


perpetual  share  in  the  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  which  is  twice 
a  week  offered  for  them,  but  a  monthly  Mass  is  celebrated  for 
those  who  collect  the  donations  of  others. 

The  names  of  special  benefactors  will  be  engraved  on  marble 
tablets  to  be  placed  in  the  halls  of  the  Hospice. 

On  the  obverse  side  of  the  certificate  is  the  miraculous 
picture  of  Our  Lady  of  Mount  Carmel,  which  is  a  true  copy  of 
the  famous  representation  which,  according  to  tradition,  was 
painted  by  St.  Luke.  In  the  12th  century,  the  original 
picture  was  brought  from  Mt.  Carmel  to  Naples  by  the  religious 
of  the  Carmelite  Order  when  forced  by  the  rapacity  of  the 
Mohammedans  to  leave  the  peaceful  solitude  of  their  mystic 
mount  by  the  sea,  and  seek  refuge  in  less  hostile  lands.  For 
upwards  of  a  century  the  same  painting  hung  over  the  high  altar 
of  the  church  of  the  Carmelite  Friars  in  Naples.  During  the 
jubilee  of  the  year  1500,  it  was  borne  processionally  in  the  great 
pilgrimage  to  Rome. 

Throngs  of  sick,  lame,  etc.,  lined  the  pathway  of  the  pil- 
grims to  the  very  gates  of  the  Eternal  City,  and  all  along 
marvellous  cures  and  miracles  marked  the  glorious  passage  of  the 
favored  Madonna.  The  tale  of  these  marvels  preceded  their 
arrival  and  reached  the  ears  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff.  The  Pope 
met  the  pilgrims,  and  carried  the  picture  himself  at  the  head  of 
the  procession  to  St.  Peter's.  Every  day  His  Holiness  blessed 
numberless  crowds  with  the  picture  and  granted  many  Indul- 
gences to  the  recitation  of  prayers  made  before  it.  The  picture 


576  CONFIDENCE. 

sent  to  benefactors  is  an  exact  reproduction  of  this  marvellous 
picture  of  the  12th  century. 

In  conclusion,  those  who  in  any  way  help  the  work  at 
Niagara  Falls  should  not  forget  that  in  becoming  benefactors  they 
spiritually  benefit  themselves.  Not  only  in  this  life  do  they  share 
in  the  great  works  of  the  Order,  but,  what  is  of  more  importance, 
after  death  they  will  be  assisted  by  its  suffrages. 

When,  perhaps,  their  friends  shall  have  forgotten  them,  they 
will  still  be  remembered  at  the  Hospice  of  Mount  Carmel,  at 
Niagara  Falls,  where  as  unceasingly  as  the  roll  of  the  mighty 
waters,  the  praises  of  her  brethren  shall  ascend,  like  the  spray- 
cloud,  to  the  throne  of  Mary  for  their  benefactors. 


CONFIDENCE. 

By  M.  T.  M. 

TRIVE  on  !    nor  stop  to  pause 

When  nature  struggle's  strong ; 
Bear  all — the  nails,  and  hard-pressed  thorns  ; 
It  won't  be  long  ! 

That  cruel  word,  and  stinging  scorn ; 
Bear  all,  misunderstood, 

For  His  sweet  sake ; 
It  won't  be  long ! 

Strive  on  !     He  soon  will  give  thee  rest ; 

Pause  not; 

Leave  all  to  Him  :  thou  dost  not  understand. 
He  only  knoweth  best ! 


AN   ONLY   SON. 

By  B.  A. 
I. 

F  any  one  had  asked  the  boys  at  St.  Jude's  Episcopal 
School  who  was  the  most  popular  among  them,  the 
chances  are  ten  to  one  that  they  would  have  said 
"Dod"  Stevenson.  Stevenson's  name  was  George, 
but  schoolboys  have  a  dialect  quite  their  own,  you 
know,  and  no  one  ever  thought  of  calling  him  anything  but 
"  Dod." 

Dod's  good  humor  was  imperturbable ;  he  befriended  all  the 
little  fellows  when  thrashed  by  the  big  bullies  of  the  school,  and, 
even  when  he  was  in  disgrace,  the  teachers  liked  him.  For  all 
that,  Dod  was  quite  famous  as  the  ringleader  in  every  schoolboy 
prank,  so,  of  course,  he  was  the  most  popular  boy  in  the  school. 

The  Reverend  Mr.  Beckwith  was  the  principal  of  the  estab- 
lishment, and  the  Reverend  Mr.  Beckwith  couldn't  make  head 
or  tail  of  Dod.  For  all  that,  the  worthy  gentleman,  who  was 
stern  and  relentless  with  most  delinquents,  always  bore  a  soft  spot 
in  his  heart  for  a  certain  boy  with  a  freckled  face,  very  long  arms 
and  legs  and  a  brown  curly  crop,  and  who,  it  may  be  remarked, 
tried  him  very  sorely  too. 

So  early  one  November  morning,  when  Mr.  Beckwith  sent  for 
him  to  come  to  his  private  room,  Dod  was  on  the  lookout  for  a 
"  wigging."  He  ran  over  in  his  mind  the  last  list  of  his  mis- 
demeanors, and  bravely  presented  himself  at  Mr.  Beckwith's  door. 
When  he  came  out,  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  later,  his  face  was 
very  grave,  and  Roger  Kenrick,  Dod's  "chum,"  who  had  been 
hanging  anxiously  about  the  door,  asked  him  : 

"What's  up?" 

"  I'm  going  home,"  said  Dod,  succinctly. 

"  Whe-ew  !  what  you  been  doing,  old  man  ?"  said  Kenrick, 
following  him  to  his  room. 

577 


578  AN   ONLY  SON. 

"  Nothing.  Father's  sent  for  me.  Mother  died  last  night, 
Roger." 

"I'm  awfully  sorry,  old  fellow,"  said  Keurick  sympa- 
thetically. "Anything  I  can  do  for  you? — help  pack  your  trunk 


"No,  thanks,"  said  Dod  briskly,  and  Kenrick  left  him  to 
himself. . 

Dod  commenced  to  pack  his  trunk  in  his  usual  uncere- 
monious fashion,  pitching  in  a  heterogeneous  collection,  and  end- 
ing off  with  the  Bible,  and  his  Prayer-book  and  Hymnal  bound 
together.  They  were  the  last  things  his  mother  had  given  him. 
Once  he  caught  himself  whistling  over  his  work  and  stopped  with 
rather  a  sense  of  guilt.  The  fact  was  this :  the  present  Mrs. 
Stevenson  was  only  Dod's  stepmother,  and  he  had  never  known 
her  well  enough  to  love  her.  It  is  true  he  had  known  no  other 
mother  since  he  was  ten  years  old,  but  he  had  spent  almost  all  of 
his  boy-life  at  the  Episcopal  school,  and  during  the  summer  vaca- 
tions he  was  left  to  take  care  of  himself  a  good  deal.  For  Mrs. 
Stevenson  was  an  invalid,  and  then  Dod,  with  all  his  pranks,  had 
the  reputation  of  being  a  "  safe  "  boy. 

Mr.  Stevenson  met  his  son  at  the  station.  The  sight  of  his 
father  made  Dod  feel  worse  than  anything  else.  He  looked  sad 
and  careworn  and  put  Dod  in  an  agony  by  embracing  him  in  the 
depot,  to  which  however,  be  it  said  to  his  credit,  the  latter  sub- 
mitted with  very  good  grace. 

"  Your  mother  died  suddenly,  George,"  said  Mr.  Stevenson, 
as  they  got  into  the  carriage,  "  otherwise  I  would  have  certainly 
seen  that  you  got  home  in  time.  Her  last  words  were  for  you." 

Dod  bowed  his  head.     He  didn't  know  exactly  what  to  say. 

The  house  was  dark  and  dismal.  The  servants  moved  about 
noiselessly,  the  blinds  were  drawn,  and  the  silence  of  death  seemed 
to  be  in  every  room. 

The  day  after  the  funeral,  Mr.  Stevenson  remained  closeted 
for  a  long  time  with  Mr.  Corcoran,  his  confidential  friend.  Old 
Joseph  Corcoran  was  a  plain  man,  but  he  had  a  deal  of  common 
sense  and  solid  goodness,  two  qualifications  which,  taken  together, 


AN  ONLY  SON.  579 

go  toward  forming  a  good  member  of  society,  no  matter  to  what 
class  he  may  belong. 

Corcoran  was  a  little  man  with  stooping  shoulders.  His 
hair  was  iron-gray,  and  he  wore  spectacles  which  appeared  to 
be  a  source  of  constant  annoyance  to  him,  as  they  wouldn't 
stay  on  his  nose  for  any  time  worth  mentioning,  and  when 
pushed  over  his  forehead  in  a  moment  of  heated  conversation, 
they  were  apt  to  fly  off  at  any  minute  owing  to  the  excessive  bald- 
ness of  his  head. 

James  Stevenson  ordered  a  bottle  of  wine  as  an  accompani- 
ment to  conversation,  and  he  thought  it  worth  while  to  inform  his 
friend  as  to  its  vintage  and  its  price  per  bottle.  He  was  about 
the  age  of  his  vis-d-vis,  but  showed  fewer  marks  of  care.  He  had 
the  appearance  of  a  man  who  lived  well. 

"Joseph,"  Mr.  Stevenson  was  saying,  bringing  his  fist  down 
emphatically  upon  the  table,  "  the  facts  are  simply  these  :  I  am  a 
man  of  position ;  I  have  plenty  of  money,  sir,  plenty  of  money, 
and  my  son  ought  to  have  and' shall  have  everything  that  his  situ- 
ation requires." 

"  Very  true,"  said  Joseph,  looking  at  the  table  as  though  he 
expected  it  to  explode  under  Mr.  Stevenson's  emphatic  blow. 
"  Very  true,  sir." 

"  The  question  under  discussion  is  this,"  Stevenson  con- 
tinued, checking  off  the  two  points  on  his  fingers — "shall 
George  go  to  college,  or  shall  he  go  into  business  with  me  ?" 

"  I  don't  know  as  I  can  advise  you  there,"  said  Corcoran, 
diffidently. 

"Why  not?  I  have  great  confidence  in  your  judgment, 
Joseph.  Why,  man,  you  have  a  son  of  your  own." 

"  Well,  unfortunately,  the  point  under  discussion  is  one  I 
shall  not  be  in  a  condition  to  consider  in  regard  to  Joe,"  said  Cor- 
coran. 

"  Oh)  the  circumstances  are  different,  my  dear  Joseph,  of 
course,"  said  Mr.  Stevenson,  patronizingly,  "  the  circumstances  are 
quite  different.  But  who  knows  ?  Some  day  you  may  be  able — • 
However,  we  were  speaking  of  George." 


58O  AN  ONLY  SON. 

"As  you  ask  my  opinion,  I  should  think  that  George  would 
have  some  say  in  the  matter  himself,"  observed  .Corcoran,  bluntly. 

Mr.  Stevenson  did  not  appear  to  have  looked  upon  that  side 
of  the  subject  before. 

"  Very  true,"  he  said.  "  I  think  he  wants  to  go  immediately 
into  business.  George  is  very  energetic,  you  know." 

"  Well,  a  college  education  is  not  absolutely  necessary," 
remarked  Corcoran,  broadly,  seeing  that  he  was  expected  to  say 
something. 

"  No,"  agreed  Stevenson,  lighting  a  fresh  cigar,  "  and  other- 
wise I'm  sure  I've  given  George  every  advantage." 

The  other  was  silent. 

"  I  flatter  myself  my  son  has  had  a  good  education,"  Steven- 
son continued.  "  I  don't  think  I  need  reproach  myself  on  that 
score." 

Corcoran  glanced  at  him  irresolutely  several  times,  and 
opened  and  shut  his  mouth  as  often  without  speaking.  Then  he 
looked  his  friend  full  in  the  face. 

"  Have  you  nothing  to  reproach  yourself  with,  James  ?"  he 
asked. 

Stevenson  moved  uneasily  in  his  chair.  "  I  don't  know  what 
you  mean,"  he  said. 

"  Yes,  you  do.  You  remember  perfectly  well  the  promise 
you  made  the  day  George's  own  mother  died.  She  made  you 
give  her  your  word  when  you  were  on  your  knees  at  her  bedside, 
to  bring  the  baby  up  a  Catholic.  Why,  you  told  me  of  it  your- 
self at  the  time,  James.  Did  you  ever  know  that  she  asked  me 
once  to  look  after  George  and  help  you  to  keep  your  word  ?  You 
remember  it  all,  Jim,  but  you  won't  acknowledge  it." 

"  I  wasn't  able  to  keep  such  a  promise  as  that,  Joseph," 
Stevenson  replied,  carelessly.  "  I  don't  know  the  first  thing  about 
church  and  all  that  sort  of  thing.  Leave  that  for  the  women.  I 
could  no  more  imagine  myself  teaching  George  his  religion  than  I 
can  imagine  teaching  him  Choctaw." 

"  I  assure  you  there's  nothing  difficult  about  it,"  observed 
Corcoran,  dryly. 


AN  ONLY  SON.  581 

"Oh,  it  gives  a  man  a  certain  prestige  to  belong  to  the 
Episcopal  Church,"  said  Stevenson,  knocking  the  ashes  off  his 
cigar.  "  Don't  know  why,  I'm  sure,  but  the  fact  remains.  And 
social  standing  certainly  counts,  and  no  mistake.  You're  a  smart 
sort  of  a  fellow,  if  you  didn't  have  a  college  education,  Joseph," 
added  Stevenson,  impulsively. 

A  faint  flush  came  to  Corcoran's  face.  He  rose  abruptly. 
"  We've  been  friends  a  long  while,  Jim,"  he  said,  a  little 
nervously,  "  ever  since  we  went  as  boys  together  to  St.  Francis7 
parochial  school.  That  was  thirty-five  years  ago.  I  should  like 
George  to  know  my  boy  in  the  same  way." 

Stevenson  held  out  his  hand  cordially.  "Certainly,  that's 
right,"  he  said.  "  Send  Joe  up  to  see  him,  Corcoran." 

Dod  opened  his  windows  with  a  sigh  of  relief  after  the 
funeral.  His  room  was  very  much  as  he  had  left  it  at  the  close 
of  the  last  holidays.  There  was  the  old  battered  writing-desk 
against  the  wall,  the  set  of  book-shelves  with  their  usual  comple- 
ment of  Jules  Verne  and  Oliver  Optic,  the  old  picture  over  the 
mantel — ah,  yes  !  Dod  gave  a  long  look  at  that. 

It  was  a  three-quarter  painting  of  our  Lord,  with  extended 
hands,  expressive  not  so  much  of  blessing  as  of  invitation.  The 
subject  was  treated  in  much  the  usual  style,  but  the  face  was  quite 
a  masterpiece  in  its  way.  Generally  speaking,  it  is  difficult  to 
find  a  head  of  our  Lord,  which  is  gentle  without  being  effeminate, 
or  beautiful  without  having  too  little  of  the  Divine  about  it. 

Dod  remembered  how,  as  a  little  boy,  he  had  often  stood 
before  the  picture,  only  half-realizing  Whom  it  portrayed,  and 
imagined  that  those  eyes  were  turned  tenderly  upon  him,  and 
those  hands  extended  to  invite  him  nearer.  His  father  had  told 
him  once  that  the  painting  had  belonged  to  George's  own  mother, 
so  perhaps  the  sense  of  awe  it  always  awakened  arose  from  the 
connection  in  his  boyish  mind  between  the  dead  mother  and  the 
strange  face  in  the  picture.  What  had  always  been  a  source  of 
childish  wonder  to  Dod,  however,  was  the  Heart  that  shone 
through  the  folds  of  our  Saviour's  robe, — a  human  heart  with  a 
wreath  of  thorns  about  it. 


582  AN   ONLY  SON. 

For  lack  of  something  better  to  do,  Dod  ransacked  the  old 
writing-desk,  laughed  over  reminiscences  of  his  boyhood,  and 
destroyed  some  dozens  or  so  of  Roger  Kenrick's  letters,  written 
from  the  country  and  dating  from  the  age  when  Sunday-fishing  and 
bird-nesting  were  the  rule.  Dod  burned  them  in  the  empty  fire- 
place. They  were  the  last  link  between  his  boyish  years  and  the 
years  to  come.  The  pile  was  a  large  one  and  the  smoke  curled 
up  and  half  obscured  the  picture  from  his  sight.  Did  the  Divine 
Face  above  seem  to  shine  down  upon  him  with  a  tenderer  light 
than  before? 

Dod  and  his  father  had  had  a  satisfactory  talk,  and  it  had 
been  decided  that  Dod  should  go  into  business.  George' & 
future,  George's  place  in  society,  and  George's  friends  being  sub- 
jects of  the  greatest  importance,  it  was  to  be  supposed  that  every- 
thing else  would  be  forgotten.  This  being  the  case,  Mr.  Stevenson 
must  not  be  blamed  if  a  little  matter  of  which  he  had  intended  to- 
speak  to  his  son  quite  slipped  his  mind  until  the  moment  when 
the  soup  was  being  removed  from  the  dinner-table.  His  powers 
of  speech  then  being  otherwise  unemployed,  Mr.  Stevenson  said : 

"  Did  you  ever  know,  George,  that  your  mother, — your  own 
mother, — was  a  Catholic  ?" 

"  Yes,  sir.     I  had  been  told  so,"  replied  Dod. 

"  Well,  I  suppose  I'm  one  myself,  although  I  allowed  Lucy 
to  raise  you  according  to  her  ideas.  Did  you  ever  feel  a  desire  to- 
follow  your  mother's  religion?" 

"  I  don't  know  as  I  ever  thought  much  about  it,"  said  Dod. 
"  I  guess  I'll  do  as  I  am."  And  that  was  all  the  result  of  Joseph 
Corcoran's  remarks. 

II. 

"I  want  a  hundred  dollars,"  said  Agnes,  and  as  Agues' 
wishes  were  generally  very  mild  ones,  the  family  were  inclined  to 
laugh  at  this  outburst. 

"  Your  request  is  small,  to  say  the  least  of  it,"  said  Joe, 
raising  his  near-sighted  eyes  from  his  book.  "  You  wouldn't 
know  what  to  do  with  the  money  if  you  had  it." 


AN  ONLY  SON.  583 

"Wouldn't  I,  though?  I'd  make  father  get  a  new  over- 
coat, and  take  music-lessons." 

"I  guess  your  crazy.  Father  don't  know  the  Moonlight 
Sonata  from  the  National  Air." 

"Good  gracious,  Joe,  I  meant  I  would  take  the  music- 
lessons  myself." 

"  Oh  !    What  would  you  get  mother  ?" 

"A  new  black  silk  and  the  '  Eureka  clothes- wringer.'  Mrs. 
Kennedy  says  it  saves  half  the  ordinary  labor,"  said  Mrs.  Cor- 
coran, promptly,  with^a  view  to  the  stern  necessities  of  life. 

"  I  guess  I'd  buy  a  lot  of  books,"  put  in  Joe. 

"  I'm  sure  I  don't  know  why  you  spend  all  your  spare  time 
poring  over  books,  Joe,"  his  mother  observed.  "  I  suppose  you 
get  the  liking  for  it  from  your  father.  I  was  never  the  one  to 
waste  my  time  over  any  extra  reading.  It  always  seemed  to  me 
that  one  could  get  along  well  enough  with  the  ordinary  amount  of 
knowledge." 

Agnes  looked  down  at  her  work  to  hide  the  laughter  in  her  face. 

t(  You  seem  to  be  unusually  studious  this  evening,  Joe,  con- 
sidering to-morrow's  Saturday,"  she  remarked,  demurely. 

Joe  gave  a  tremendous  wink  behind  his  Rhetoric,  but  Agnes 
wasn't  looking. 

"  I  won't  have  time  to  study  to-morrow,  I've  got  an  engage- 
ment," said  he,  looking  at  the  ceiling. 

Mrs.  Corcoran  pricked  up  her  ears. 

"I  hope  you  aren't  going  to  play  foot-ball  again,  Joseph," 
she  said.  "You'll  be  killed  some  day.  I  know  you  will." 

"  Rob  Mason  mashed  his  fingers  to  a  jelly  last  time,"  Agnes 
observed,  wickedly. 

"  Oh,  well,  Mason's  always  getting  hurt,"  put  in  her  brother. 

"  I  think  it's  daring  Providence  to  play  such  a  game,"  Mrs. 
Corcoran  remarked  severely.  As  the  kettle  was  heard  singing  on 
the  kitchen  stove  just  then,  she  left  the  room,  leaving  Joe  to 
regard  his  sister  with  wrath  in  his  eye. 

"Now  you've  done  it,"  said  he,  with  an  air  calculated  to 
carry  remorse  to  Agnes'  heart.  But  she  only  laughed. 


584  /IN  ONLY  SON. 

"  I  couldn't  help  it,  Joe,  really  I  couldn't,"  she  said.  "  Your 
face  looked  so  funny,  and  you  know  you'll  go  to  the  game  anyway, 
so  what's  the  use  of  talking  ?" 

"  There's  no  use  in  telling  mother,  though.  Go  sing  us  a 
tune,  Agnes,  that'll  sweeten  her  up." 

So  Agnes  sat  down  to  the  old  piano  and  went  over  one  or  two 
of  the  little  songs  she  sang  so  well.  Fortunately  for  Agnes,  she 
had  never  known  a  "  method."  Being  natural  in  everything  she 
did,  she  simply  sang  the  way  the  Lord  intended  her  to  sing,  and 
the  chances  are  that  it  may  have  been  an  improvement  on  the 
Italian  agonies  of  most  parlor  prima  donnas. 

Joe's  admiration  of  Agnes  was  simply  unbounded,  and  when 
she  sang ! — well,  in  his  estimation,  Patti  herself  might  pause  to 
listen. 

"  Say,  Sis,"  he  said,  when  she  had  finished,  "  if  I  had  that 
hundred  dollars,  you'd  have  the  best  fandango  professor  that  Italy 
could  ship  over." 

"  Oh,  then  you  mean  to  import  one  specially  for  the  pur- 
pose," laughed  Agnes,  looking,  for  all  that,  just  as  pleased  as 
though  Joe's  wishes  could  be  realized. 

She  had  reached  the  middle  of  her  prettiest  song  when  Mr. 
Corcoran's  voice  came  from  the  door-way. 

"That's  right,  sing  away,  Agnes.  I've  brought  you  an 
audience  worth  having  this  time."  Behind  him  was  Dod  Steven- 
son. 

Dod  was  made  to  feel  at  home  immediately. 

"  This  is  my  sister,"  said  Joe,  introducing  Agnes  in  much 
the  same  tone  as  he  might  have  indicated  a  prize  work  of  art. 

"  We'll  have  some  music  after  tea,"  said  Mr.  Corcoran.  "  I 
met  George  and  brought  him  home  to  supper,  Lizzie." 

"  That's  right,"  said  Mrs.  Corcoran,  hospitably.  Outside  the 
parlor-door,  however,  that  lady  arrested  her  lord  and  master  by 
the  coat-button. 

"Joseph,"  she  said,  "what  possessed  you  to  go  and  bring 
him  home  to  tea?" 

"  Why  ?     Didn't  I  do  right  ?" 


AN   ONLY  SON.  585 

"  Didn't  you  do  right  ?  Do  you  know  there  isn't  a  pound 
of  meat  in  the  house?" 

"  Good  gracious,  Lizzie,  is  that  all  ?  Well,  I  guess  he  can 
eat  what  we  have  ourselves." 

Mrs.  Corcoran  folded  her  arms  calmly. 

"  Well,  Mr.  Corcoran,"  she  said,  "  I  should  think  you'd  have 
more  pride."  Joseph  laughed. 

"Say,  George,"  he  called,  "come  here  and  listen  to  what  my 
wife  says."  (George  appeared  at  the  kitchen  door.)  "She's 
blowing  me  up  for  not  letting  her  know  you  were  coming.  She 
says  there's  no  meat  for  supper." 

"  We'll  suppose  it's  a  fast-day  and  that  I'm  a  Roman  Cath- 
olic, Mrs.  Corcoran,"  declared  Dod,  promptly. 

"  Can't  we  help  get  tea  ?"  said  Joe  :  "  Dod,  you  can  cut  the 
bread." 

Thereupon,  with  much  laughter,  Dod  was  provided  with  the 
loaf  and  bread-knife.  The  supper-table  was  a  jolly  one.  Mrs. 
Corcoran  laughed  more  than  she  had  done  for  a  month,  for  Joe 
and  Agnes  were  in  extraordinary  spirits,  and  Dod  was  the  life  of 
the  party.  It  was  the  first  glimpse  of  real  home-life  the  latter  had 
ever  seen. 

During  the  eight  or  nine  months  which  passed  after  his  first 
visit  to  the  Corcorans,  Dod  learned  to  prize  Joe's  friendship ;  and 
Roger  Kenrick  having  started  into  business  in  the  city,  Dod 
planned  a  meeting  between  him  and  Joe. 

The  three  friends  were  in  Stevenson's  rooms.  As  he  intro- 
duced the  two  men,  Dod  could  not  help  noticing  the  comparison 
between  them.  Corcoran  was  tall  and  awkward,  with  thin, 
irregular  features,  sandy  hair,  and  the  strained,  eager  expression 
peculiar  to  near-sighted  persons.  Kearick  was  dressed  fault- 
lessly, and  he  had  much  more  pleasing  features  than  Corcoran, 
although  they  lacked  the  latter's  intelligence.  Having  spent  six 
months  in  England,  he  had  returned  afflicted  with  a  drawl  and  a 
monocle. 

"  Joe,"  Dod  said,  "  this  is  the  Roger  Kenrick  you've  heard 
me  speak  of  so  often." 


586  AH  ONLY  SON. 

"  Glad  to  see  you,  sir."  said  Joe,  heartily.  "  Yes,  Stevenson 
has  spoken  of  you  scores  of  times." 

Kenrick  made  some  commonplace  remark,  giving  Corcoran  a 
quick  but  exhaustive  survey  as  he  did  so. 

During  dinner  Kenrick  vouchsafed  to  be  amusing.  A  half- 
year's  sojourn  abroad  is  common  enough  nowadays,  but  as  Steven- 
son and  Corcoran  had  not  had  that  experience,  Kenrick  felt 
privileged  to  expatiate  on  the  subject.  He  had  been  thoroughly 
Anglicanized. 

"  Things  are  done  so  very  diiferently  across  the  '  pond,'  you 
know,"  as  he  facetiously  remarked. 

"  There's  nothing  like  going  abroad  now  and  then,"  said 
the  elder  Stevenson,  refilling  his  wine-glass.  "  Gives  a  man 
prestige.  George,  you  ought  to  take  a  trip  next  summer. 
People  are  going  to  the  Italian  lakes  a  good  deal  just  now.  You 
might  go  there.  Money  is  no  object, — no  object  at  all.  I've 
plenty  of  that." 

Dod  looked  uncomfortable.  His  father's  speeches  jarred  on 
him  sometimes. 

"  Have  some  champagne,  Corcoran,"  he  said,  quickly,  but 
Joe's  first  glass  was  not  emptied  yet. 

Kenrick  wasn't  particular  about  having  his  refilled.  "  He 
could  drink  as  much  without  showing  it  as  any  man,"  he  said. 

The  tongue  of  Stevenson,  Sr.,  became  loosened  as  the  even- 
ing proceeded.  Kenrick  copied  the  old  man  in  everything  he  did, 
in  the  quantity  he  drank,  in  the  tone  of  his  conversation,  even  in 
the  matter  of  his  opinions. 

When  they  rose  from  the  table,  he  took  Dod  aside.  "Er — 
Stevenson,  who's  your  friend  ?"  he  said. 

"  One  of  the  nicest  fellows  I  know,"  began  Dod,  eagerly. 

"  He's  a  cad,"  interrupted  Kenrick. 

Stevenson  reddened  with  anger,  but  disdained  to  reply. 

"  Look  here,  Roger,"  he  said,  "  I'll  send  for  a  cab  and  have 
you  taken  home.  You  can't  walk." 

"All  right,"  said  Kenrick,  stupidly. 

(To  be  continued.') 


JUNE   LILIES. 

By  Eli^a  Allen  Starr. 

LILY  of  the  field, 

So  radiant  in  thy  grace, 
Close  to  my  Lord's  dear  Heart 

Thy  glowing  cup  I  place ; 
Fresh  with  that  nectared  dew 

The  first,  white  dawn  distils, 
Before  the  day  has  smiled 

Above  the  placid  hills. 

O  Month  of  bloom,  the  world 

By  thee  is  steeped  in  bliss, 
And  wins,  like  Jesus'  brow, 

A  Virgin  Mother's  kiss  : 
For  she  that  month  must  love 

And  in  its  joy  take  part, 
Which  hymns,  in  strains  so  sweet, 

Her  own  Son's  loving  Heart. 

Bright  lilies  of  the  field, 

Like  living  tongues  of  flame, 
The  ardors  of  His  Heart 

Your  petaled  charms  proclaim. 
And  from  the  lush  June  grass 

Of  meadow-lands,  we  bear 
Your  gorgeous  blooms,  to  aid 

The  ardors  of  our  prayer. 


58T 


A  HEROINE   IN   REAL   LIFE. 

THE  WIFE  OF  LIEUT.-COL.  GARESCHE. 

By  M.  L.  Meany. 

[ERNADETTE,  the  little  handmaid  of  Our  Lady  of 
Lourdes,  it  is  related,  did  not  like  those  biogra- 
phies of  Saints  which  represented  them  as  fault- 
less. She  desired  to  be  told  of  their  struggles 
against  natural  defects,  their  falls  and  uprisings ; 
"  for,  after  all,  things  must  have  happened  thus,"  she  wisely 
argued.  "  Their  saintliness  could  not  always  go  on  so  smoothly, 
and  as  it  were  on  wheels.  They  certainly  had  their  nature,  their 
share  of  the  consequences  of  original  sin,  their  own  disposition, 
just  as  I,  who  have  so  bad  a  disposition.  The  contemplation  of 
their  complete  and  total  triumph  teaches  me  nothing.  It  is  by 
seeing  how  they  struggled  that  I  could  know  how  to  do  the  same. 
They  are  so  celestial,  those  saintly  characters,  as  to  be 
rather  discouraging  to  us,  who  are  so  far  from  that  state.  They 
should  be  described  as  beings  like  us,  that  we  may  learn  how  to 
become  like  them." 

Who  has  not  felt  this  want,  without  venturing  to  put  it  into 
words  ?  The  life  of  a  Saint  "  teaches  "  us  "  nothing."  Brave 
little  Sister  Bernard,  who  was  not  afraid  or  ashamed  to  acknowl- 
edge it !  The  very  year  after  her  frank  avowal  was  printed  in 
Rome  (1887),  America  gave  to  Catholics  what  seems  a  full 
rejoinder,  in  the  pages  of  Col.  Garesche's  Biography,1  showing  the 
soul-struggles  of  the  wife  of  the  lamented  young  hero. 

Printed  for  private  circulation  only,  this  handsome  volume 
of  500  pages  has  all  the  interest  of  a  family  history.  It  intro- 
duces the  readers  to  countless  persons ;  has  scenes  and  incidents  of 
war  and  peace,  joy  and  sorrow  ;  its  events  are  of  the  most  varied 
character,  from  the  elevated  regions  of  mystical  theology  to  the 

1  Biography  of  Lieut.-Col.  Julius  P.  Garesche,  Assist.  Adjutant-General,  U.  S. 
Army.  By  his  Son.  Lippincott  Company,  Philadelphia,  1887. 

588 


A  HEROINE  IN  REAL  LIFE.  589 

common-place  of  lukewarmness  and  the  fretfulness  of  worldliness 
— but  it  is  through  all  a  charming  romance  in  real  life,  a  love-tale 
of  absorbing  interest.  The  love,  however,  is  of  the  pure  Catholic 
type ;  a  passion  no  less  holy  than  fervent  and  strong.  The  hero 
and  heroine  (such  they  were  in  every  sense),  first  met  when  Julius 
was  at  his  parents'  home  on  leave  of  absence  from  his  post  in 
Mexico.  It  was  New  Year's  Eve.  If  the  young  lady  was  at 
first  sight  prepossessed  in  favor  of  the  "  tall,  handsome  young  man 
of  twenty-seven  years,"  with  his  many  graces  of  mind  and  body, 
he  was  even  more  charmed  with  her  whom  his  mother  had  long 
wished  to  embrace  as  daughter. 

"  It  was  Mariquitta's  first  winter  in  society.  Exceedingly 
beautiful,  of  a  gay  and  happy  disposition,  and  highly  gifted  in 
mind  and  heart,  as  well  as  in  personal  attractions,  she  was  receiv- 
ing a  great  deal  of  attention  and  was  eagerly  sought  after  by  the 
young  gentlemen  of  St.  Louis.  Warmly  attached  to  her  own 
family,  she  did  not  feel  that  same  almost  idolizing  love  for  Julius 
as  he  from  the  very  first  felt  for  her,  and  which  remained 
the  same  through  all  his  after-life,  even  to  the  moment  of  his 
death.  His  was  an  intense  and  absorbing  love  from  the  very  begin- 
ning ;  hers,  love  that  increased  only  after  marriage.  And  then  it 
became  more  and  more  ardent,  until  it,  too,  amounted  almost  to 
idolatry.  .  .  .  Their  courtship  was  of  short  duration. 
Scarcely  six  weeks  elapsed  between  their  first  acquaintance  and 
the  nuptial  ceremony  in  the  old  St.  Louis  Cathedral,  celebrated  by 
Bishop,  now  Archbishop,  Kenrick.  On  the  19th  of  February, 
1849,  the  tall,  manly,  handsome  soldier  clasped  hands  and  joined 
souls  with  the  lovely,  fair  being,  who  stood  by  his  side  like  a 
flower  bending  on  its  slender  stalk." 

The  young  officer's  time  of  leave  passed  all  too  quickly,  and 
the  third  day  of  May  beheld  their  departure  for  his  distant  post 
at  Point  Isabel.  His  happiness  was  complete.  But  the  bride 
was  a  victim  to  filial  affection.  Her  first  letter  to  her  parents 
foreshadowed  a  time  of  temptation. 

"  It  is  just  the  hour  I  parted  from  you  yesterday  for  perhaps 
an  indefinite  time.  My  heart  is  rent  at  the  thought  of  our  last 


590 


A  HEROINE  IN  REAL   LIFE. 


adieus,  and  I  offer  to  God  all  my  grief  that  He  may  soften  yours, 
and  give  you  complete  rest  of  mind  and  body.  If  anything  could 
dissipate  the  bitterness  of  my  thoughts,  it  is  certainly  the  proofs 
of  affection  that  my  Jules  has  given  me  from  the  moment  of  our 
separation.  I  feel  deeply  grateful  to  him,  and  I  love  him  with 
all  my  heart.  But  can  I  ever  forget  you,  my  dear  Parents? 
The  recollection  of  your  tender  love  and  all  that  you  have  done 
for  me  will  never  leave  me  !  Oh  !  no,  I  feel  that  even  now  the 
thought  of  you  will  always  be  present  to  my  mind,  and  that  my 
most  ardent  desire  will  be  to  find  myself  once  more  among  you. 
As  I  was  telling  Jules  this  morning,  I  would  give  anything  on 
earth  to  possess  the  gift  of  seeing  and  knowing  everything  that 
happens  to  you  each  hour  of  the  day.  ...  I  suffered  so 
much  that  I  hope  my  prayers  and  the  offering  of  my  grief  have 
been  granted  through  the  motive  that  I  had.  O  my  dear,  very 
dear  Parents,  how  can  I  ever  console  myself  for  our  separation  ? 
I  feel  my  courage  sinking  when  I  think  that  every  moment  takes 
me  farther  and  farther  from  you. 

********** 
"  Yesterday  I  said  the  office  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  for 
you  all.     I  shall  say  it  every  day  for  your  intention.     My  next 
letter  will  be  for  my  dear  little  Sisters." 

If  this  letter  seems  incredible  from  one  who  had  so  lately 
received  the  nuptial  benediction  that  was  to  strengthen  her  for 
forgetting  the  old  state  of  life  and  pressing  forward  to  the  duties 
of  the  new,  what  shall  be  thought  of  this  reminiscence  of  her 
wedding  day,  written  from  Point  Isabel,  May  19th? 

"  Three  months  ago  to-day  I  pronounced  the  terrible  Yes 
which  forces  me  now  to  be  so  far  from  you.  On  the  19th  of  Feb- 
ruary at  this  hour  I  was  desolate  and  overwhelmed  with  grief.  I 
had  not  as  yet  started  for  the  church,  but  I  had  already  received 
your  blessing,  and  I  felt,  O  my  beloved  Parents,  that  in  this 
blessing  you  told  me  good-bye  and  confided  me  to  God ;  because 
only  He  can  now  console  and  help  me  to  bear  the  cruel  pains 
which  our  separation  causes  me.  I  wish  no  longer  to  speak  of 


A  HEROINE  IN  REAL   LIFE.        .  591 

this,  for  I  am  not  understood  ;  I  concentrate  in  myself  all  my 
affections  for  you.  I  know  that  you  are  praying  for  me ;  for  JL 
feel  strong  and  altogether  resigned.  I  will  draw  from  prayer, 
from  correspondence,  and  from  study  the  necessary  helps  to  accept 
Point  Isabel  with  patience,  and  I  can  there  be  almost  happy  when 
I  shall  know  you  are  at  your  ease  and  in  good  health.  Dear, 
dear  Parents,  if  my  loneliness  and  deep  sorrow  could  count  in 
heaven  and  gain  for  you  the  happiness  which  I  so  ardently  desire  ; 
if  you  could  enjoy  all  the  happiness,  which,  without  cessation,  I 
beg  of  God,  I  could  endure  all,  even  our  separation.  I  would  say 
to  myself,  they  are  happy,  and  I  would  be  consoled." 

Then,  with  an  abrupt  transition  to  her  daily  life,  the  poor 
child-bride  of  nineteen,  shows  what  sensible  piety  she  has  been 
taught,  and  her  good  resolutions  to  practise  it : 

"  We  are  since  the  day  of  our  arrival  at  Captain  Hunt's.  He 
and  his  wife  are  very  kind  to  me,  but  I  cannot  get  accustomed  to 
their  table.  Bread  is  not  known  in  this  house  :  it  is  replaced  by 
a  species  of  cake  which  I  like  beyond  measure,  but  the  first 
mouthful  of  which  made  me  sick.  When  I  am  keeping  house  I 
can  procure  for  almost  nothing  different  things  from  the  West 
Indies,  such  as  crabs,  crawfish,  little  fish,  good  lemons,  and  even 
melons.  I  wish  to  become  a  gastronomist,  to  enjoy  occupying 
myself  in  the  kitchen,  and  above  all  never  to  be  idle,  otherwise 
melancholy  would  rapidly  gain  on  me.  Nevertheless,  yesterday  I 
was  gay,  and  I  hope  frequently  to  be  so  when  I  receive  good  news 
from  you." 

The  cares  of  housekeeping,  and  even  the  devoted  love  which 
she  gradually  conceived  for  her  husband,  did  not  altogether  banish 
the  young  wife's  melancholy.  She  still  longed  for  home,  and  as 
he  could  not  obtain  leave,  she  was  sent  to  St.  Louis,  where  her 
health,  which  had  suffered  much  in  the  climate  of  Texas,  was 
partly  restored.  Julius  was  to  join  her  later  on.  But  a  great 
trial  was  in  the  way.  He  was  unjustly  placed  under  arrest  by  his 
commanding  officer,  on  a  charge  not  only  unjust,  but  frivolous. 
Unable  to  join  his  wife  and  pining  for  a  sight  of  the  "  baby-boy  " 
born  to  him  in  St.  Louis,  he  wrote  her  so  touching  an  appeal,  that 


592  A  HEROINE  IN  REAL   LIFE. 

in  spite  of  her  parents'  remonstrances,  she  started  on  the  journey, 
only  to  place  a  dying  child  in  his  arms.  Eight  days  of  alternate 
hope  and  fear  followed.  Even  the  doctor  had  conceived  hope. 
A  novena  had  been  begun  in  thanksgiving  for  little  Julio's  recov- 
ery, when  the  last  agony  came  on.  It  endured  five  hours.  "  We 
even  tried  to  obtain  a  miracle  in  his  behalf,  by  Father  Telmon's 
advice,  who  was  with  us  in  his  last  moments,"  thus  the  afflicted 
father  wrote  to  the  grandparents :  "we  gave  him  to  God,  we  con- 
secrated him  to  the  priesthood,  and  giving  him  a  teaspoonful  of  holy 
water  we  awaited  the  result,  whilst  the  priest  went  to  say  his  Mass 
for  him.  On  my  knees  at  the  foot  of  the  bed  I  united  my  inten- 
tion with  the  priest's,  and  scarcely  had  I  finished  my  prayers  for 
the  Elevation,  when  my  boy  died." 

"  My  first  thought  on  seeing  my  son  die,"  wrote  the  sorrow- 
stricken  mother,  "  was  the  hope  I  would  soon  follow  him ;  but 
Julius'  despair  changed  my  sentiments.  When  I  saw  him  at  my 
feet  begging  my  pardon  and  acknowledging  his  being  the  cause  of 
the  fearful  misfortune  that  overwhelmed  me,  I  could  no  longer 
blame  him,  and  I  felt  I  was  still  needed  on  this  earth.  On  Mon- 
day for  a  moment  I  thought  him  saved  and  before  the  picture  oi 
the  Sacred  Heart  I  wept  tears  of  gratitude,  thanking  God  for  the 
immense  favor  I  thought  He  had  granted  me.  Those  were  the 
last  tears  I  shed. 

"  I  was  near  my  child  in  his  agony,  I  held  him  in  my  arms 
in  his  last  moments,  yet  I  did  not  see  him  die,  for  I  left  the  room 
but  for  a  moment,  and  when  I  returned  I  found  nothing  but  a 
little  corpse.  That  sight  did  not  bring  forth  a  single  tear.  Jules 
was  sobbing  near  me,  but  I  no  longer  felt  anything.  I  dressed 
my  child  myself  ...  A  moment  afterwards  I  leant  over  to 
look  at  him,  he  was  so  disfigured  that  I  felt  my  strength  failing, 
and  allowed  myself  to  be  carried  into  the  adjoining  room.  Since, 
I  have  not  seen  him  !  he  is  gone  forever  !  They  gave  me  a  strong 
dose  of  laudanum  and  ether,  and,  in  the  evening  when  I  awoke, 
I  learned  that  my  child  was  no  longer  in  the  house,  that  he  had 
been  buried  in  the  church,  at  the  foot  of  the  Communion  Table. 
I  have  no  longer  any  courage,  my  life  seems  a  terrible  void." 


A  HEROINE  IN  REAL   LIFE.  593 

In  various  letters  the  poor  mother  refers  to  these  soul- 
struggles,  which  were  sanctifying  her  all  unknown  to  herself. 

Nov.  4th.  .  .  .  "  Jules  does  all  he  ca'n  to  distract  me  ; 
Miss  Bennet  and  the  officers  pay  me  every  attention.  Every  day 
I  take  a  drive  or  a  horse-back  ride.  At  times  I  feel  entirely 
well,  but  whenever  the  thought  of  my  darling  comes,  it  brings 
back  the  nervous  headache.  Jules  was  frightened  by  my  thinness 
the  day  of  my  arrival.  He  thinks  I  have  since  improved  a  great 
deal :  all  that  see  me  are  of  the  same  opinion.  Therefore,  my 
dear  Parents,  you  need  not  worry  yourselves  about  me." 

Nov.  9th.  .  .  .  "I  went  to  Communion  on  the  morning 
I  left  St.  Louis ;  you,  my  dear  Parents,  blessed  me  and  my  child, 
grandfather  also ;  these  benedictions  made  me  feel  strong,  and  yet 
God  did  not  listen  to  you,  He  has  taken  away  my  son,  I  have  no 
longer  a  child.  My  beautiful  little  Julio  is  under  ground,  under 
that  damp  and  cold  ground.  Ah  !  if  I  knew  he  would  have 
found  his  death  here,  who  could  have  induced  me  to  leave 
Limours !  Ah !  Limours,  dear  Limours,  how  my  heart  was 
broken  in  leaving  you  ! 

" He  [Julius]  could  no  longer  reason,  he  was  almost 

crazy ;  would  you  believe,  my  dear  Parents,  he  was  so  glad  to 
have  me  that  the  death  of  his  child  does  not  afflict  him  ?  He 
suffered  only  on  account  of  my  own  sufferings ;  he  continually 
tells  me  that  now  he  is  perfectly  happy,  that  he  did  not  think  he 
could  have  such  great  happiness,  that  he  is  intoxicated  with 
delight.  You  can  have  no  idea  what  effect  his  words  produce  on 
me.  They  cut  me  to  the  heart,  and  at  times  render  me  indig- 
nant. Ah  !  indeed,  it  is  not  thus  I  loved  my  son  !  The  affection 
that  I  bear  you,  my  husband  and  my  sisters  is  certainly  strong, 
yet  that  which  I  bore  my  Julio  was  a  hundred  times  stronger.  It 
was  adoration — worship.  I  loved  him  too  dearly.  God  has 
punished  me ;  but  the  punishment  was  too  great,  it  has  crushed 
me  and  has  closed  my  heart  against  all  that  is  sweet  and  consoling. 
I  no  longer  know  how  to  pray ;  in  fact  I  had  prayed  so,  so  hard  on 
my  knees,  holding  my  dying  son  in  my  arms,  I  cried  to  Heaven  to 
spare  him.  Anyhow  he  would  have  died  in  coming  here ;  for,  in 


594  A  HEROINE  IN  REAL   LIFE. 

spite  of  every  effort,  Jules  could  not  find  a  wet-nurse.  God 
wished  this  beautiful  little  angel,  He  did  not  find  me  worthy  of 
keeping  him.  .  •  .  .  Ah  !  nevertheless,  my  child,  if  you  have 
left  me,  do  not  forget  me ;  God  must  leave  you  the  thought  of 
your  poor  desolate  mother !  One  consolation  for  me  is  that  he 
can  now  pray  for  you,  and  that  he  can  now  render  you  all  you  did 
for  me.  I  never  cease  recommending  you  to  him,  I  tell  him  to 
remember  how  you  loved  him,  all  you  did  for  him." 

Nov.  14th.  [To  her  sister].  ..."  will  you  believe  it, 
you  who  have  seen  me  with  my  Julio  and  who  know  whether  I 
loved  him,  whether  anything  else  could  occupy  my  mind,  how  my 
passionate  love  rendered  me  sometimes  ridiculous ;  will  you 
believe  that  since  the  death  of  this  little  idolized  angel,  I  laugh,  I 
talk,  I  amuse  myself  just  as  if  I  had  never  known  the  happiness 
of  being  a  mother,  and  that  this  happiness  has  been  taken  away 
from  me  ?  I  only  feel  about  me  an  indefinable  emptiness  and  I 
cannot  find  what  is  missing." 

There  is  no  need  to  quote  more  of  the  proofs  how  the  earnest 
Christian  soul  was  carrying  out  the  purpose  she  no  doubt  formed, 
when,  in  the  first  anguish  of  her  bereavement,  she  felt  that  she 
"  was  still  needed  on  earth  "  by  her  husband.  As  he  wrote  to  her 
parents  in  those  early  days  of  loneliness,  "  he  was  himself  aston- 
ished at  his  success  in  making  her  laugh."  We  have  her  own 
acknowledgment  that  she  was  provoked  at  his  apparent  indiffer- 
ence to  their  loss,  yet  she  never  faltered  outwardly  in  duty's  path, 
whatever  the  anguish  of  her  heart  that  missed  her  babe  at  every 
instant.  She  was  learning  to  carry  her  cross. 

"And,  nevertheless,  He  had  no  pity  for  my  affliction,  He 
took  from  me  my  child  without  listening  to  my  supplications  and 
promises.  When  I  go  to  church  I  see  before  me  my  poor  little 
darling  laid  out,  and  then  buried  in  the  cold  ground,  all  decom- 
posed and  worm-eaten,  and  then  I  say  to  myself,  '  What  more  can  I 
ask  of  God?'  "  Thus  Mariquitta  wrote  on  Dec*  13th.  Would  she, 
like  many  struggling  souls,  find  light  spring  from  the  deepest 
darkness  ? 


A  HEROINE  IN  REAL   LIFE.  595 

December  25,  1850. 
<(  MY  DEAR  PARENTS  : 

"My  Christmas  passed  more  gaily  than  I  would  have  imagined ; 
I  went  to  the  midnight  Mass  and  received  Communion.  About 
mid-day  we  had  an  elaborate  egg-nog  which  a  dozen  persons  hon- 
ored. Every  one  was  gay,  and  in  the  evening  we  attended  a  little 
supper  at  one  of  the  young  officer's  quarters,  and  another  about  9 
or  10  o'clock  at  Miss  Bennett's." 

It  seems  strange  to  find  a  Christinas  letter  from  a  mourner 
opening  so  sensibly  and  gaily.  The  Holy  Infant  had  brought  her 
for  a  Christmas  gift,  along  with  Himself,  that  unpretending  yet 
sublime  spirit  of  conformity  which  distinguishes  Saints.  She 
could  pass  easily  from  the  holiest  theme  to  the  trifling  matters  of 
every-day  life.  Four  days  later,  in  continuing  her  letter  (which, 
like  most  of  her  letters  home,  was  a  journal),  she  explains  this 
sudden  change. 

"  — The  death  of  my  child  was  indeed  a  cruel  blow  to  me  ; 
but  I  now  deeply  reproach  myself  with  the  little  submission  I 
showed ;  for  it  was  a  blessing  of  God  to  choose  my  beautiful  little 
angel  rather  than  one  of  you,  or  my  husband,  or  one  of  my  sisters. 
I  sincerely  regret  all  the  feelings  of  doubt  and  despair  that  I 
allowed  myself  to  be  carried  away  with ;  since  Christmas  day  all 
those  feelings  have  disappeared,  as  if  by  enchantment,  and  I  now 
feel  ashamed  of  my  want  of  courage  when  God  is  so  merciful  to 
me.  Pardon  me,  my  dear  Parents,  for  the  profound  sorrow  that 
my  letters  must  have  caused  you  ;  but  truly  up  to  Christmas  day 
I  was  not  mistress  of  myself;  my  sorrow  overspread  me  so  that 
I  allowed  myself  to  be  drawn  away  by  all  sorts  of  horrible 
thoughts  which  rendered  me  perfectly  miserable,  removing  me 
every  day  farther  and  farther  from  God.  Finally,  on  Christmas 
night,  the  Infant  Jesus  blessed  my  Communion,  and,  though  I 
did  not  yet  experience  a  sensible  fervor,  I  felt  myself  altogether 
changed.  I  love  to  imagine  my  Julio  happy,  for  up  to  the  present 
time  I  could  not  believe  in  his  happiness :  I  see  him,  beautiful, 
joyous,  with  Joseph  and  Leontine,"  praying  for  his  poor  Mother, 

2  An.  infant  brother  and  a  young  aunt,  the  memory  of  whom  she  cherished. 


596  A  HEROINE  IN  REAL   LIFE. 

for  you,  and  for  all  those  who  loved  him  so  dearly.  I  do  not 
wish  any  more  to  despair  of  being  one  day  re-united  to  him  and 
I  am  going  to  endeavor  to  become  as  pious,  as  fervent,  as  I  have 
been  impious  since  my  misfortune.  Ah  !  truly,  I  was  not  worthy 
of  .keeping  my  angel,  he  was  too  pure  for  me,  and  it  is  necessary 
that  I  should  become  good,  so  that  God  will  no  longer  take  away 
the  angels  that  he  may  send  me.  I  intend  going  to  Communion 
again  on  New  Year's  day,  so  as  to  commence  the  day  well ;  it 
seems  sad  to  pass  this  day  far  from  you  :  but  the  hope  of  return- 
ing soon  to  Limours  gives  me  a  superb  courage.  Ah  !  what  a 
happiness,  and  how  I  long  already  to  arrive !" 

There  was  surely  what  is  termed  a  radical  change  in  Mrs. 
Garesch6.  She  was  gay,  congenial  with  all,  ready  for  every  social 
duty,  enjoyed  a  ball,  and  playfully  wrote  '  home :'  "  One  can  obtain 
at  Brownsville  everything  requisite  to  arrange  a  very  pretty  toilet, 
and  I  am  so  spoilt  that  I  have  only  to  mention  anything  that  I 
desire  and  I  have  it  immediately.  Decidedly  I  was  created  and 
placed  in  the  world  to  be  nursed  and  spoilt.  It  is  a  vocation  that 
is  not  at  all  disagreeable  to  me." 

Was  she  less  pious  ?     We  have  her  husband's 
this : 

"  Formerly  she  would  not  hear  of  pious  reading  nor  of  the 
Beads ;  now  each  day  she  regularly  says  with  me,  when  there 
occurs  nothing  to  hinder  us,  the  Beads  twice,  and  allows  me 
also  to  read  to  her  a  chapter  of  the  Imitation.  Moreover,  she 
is  gayer,  more  playful,  and  God  blesses  our  household." 

Numberless  proofs  might  be  quoted  of  the  always  "  onward  " 
course  of  that  lovely  and  eventful  life,  which  was  worthy  of  the  wife 
of  the  incomparable  GareschS.  The  book,  while  almost  unequalled 
for  spiritual  reading,  is  as  "  good  as  a  novel "  in  worldly  interest. 
In  both  hero  and  heroine  it  depicts  the  work  of  "  becoming  a 
Saint"  in  a  style  that  would  meet  the  longings  of  Sister  Mary 
Bernard  for  minute  and  practical  information. 


MID-SUMMER   FEASTS   OF   OUR   LADY. 


stands  in 
every  Catholic 
Church  a  statue  of 
the  Mother  of  God,  and  as 
the  eye  glances  from  the 
Sacred  Tabernacle  to  the 
altar  where  the  Blessed  Vir- 
gin's image  is  enshrined, 
there  rises  imperceptibly 
to  the  lips  with  a  little 
thrill  of  exultation  the 
old  cry  of  the  Crusaders, 
"  God  and  Our  Lady  !" 

No  less  surely  is  this  a 
device  for  us  in  the  nine- 
teenth century  because  it 
has  been  transferred  from 
their  banners  to  our  hearts, 
than  it  was  to  the  warriors 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  who 
fought  so  well  and  were 
so  reckless  of  life  and 

blood  by  reason  of  the  motto  which  spurred  them  on.  Just  as  we 
look  for  the  sanctuary-lamp  always  burning  before  the  Blessed 
Sacrament,  so  do  we  seek  for  some  representation  of  our  Blessed 
Lady.  Thus  it  has  ever  been  since  one  of  those  Seven  Last 
Words  of  our  Saviour  on  the  Cross  —  Behold  thy  son  —  bound 
us  so  fast  to  Mother  and  Son  that  nothing  save  loss  of  faith  can 
sever  the  tie. 

It  cannot  be  said  that  this  indifferent  age  has  grown  wearied 
of  the  Mother  of  our  Lord  ;  rather,  and  thank  God  for  it  !  it  has 
also  been  called  the  age  of  our  Lady  ;  and  to  her  children  the 


THE  ANGEL'S  MESSAGE. 
(Segers.) 


597 


598 


MID-SUMMER  FEASTS   OF  OUR  LADY. 


praises  of  this  Mother  are  ever  sweet,  no  matter  how  unceasingly 
repeated  !     Then,  be  they  rich  or  poor,  wise  or  ignorant,  old  or 

young,  every  word 
recalling  her  gracious- 
ness,  her  goodness, 
and  her  favors,  comes 
as  a  balm  to  the  heart 
and  as  a  fresh  pledge 
of  God's  love.  It  must 
always  be  God  and 
our  Lady.  Where  she 
is  not  allowed  to  be 
He  refuses  to  go ; 
and  the  Church  ever 
wise  knew  the  needs 
of  men  as  well  as  the 
influence  of  Mary 
when  it  made  the 
prayer  repeated  by 
lisping  children  and 
tottering  age,  in  joy 
and  in  sorrow  — 
"  Holy  Mary,  Mother 
of  God,  pray  for  us 
sinners  now  and  at  the 
hour  of  our  death." 

There  is  no  period 
or  phase  in  our  Lady's 
life  that  is  not  known 
to  one  or  other  of  her 
clients.  The  Church 
eagerly  cherishes  every 
tradition  connected 
with  the  Mother  of 
God,  because 


"THERE  SHALL  COME  FORTH  A   ROD  OUT    OF  THE  ROOT  OF 

JESSE." 

(Carl  Miiller.) 


everv- 


thing    relating  to  her   is  precious  beyond    estimation.     So,  too, 


MID-SUMMER  FEASTS   OF  OUR  LADY.  599 

art  has  followed  in  the  steps  of  devotion.  Every  period  of  life, 
from  the  time  Mary  knelt  in  her  tender  and  beautiful  maidenhood 
at  the  feet  of  St.  Anne,  listening  in  hushed  reverence  to  the  pro- 
phetic sayings  of  Scripture,  to  the  moment  of  her  glorious 
Assumption,  is  represented  in  painting  and  sculpture.  Artists, 
ancient  and  modern,  the  master  as  well  as  the  novice,  have  essayed 
with  all  their  skill  to  reproduce,  in  one  form  or  another,  some 
scene  from  our  Lady's  life.  Nor  was  it  a  mere  material  scene 
that  they  aimed  at  bringing  upon  their  canvas :  they  strove  to 
represent  under  sensible  forms  the  ideal  beauty  of  the  Virgin 
Mother  as  conveyed  by  some  feast  or  mystery  celebrated  in  the 
Church.  This  is  the  true  aim  of  the  artist,  and  where  this  object 
was  ever  kept  before  his  artistic  vision,  his  production,  though  not 
always  fully  successful,  yet  was  never  an  absolute  failure.  This 
seems  to  be  the  reason  why  every  representation  of  our  Lady  by 
the  Christian  artist,  no  matter  to  what  school  or  nationality  he 
may  belong,  has  something  worthy  of  admiration  in  it. 

August  mid-summer  comes  with  its  quota  of  festivals,  remind- 
ing us  each  in  its  own  way  of  our  Advocate  in  heaven.  On  the 
first  Sunday  of  the  month  falls  the  feast  of  "  Our  Lady  of  Pity," 
the  very  sound  of  which  is  comfort  to  those  bending  wearily 
under  the  weight  of  woes. 

This  is  a  favorite  title  with  the  French,  nearly  every  diocese 
having  its  own  special  feast  of  Our  Lady  of  Pity.  This  fact  may 
account  for  the  choice  of  this  subject  by  the  popular  artist, 
Bouguereau,  whose  painting  we  reproduce  on  the  following 
page.  The  artist  represents  an  afflicted,  broken-hearted  mother 
throwing  herself  in  her  wretchedness  and  misery  upon  the 
knees  of  the  divine  Mother,  whose  countenance  shows  deepest 
sympathetic  love  and  whose  eyes  look  in  pleading  pity  and  mercy 
to  her  Divine  Son  in  heaven.  Instinctively  the  words  of  St.  Ber- 
nard's Memorare  rise  to  the  lips  as  one  gazes  on  the  picture  : 
"  Never  was  it  known,  dearest  Mother,  that  any  one  ever  had 
recourse  to  thy  protection  without  obtaining  relief." 

The  devotional  titles  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  touch  the  fancy 
even  when  they  do  not  reach  the  heart,  and  poets  without  belief  in 


600 


MID-SUMMER  FEASTS  OF  OUR  LADY. 


her  power  have  exquisitely  written  of  her  charms.  Those,  how- 
ever, who  look  deeper  forget  the  poetry  in  the  appalling  fact  that 
it  is  because  of  a  heart  pierced  with  a  sword  that  we  have  these 
tender  names. 


OUR  LADY  OF  PITY. 
(Bouguereau.) 


On  August  5,  is  commemorated  our  Lady  of  the  Snow,  which 
is  connected   with   the  Basilica  of  Saint  Mary   Major  in  Rome. 


MID-SUMMER  FEASTS  OF  OUR  LADY.  6O1 

The  old  manuscripts  have  it,  that  about  the  middle  of  the  fourth 
century  a  wealthy  Roman  and  his  wife  having  no  children  wished 
to  devote  their  riches  in  some  way  to  our  Blessed  Lady,  but  they 
found  it  difficult  to  decide  on  the  best  manner  of  carrying  their 
purpose  into  execution.  Praying  to  Heaven  for  some  special  token 
of  guidance,  they  both  dreamed  the  same  night  that  the  Blessed 
Virgin  bade  them  build  a  church  to  her  honor  upon  that  part  of 
the  Esquiline  Hill  which  they  should  find  on  the  morrow  covered 
with  snow.  This  was  the  night  of  the  fourth  of  August,  just  at 
that  season  when  the  heat  of  an  Italian  summer  is  almost  unbear- 
able. The  good  Roman,  however,  nothing  doubting  of  the  reality 
of  the  vision,  hastened  to  communicate  it  to  Pope  Liberius,  when- 
to  his  surprise  he  found  that  the  Pope  had  received  the  same  reve- 
lation in  a  similar  way. 

The  Pope  then  accompanied  by  several  of  his  clergy  and  by 
this  John,  at  whose  expense  the  church  was  to  be  built,  started 
forth  for  the  Esquiline  where  everything  appeared  as  had  been 
foretold  to  them.  Not  only  was  the  ground  covered  with  snow, 
despite  the  heat  of  the  summer,  but  the  strange  phenomenon  was 
confined  within  certain  limits :  it  covered  a  piece  of  ground  in 
form  and  size  necessary  for  a  church,  and  no  more. 

Such  is  the  ancient  story  of  the  foundation  of  this  Basilica, 
and  the  Romans  have  a  very  pretty  mode  of  perpetuating  its 
memory.  A  shower  of  blossoms  of  the  jasmine  is  made  to  fall 
from  the  roof  of  the  church  during  the  celebration  of  the  first 
Vespers  and  again  during  the  High  Mass,  and  allowed  to  remain 
upon  the  pavement  until  the  feast  is  ended.  Thus,  pious  tradi- 
tions live  among  the  Romans  and  are  as  familiar  to  them  as  house- 
hold words.  As  for  the  church  itself,  it  is  famous  all  the  world 
over  and  noted  for  its  large  and  elaborate  mosaics  representing 
various  subjects,  historical  and  symbolical ;  for.  its  roof  enriched 
with  the  first  gold  from  Peru,  and  a  picture  of  the  Madonna  set 
in  a  frame  of  lapis  lazuli  and  precious  stones. 

Perhaps  a  word  here  about  this  picture  may  not  be  amiss. 
The  artist  is  said  to  be  St.  Luke  the  Evangelist.  The  supposition 
is  that  it  was  brought  by  the  Empress  St.  Helena  from  Jerusalem 


602 


MID-SUMMER  FEASTS   OF  OUR   LADY. 


to  Rome,  where  it  has  always  been  reverenced  with  singular  devo- 
tion by  the  faithful.  St.  Gregory  the  Great  was  bearing  this 
picture  in  solemn  procession  from  St.  Mary  Major's  to  St.  Peter's, 
to  appease  God's  wrath  and  to  beg  Him  in  His  mercy  to  stay  the 
plague  which  was  depopulating  the  city,  when  lifting  his  eyes  he 
saw,  over  the  Mausoleum  of  Hadrian,  the  Archangel  Michael 
sheathing  his  sword,  thereby  declaring  that  the  plague  had  ceased. 

The  last  occasion  on  which  it 
was  used  in  procession  was 
in  1837  for  the  same  purpose 
— to  implore  the  Mother  of 
God  to  intercede  with  her 
Divine  Son  to  remove  from 
them  the  plague  of  cholera. 

August  15,  the  Assump- 
tion of  Our  Lady  into  Heaven, 
called  by  her  devoted  clients 
of  the  fair  Emerald  Isle, 
"Lady  day  in  Harvest"  in 
contradistinction  to  the  25th 
of  March,  which  they  term 
"Ladyday  in  Spring,"  is  a 
feast  of  joy  and  gladness  for 
every  Catholic.  This  is  the  cul- 
mination of  all  our  devotions 
to  her,  for  it  is  the  consumma- 
tion of  the  mysteries  of  that 
ever-wonderful  life  which  was 
filled  to  the  brim  with  the 
deepest  joy  and  the  most  bitter  sorrow.  Tradition  says  the 
death  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  occurred  about  three  o'clock  on  a 
Friday  afternoon  in  the  presence  of  a  number  of  the  disciples, 
and  was  signalized  by  many  miracles.  The  sun  was  obscured 
and  not  only  were  the  sick  healed,  demoniacs  delivered  and 
the  afflicted  consoled  and  strengthened,  but  a  still  greater  num- 
ber of  Jews  and  Gentiles  being  enlightened  confessed  the  true 


THE   MADONNA    OF    ST.   LUKE. 

(In  Basilica  of  St.  Mary  Major.) 


ASSUMPTION   AND    CORONATION. 
(Raphael.) 


6O4  MID-SUMMER.   FEASTS   OF  OUR   LADY. 

faith  and  begged  for  baptism.  There  is  also  a  pretty  legend- 
ary tradition,  which  says  that  the  souls  then  in  Purgatory  were 
released  that  they  might  accompany  their  Mother  to  heaven. 
After  the  precious  body  was  buried,  heavenly  music  was  heard 
about  the  tomb,  and  the  Apostles  agreed  to  watch  night  and  day 
whilst  the  celestial  harmonies  lasted.  When  these  ceased,  the 
cause  was  not  suspected,  for  they  still  believed  themselves  in  pos- 
session of  their  treasure.  Thomas,  always  late  at  the  scenes  of  the 
Resurrection,  had  not  been  present,  either  at  the  death  or  the 
funeral  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  but  arrived  the  third  day  afterwards, 
and  was  inconsolable  at  being  deprived  of  the  happiness  of  seeing 
his  cherished  Mother  for  the  last  time.  Begging  his  brother 
Apostles  to  open  the  holy  tomb,  the  stone  was  rolled  away  from 
the  sepulchre  and,  marvel  of  marvels !  the  sacred  body  was  not 
there,  but  had  been  translated  into  heaven  like  her  Divine  Son's. 
Thus  Thomas'  pious  curiosity  served  to  substantiate  the  Assump- 
tion of  the  Mother,  as  his  doubts,  finally  dispelled,  had  contributed 
so  much  to  prove  the  Resurrection  of  the  Son. 

If  God  shows  Himself  so  wonderful  in  His  Saints  that  the 
heart  of  St.  Francis  de  Sales  exhales  to  this  day  the  perfume  of 
violets,  it  is  not  surprising  that  He  should  have  manifested  Him- 
self much  more  great  and  admirable  towards  His  own  Mother. 
With  what  honor  Jesus  must  have  received  into  the  celestial 
courts  His  well-beloved  and  what  must  have  been  the  greeting  of 
Angels  and  Saints  !  Go  forth,  O  daughter-  of  Sion,  and  see  your 
Queen  whom  the  stars  of  morning  praise,  and  whom  the  children  of 
the  Most  High  bless.  Who  is  this  that  cometh  up  from  the  desert  as 
a  column  of  smoke,  composed  of  every  perfume  f  Who  is  this  that 
seems  like  the  aurora  more  beautiful  than  the  moon,  bright  as  the 
sun,  and  terrible  as  an  army  in  battle  array  f  Who  is  this  that 
cometh  up  from  the  desert  leaning  on  her  Beloved  and  overflowing 
with  delights  f  Who  is  this  iu  whom  the  Divinity  Itself  has  found 
greater  complacency  than  in  all  other  creatures,  and  whom  He  has 
raised  above  all  to  the  throne  of  His  inaccessible  light  and 
majesty  ? 

The  meek   and   lowly   Virgin   who   had   suffered   from   the 


MID-SUMMER  FEASTS   OF  OUR   LADY. 


605 


hardships  of  poverty,  the  persecutions  of  Herod ;  who  had  seen 
her  Divine  Infant  in  want,  shivering  with  cold ;  who  had  heard 
Him  reviled  by  the  Pharisees,  had  walked  with  Him  to  Calvary 


QUEEN   OF   HEAVEN. 
(Segers.) 


and  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross ;  who,  after  His  sacrifice  was 
completed,  had  lived  long  years  on  earth  without  her  Child — yes, 
surely,  this  glorious  Assumption  of  Mary  was  the  triumph  of  her 


6O6 


THOUGHTS  ABOUT  ST.  PETER. 


profound  humility.  No  wonder  the  old  masters  chose  it  continu- 
ally, never  wearying  of  so  fair  a  subject ;  for  many  of  their  famous 
canvases  and  renowned  frescoes,  whose  colors  have  stood  the  test 
of  time  and  exposure,  are  commemorative  of  this  feast  of  the 
Assumption  or  of  the  Coronation. 

Yet  with  all  their  subtlety  of  coloring,  with  their  inimitable 
touch,  with  all  their  delicacy  of  conception,  how  far  short  they  fall 
of  Solomon's  magnificent  word-painting  quoted  above.  When  we 
think  of  our  Lady  vested  in  this  dazzling  glory,  we  are  tempted 
to  ask,  "Can  she,  will  she,  deign  to  be  the  refuge  of  poor  sinners?" 
Doubting'Jieart,  on  that  day  Mas  she  not  crowned  Queen  of  Earth 
as  well  as  of  Heaven,  Queen  of  Men  as  of  Angels,  and  given  as 
only  a  God  of  love  could  give  to  be  the  Patroness  and  Friend,  to 
be  the  Advocate  with  her  Son  Who  wills  that  all  graces  to  His 
banished  children  should  be  received  through  His  beautiful  Mother? 
She  knows  our  needs  and  listens  to  our  prayers ;  she  not  only  pleads 
for  us  in  general  but  each  in  particular,  and  the  prayer  of  Mary 
is  more  efficacious  than  that  of  all  the  Angels  and  Saints  combined. 
What  God  could  refuse  to  all  His  court,  He  would  at  once  grant 
to  her  who  calls  Him  Son.  In  all  our  difficulties  may  we  ever 
seek  her  aid  and  powerful  protection. 

"  Let  him  cease  to  extol  thy  clemency,  O  Holy  Virgin,"  cries 
out  the  devoted  St.  Bernard,  "whoever  invoked  thy  aid  in  his 
necessities  and  found  it  to  fail  him." 


THOUGHTS   ABOUT  ST.  PETER.. 
II. 

HE  difficulty  of  training  a  strong  human  character 
in  the  ways  of  Christian  holiness  has  never  been 
more  fully  illustrated  than  in  the  case  of  St.  Peter. 
First  of  all,  no  pupil  ever  had  so  skilful  or  so 
painstaking  a  master ;  and  secondly,  no  master 
ever  had  a  more  thorough-going,  impulsive,  earnest 
or  devoted  disciple  than  Peter.  His  strength  had  not  been  under- 


THOUGHTS  ABOUT  ST.  PETER.  6O7 

mined  by  sensuality,  and  the  bias  of  passion  had  not  overthrown 
the  supremacy  of  reason.  His  loyalty  and  devotedness  amounted 
to  enthusiasm ;  and  the  natural  clearness  of  his  understanding  led 
him  to  be  not  only  quick  to  reach  conclusions  and  to  utter  con- 
victions, but  also  somewhat  prone  to  undervalue  the  force  of  the 
difficulties  which  confronted  him.  He  knew  but  one  love,  had 
given  his  adherence  to  one  Leader :  he  spurned  or  made  light 
of  everything  which  might  stand  in  the  way  to  hinder  his 
following. 

This,  surely,  is  not  the  way  of  holiness  which  Christ  taught : 
neither  is  it  at  all  akin  to  the  spirit  which  Peter  himself,  in  the 
after-time,  strove  with  so  much  earnestness  to  develop  in  his  flock. 
Taught  by  his  own  sad  experience  and  by  the  grace  which  the 
Holy  Ghost  imparted,  Peter  had  undergone  a  very  notable  change. 
Wherefore,  he  says  to  those  whom  he  addresses  :  Converse  in  FEAR 
during  the  time  of  your  sojourning.1 

This  was  the  advice  of  Peter,  the  Christian  Pontiff,  the 
spokesman  of  Jesus  Christ.  We  turn  now  to  see  what  one  could 
have  learned  from  Peter,  before  his  Christian  education  had  been 
completed.  Trust  in  self,  carelessness  of  danger,  presumption, 
daring,  reckless  disregard  of  solemn  warning — these  are  the  traits 
displayed  in  the  disciple,  before  his  noviciate  had  come  to  its  happy 
end  ! 

Our  Blessed  Lord  had  shown  him,  from  the  very  beginning, 
special  marks  of  favor,  intending  through  him  to  teach  man- 
kind in  general,  how  the  natural  must  be  lopped  and  pruned 
and  guided,  so  that  the  supernatural  may  attain  its  fruitful 
results. 

Peter,  with  the  two  brothers  James  and  John,  had  been  a 
witness  of  the  power,  the  glory  and  the  humiliation  of  Jesus,  in 
the  raising  of  the  daughter  of  Jairus,  the  Transfiguration,  and  the 
Agony  in  Gethsemani.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  whilst  the 
others  were  steeped  in  wonderment  and  well-nigh  bewildered  by 
the  magnificence  of  the  scene,  Peter's  loving  impulse  led  him  to 
offer  his  services  as  chief  organizer  of  a  permanent  tableau. 

1 1.  Peter,  i.  17. 


6O8  THOUGHTS  ABOUT  ST.  PETER. 

Lord,  said  he,  it  is  good  for  us  to  be  here.  Let  us  make  here  three 
tabernacles,  one  for  Thee,  one  for  Moses  and  one  for  Elias.*  Allud- 
ing to  this  suggestion  St.  Mark — possibly  with  a  little  touch  of 
na'ivet^, — since  no  one  knew  Peter  better  or  loved  him  more  than 
he  did,  observes :  For  he  knew  not  what  he  said ;  for  they  were 
struck  with  fear.3  To  say  something,  even  under  circumstances 
when  the  others  deemed  silence  and  thoughtfulness  to  be  the  most 
reverent  manner  of  behavior,  was  an  impulse  which  Peter  seemed 
unable  to  resist.  And  sometimes  he  brought  upon  himself, 
by  this  too  great  readiness  of  speech,  the  heavy  censure  of  our 
Lord. 

Thus,  on  that  greatest  of  all  occasions  in  his  life  as  a  disciple, 
when  he  had  been  declared  blessed  by  his  Master,  his  impetuous 
nature  misled  him  sadly.  Could  it  have  been  that  the  high  honor 
so  lately  conferred  on  him  tempted  him  to  imagine  that  a  man  in 
his  position  was  entitled  to  express  an  opinion,  and  that  such 
opinion  ought  not  to  be  without  influence  ?  Certainly  this  is  a 
phase  of  self-esteem  with  which  we  are  not  entirely  unacquainted. 
Just  give  a  man  a  little  official  eminence  above  his  fellows ;  and 
full  soon  you  will  be  able  to  see  that  he  is  a-trying  to  look  his 
position,  to  talk  it,  to  be  it,  in  fact,  to  such  an  extent  that  the  posi- 
tion will  have  seemed  to  have  absorbed  the  man.  The  conscious 
dignity  is  oppressive,  but  never  off  duty  :  it  aims  at  swaying  the 
minds  of  others  by  its  own  superlative  magnificence.  It  is  not, 
however,  Christian  :  it  is  only  the  kings  of  the  Gentiles  that  lord 
it  over  their  subjects. 

If,  therefore,  Peter  felt  elated  over  the  praise  bestowed  on 
him,  and  the  sublime  height  of  dignity  to  which  his  Master  had 
just  raised  him,  the  glow  of  his  enthusiasm  must  have  been  chilled 
by  the  manner  in  which  our  Lord  rejected  his  confidential  advice. 
Two  of  the  Evangelists  make  mention  of  the  case  almost  in  the 
same  words.  The  Christ  had  been  openly  proclaimed  by  Peter, 
and  the  others  had  heard  what  supremacy  had  been  conferred  upon 
him  immediately  after  his  profession  of  faith.  From  that  time, 
says  St.  Matthew,  Jesus  began  to  show  to  His  disciples  that  He 

2  St.  Matthew,  xvii.  4.  •  St.  Mark,  ix.  5. 


THOUGHTS  ABOUT  ST.  PETER.  6O9 

must  go  to  Jerusalem,  and  suffer  many  things  from  the  ancients,  and 
scribes,  and  chief  priests,  and  be  put  to  death,  and  the  third  day 
rise  again* 

Surely  the  Son  of  the  living  God  might  fairly  be  presumed 
to  know  whereof  He  spoke;  and  the  duty  of  those  who  heard 
Him  was  to  listen  in  sorrowful  but  reverent  silence.  One  of 
them,  however,  seems  to  have  been  of  a  different  mind.  And 
Peter  taking  Him,  began  to  rebuke  Him,  saying :  Lord,  be  it  far 
from  Thee,  this  shall  not  be  unto  Thee."  It  was  not  the  Father  in 
heaven  Who  had  revealed  this  knowledge  to  him  and  led  him  into 
the  dangerous  field  of  prophecy.  It  was  the  natural,  impulsive 
love  of  the  old  unenlightened  Peter  which  prompted  this  utter- 
ance ;  and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  our  Lord  knew  this  well.  Who 
turning  said  to  Peter :  Go  behind  Me,  Satan,  thou  art  a  scandal 
unto  Me :  because  thou  savorest  not  the  things  that  are  of  God,  but 
the  things  that  are  of  men.6 

Verily  an  awful  contrast  is  this  sweeping  rejection  to  the 
solemn  words  of  loving  commendation  :  Blessed  art  thou  Simon 
Bar-Jona  !  How  are  they  to  be  reconciled  ?  Just  this  way  : 
Peter  acts  in  a  dual  character,  in  one  of  which  he  is  taught  of 
God,  whilst  in  the  other  he  follows  the  lower  promptings  of  flesh 
and  blood.  Indeed  he  may  well  be  called  a  representative  man,  a 
genuine  type  of  human  nature,  sometimes  safe  in  the  guidance  of 
supernatural  grace  but  anon  rebelling  and  sinking  to  the  lower 
plane  of  human  views  as  against  divine. 

Here  it  is  worth  while  observing  that  the  character  and  con- 
duct of  Peter  are  a  sample  of  what  is  to  be  found  among  Christians 
throughout  all  time.  They  profess  a  sublime  faith  and  a  great 
readiness  to  adhere  to  all  which  that  faith  implies.  They  may  be 
zealous  and  intrepid  and  may  even  show  an  heroic  submissiveness 
to  all  the  irksome  consequences  which  their  faith  may  lead  to. 
But  somehow  or  other,  when  the  unpleasant  results  come,  their 
logic  seems  to  fail  them,  and  they  can  reason  serenely  from  prem- 
ises that  are  not  supplied  by  faith,  but  simply  by  their  natural 
liking  or  disliking.  Wherefore,  our  Blessed  Lord  chose  to  illus- 

<xvi.  21.  5ib.  22.  «ib.  23. 


610  THOUGHTS  ABOUT  ST.  PETER. 

trate  in  Peter  what  is  sure  to  be  the  outcome  of  such  a  method  of 
procedure.  Every  man  who  leans  upon  a  weak  staff  ought  to  be 
prepared  to  find  it  breaking,  and  to  have  its  splinters  pierce  the 
hand  that  trusted  it. 

Peter  was  very  slow  to  learn  mistrust  of  his  own  strength  : 
he  thought  that  what  he  clearly  saw  ought  to  be,  surely  would  be. 
Hence  we  find  him  little  by  little  growing  presumptuous.  He 
could  not  realize  the  possibility  of  any  disloyalty  on  his  part. 
And  this,  even  after  the  solemn  warning  of  his  Divine  Master. 
Watch  ye  and  pray,  said  He,  that  you  enter  not  into  temptation.^ 

Be  it  remarked  here,  moreover,  that  our  Lord,  on  this  solemn 
occasion,  spoke  with  special  directness  to  Peter,  because  Peter  had 
been  so  earnest  and  so  vehement  in  the  expression  of  his  readi- 
ness to  dare  every  danger  and  endure  any  kind  of  suffering  for 
the  sake  of  Him  he  loved.  But,  when  Jesus  was  in  agony  Peter 
was  sleeping — as  were,  also,  James  and  John.  Still,  their  drow- 
siness seems  not  to  have  signified  anything  to  our  Blessed  Saviour  : 
for  we  find  the  Evangelist,  inspired  of  God,  recording  the  event 
with  very  special  application  to  Peter.  And  He  cometh,  and 
findeth  them  sleeping.  And  He  saith  to  PETER:  Simon,  steepest 
THOU?" 

Reasonably  enough  had  He  said  so ;  for  Peter  had  been  the 
most  enthusiastic  of  the  eleven  in  the  profession  of  his  great 
attachment  to  his  Master  and  of  his  valiant  purpose  to  stand  by 
Him  faithfully  in  every  contingency  that  might  arise.  He  felt  as 
if  he  knew  his  own  mind  and  could  trust  to  his  determination. 
It  is  in  such  manner  men  do  when  they  are  not  entirely  and  sub- 
missively under  the  grace  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Peter,  like  them,  deemed  his  natural  affection  and  the  devot- 
edness  which  sprang  from  it  a  sufficient  guarantee  of  fidelity  and 
an  approving  badge  of  entire  success.  The  plain  Gospel  records 
show  how  wofully  he  was  at  fault.  And  they  teach,  moreover, 
that  in  the  service  of  Jesus  Christ,  a  clear  and  conscientious  mis- 
trust of  self  are  the  only  stepping  stones  by  which  one  may  arise 
to  an  appreciation  of  the  higher  truths  of  Christian  teaching  and 

7  St.  Mark,  xiv.38.  8ib.  37. 


THOUGHTS  ABOUT  ST.  PETER.  611 

to  a  holier  manifestation  of  Christian  behavior  in  the  details  of 
every-day  life. 

It  has  been  elsewhere"  observed  that  the  mercy  of  Jesus  led 
Him  to  bear  almost  every  kind  of  suffering,  in  order  that  His  fol- 
lowers, in  the  midst  of  their  distresses  might  be  able  to  find  com- 
fort and  encouragement  in  the  thought  that  He  had  been  in  similar 
plight.  In  like  manner,  the  example  of  Peter  shows  in  how  many 
various  ways  the  weaknesses  and  eccentricities  of  human  nature 
offer  difficulties  to  grace  and  seem  to  render  a  supernatural  victory 
hopeless.  It  shows,  moreover,  how  the  all-enduring  love  of  the 
Saviour  is  sure  to  conquer,  in  the  end,  whenever  pride  and  obsti- 
nacy are  not  in  the  ascendency.  Peter  committed  many  faults, 
forgot  many  lessons,  disregarded  many  warnings :  but  he  was 
never  hard-headed  or  proud.  He  had  been  told  to  watch  and 
pray  ;  and  he  did  neither.  He  rushed  among  the  enemies  of  Jesus, 
trusting  to  his  own  strength  and  love,  at  a  time  when  he  had 
deliberately  torn  down  the  bulwarks  of  both  by  presumption  and 
neglect  of  prayer.  Behold  him,  O  man,  whoever  you  may  be,  who 
trust  to  your  own  strength  of  will !  A  servant  maid  sees  him  and 
recognizes  him  as  one  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus.  Whereupon,  he 
denied  with  vehemence  and  profanity,  that  he  knew  the  man ;  and 
this  denial  he  three  times  repeated.  Poor,  dear,  loving  disciple 
how  low  you  have  fallen !  Yet,  in  all  fairness  would  I  shield 
thee  from  one  impeachment  too  often  hurled  against  thee  by 
speakers  without  duly  reflecting  on  the  matter ! 

It  is  often  said  that  the  disciple,  with  all  his  boasted  strength, 
denied  his  Master  at  the  word  of  a  weak  woman.  The  fact  is,  that 
the  weak  woman  had  all  the  strength  and  all  the  influence  of  one 
who,  in  a  crowd,  should  cry  out  against  a  running  man :  "  Stop, 
thief!"  Her  recognition  of  Peter  drew  towards  him  the  keen 
hatred  of  High-priests  and  Pharisees  and  the  savage  brutality  of 
the  Roman  soldiery.  These  were  the  terrors  before  which  Peter 
shrank  and  fell. 

9  See  July  MESSENGER,  page  541. 


BLESSED   MARGARET  MARY'S   BI-CENTENARY 
AT  PARAY-LE-MONIAL.1 

ON  Sunday,  September  7,  1890,  at  night-fall,  the  bells  of  the 
old  Benedictine  Church,  now  the  Basilica  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  sent  forth  a  joyous  peal,  immediately  re-echoed  by 
all  the  church  bells  of  the  city.  This  was  to  announce  the  opening 
of  the  extraordinary  "  Jubilee  granted  by  His  Holiness  Leo  XIII. 
to  the  Parish  and  City  of  Paray-le-Monial,  to  celebrate  the  Second 
Centenary  of  the  Death  of  Blessed  Margaret  Mary." 

The  Visitation  Community  of  Paray  were  on  that  day  cele- 
brating the  two  hundred  and  second  anniversary  of  the  blessing  of 
the  first  chapel  ever  erected  in  honor  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  This 
chapel  was  built  in  their  garden  and  blessed  September  7,  1688, 
two  years  before  the  death  of  Blessed  Margaret  Mary. 

In  accordance  with  the  plan  determined  upon  by  the  Bishop 
of  Autun,  the  Jubilee  services  were  begun  on  the  evening  of  Sep- 
tember 8  by  retreats  at  the  Basilica  and  at  the  convent.  The  days 
assigned  for  the  Basilica  were  Monday,  Wednesday  and  Friday, 
and  for  the  Visitation  Chapel  Tuesday,  Thursday  and  Saturday. 

On  Thursday  night,  the  church  remained  open  all  night  and 
the  Masses  were  begun  at  midnight.  About  one  hundred  and  fifty 
Masses  were  offered  on  this  Friday. 

Holy  Communion  was  given  continuously  from  midnight 
until  a  late  hour  in  the  morning.  The  crowd  was  so  great  that 
as  soon  as  the  pilgrims  received  Holy  Communion  they  withdrew 
through  the  sacristy  to  allow  those  who  followed  to  approach  the 
altar-rails. 

About  half  past  one  P.M.  the  procession  of  the  Blessed  Sac- 
rament began.  The  route  was  from  the  Basilica  to  the  "Enclosure" 
of  the  Visitation.  All  joined  in  chanting  the  Magnificat. 

When  they  reached  the  Enclosure  a  signal  was  given  to  notify 

1  Extract  from  the  Memorial  of  the  Jubilee  celebration  for  the  Bi-centenary 
of  the  Death  of  Blessed  Margaret  Mary,  sent  by  the  Sisters  of  Paray-le-Mouial 
to  all  the  Convents  of  the  Visitation  Order. 

612 


BLESSED  MARGARET  MARY'S  BI-CENTENARY.  613 

the  Sisters  to  retire  within  the  monastery.  The  doors  and  win- 
dows were  all  closed. 

The  first  repository  in  the  Enclosure  was  at  the  infirmary 
under  the  room  in  which  Blessed  Margaret  Mary  died.  The 
second  was  at  the  Chapel  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  The  third  was  at 
the  Hazel  wood  Thicket,  and  the  fourth  at  the  Grotto  of  Our 
Lady  of  Lourdes. 

It  was  nearly  four  o'clock  when  the  Cardinal  Archbishop 
of  Paris  who  carried  the  Blessed  Sacrament  entered  the  Enclosure. 
He  was  preceded  by  a  long  file  of  priests  in  choir  costume,  all 
carrying  lighted  candles  and  singing  the  Laudate,  Pueri,  Dominum. 
The  Bishops  followed  immediately  after. 

The  Blessed  Sacrament  was  placed  on  the  altar  of  the  reposi- 
tory. The  Tantum  Ergo  was  sung.  Then  all,  Bishops,  priests  and 
pilgrims,  knelt  to  receive  the  benediction.  As  soon  as  the  Laudate 
Dominum  was  sung,  the  procession  moved  to  the  Chapel  of  the 
Sacred  Heart,  which  was  entered  only  by  the  Cardinal,  the  Bishops 
and  a  few  of  the  priests.  Thence  they  proceeded  to  the  Hazelwood 
Thicket  and  then  to  the  Grotto  of  Lourdes.  The  Magnificat  was 
chanted  as  the  procession  left  the  Enclosure.  Solemn  benediction 
was  given  by  the  Cardinal  in  the  convent  chapel  on  Friday, 
September  19. 

The  second  week  of  the  Jubilee  was  called  the  "  Salesian  " 
week,  from  the  fact  that  the  confessors  of  all  the  Visitation  con- 
vents throughout  the  world  were  invited  to  Paray.  The  greater 
number  of  them  accepted  the  invitation.  The  Masses  were  begun 
at  midnight  and  about  one  hundred  and  forty  were  celebrated. 
Shortly  before  high  Mass  at  the  Basilica,  the  confessors  of  the 
Visitation  convents  and  other  priests  came  to  bear  away  the  body 
of  Blessed  Margaret  Mary  from  the  convent  chapel. 

The  procession  formed,  after  the  sermon,  to  bring  back  the 
relics  to  the  chapel,  was  headed  by  former  pupils  of  the  Visitation 
deputed  from  the  different  convents.  In  advance  of  the  clergy 
were  the  vigorous  mountaineers  of  Savoy  bearing  aloft  a  blue 
velvet  banner  on  which  was  inscribed  :  "  Confraternity  of  Our 
Lady  of  Compassion,  founded  by  St.  Francis  of  Sales,  A.D.  1602." 


614  BLESSED  MARGARET  MARY'S  BI-CENTENARY. 

The  confessors  of  the  different  Visitation  convents  said  that 
this  had  been  to  them  a  rest  on  Mount  Thabor.  Before  leaving 
the  sanctuary  they  renewed  the  act  of  consecration  made  during 
the  Holy  Hour  the  previous  night  in  all  the  convents  of  the 
Visitation  throughout  the  world.  In  the  morning  the  reliquary 
containing  the  brain  of  Blessed  Margaret  Mary  was  taken  to  the 
parlor  where  they  could  at  leisure  enjoy  the  consolation  of  vener- 
ating it.  This  sacred  relic  is  preserved  in  the  Oratory  of  Blessed 
Margaret  Mary,  the  room  in  which  she  died. 

Above  the  Shrine  of  Blessed  Margaret  Mary  was  suspended 
an  enormous  crown  of  lilies  and  violets,  the  offering  of  the  Sisters 
of  the  First  Monastery  of  the  Visitation  at  Marseilles,  emblem- 
atic of  the  forty-three  thousand  acts  of  humility  presented  to 
our  Blessed  Sister  in  honor  of  her  glorious  centenary.  Other 
convents  of  the  Visitation  united  in  similar  practices ;  each  offer- 
ing a  golden  crown  of  good  works  for  the  same  intention. 

On  Friday,  September  26,  the  Basilica  and  the  Visitation 
chapel  remained  open  all  night.  The  Masses  were  again  begun 
at  midnight.  The  last  of  the  two  hundred  said  in  the  chapel 
ended  at  a  quarter  before  one  o'clock  P.M.  The  processions  with 
the  sacred  body  were  repeated  each  Friday. 

Sunday,  October  12,  was  a  day  of  triumph  for  Paray-le- 
Monial,  for  on  that  day  the  Shrine  of  our  Blessed  Sister  was  borne 
in  procession  through  all  the  streets  of  the  city.  The  chapels  of 
the  different  communities  were  magnificently  adorned  to  receive 
the  welcome  visit.  Enthusiasm  and  fervor  were  everywhere 
manifested.  Paray  had  been  favored  by  our  Blessed  one. 

After  three  hours'  march  through  the  city  the  procession 
reached  the  Visitation  Chapel,  and  the  holy  Shrine  was  replaced 
beneath  the  crown  of  lilies  and  violets  during  the  chanting  of  the 
Veni,  Sponsa  C/iristi,  accipe  coronam. 

On  Thursday  evening,  October  1 6,  the  eve  of  the  Second  Cen- 
tenary of  Blessed  Margaret  Mary's  death,  immediately  after  the 
exercises  of  the  month  of  the  Rosary,  all  lay  persons  were  requested 
to  withdraw,  as  the  chapel  that  evening  was  reserved  exclusively 
for  the  clergy.  His  Eminence,  the  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Lyor 


BLESSED  MARGARET  MARY'S  BI-CENTENARY.  615 

and  ten  or  eleven  Bishops  were  among  the  priests  who  filled  the 
chapel.  The  Rev.  Father  Tissot,  Superior  General  of  the  Mission- 
aries of  St.  Francis  de  Sales,  ascended  the  pulpit.  He  waited 
until  the  priests  concluded  the  Miserere,  then  after  invoking  our 
Lady  of  Sorrows  and  the  Virgin  of  Paray — Beata  Margarita  Maria, 
ora  pro  nobis — he  said  :  "  Since  we  are  here  to  make  the  Holy 
Hour  in  the  spirit  of  our  Blessed  Sister,  let  us  hear  how  our 
Divine  Master  taught  her  to  make  it."  He  then  read  the  passage 
of  her  life  recounting  the  admirable  vision  in  which  our  Lord  told 
His  servant,  that  on  every  Thursday  night  He  would  make  her 
participate  in  the  mortal  sadness  which  He  endured  in  the  Garden 
of  Olives.  Father  Tissot  added :  "  Wishing  to  make  of  our 
Blessed  Sister,  the  apostle  of  His  Sacred  Heart,  it  pleased  our 
Saviour  to  plunge  her  into  the  bitterest  sea  of  the  sorrows  of  His 
Passion,  the  sadness  of  His  Adorable  Heart.  And  now,  sweet 
Blessed  Sister,  exult  for  joy !  Behold  your  chapel  filled  with 
priests  who  have  come  inspired  by  your  devotion  to  offer  to  the 
Heart  of  your  Well-Beloved  the  homage  of  their  reparation. 
O  Heart  of  Jesus,  Thou  art  no  longer  alone,  for  to-day,  at  least, 
Thou  hast  consolers  !" 

Then  the  meditation  began.  It  was  divided  into  three  points, 
each  answering  to  one  of  the  following  questions :  What  is  the 
Victim  of  sorrow  ;  what  are  the  torments  He  endures  ;  Who  are 
the  executioners? 

"  The  Victim  is  the  Heart  of  a  Man-God  :  it  is  the  Heart  of 
a  man — it  is  the  Heart  of  a  God — it  is  the  Heart  of  a  Priest — it 
is  the  Heart  of  a  Pontiff.  All  of  these  reasons  for  the  sorrows  of 
the  Adorable  Victim  are  more  poignant,  more  delicate,  more 
immense." 

At  the  end  of  this  first  point,  saluting  this  holy  Victim  under 
the  title-name  of  "O  Saving  Victim/'  the  Rev.  Father  desired 
the  priests  to  sing  the  0  Salutaris  Hostia.  Oh  !  how  thrilling 
these  priestly  voices  were  !  Then,  because  Jesus  had  endured  in 
His  Heart,  with  a  divine  intensity,  all  the  sorrows  of  His  mystical 
Body — the  Church — and  above  all  those  of  the  head  of  the 
Church,  the  Father  filled  with  filial  compassion  prayed  for  the 


616  BLESSED  MARGARET  MARY'S  Bl-CENTENARY. 

Pope,  and  all  sang  :   Oremus  pro  Pontifice  nostro  Leone.    Dominus 
conservet  eum  et  vivificet  eum. 

11  The  torments.  From  Holy  Thursday  evening  until  Good 
Friday  evening,  the  Eternal  Father  did  not  for  an  instant  lay 
aside  His  wrath.  He  overwhelmed  His  Son  without  mercy. 
Jesus  the  Innocent,  the  Holy  One,  is  treated  not  only  as  a  sinner 
but  even  as  sin  itself.  This  ignominious  robe  of  sin  enveloped 
His  divine  flesh.  It  was  an  ocean  of  iniquity  which  submerged 
Him  in  its  loathsome  depths.  Behold  one  of  His  torments  ! 
But  He  endured  others,  the  thought  of  His  Mother  buried  in 
grief.  The  terror  seizing  the  Holy  Victim  became  so  great,  that 
His  Heart  hesitated.  But,  to  the  transeat  succeeds  the  non  Mea 
voluntas,  sed  Tuafiat !  Who  are  the  executioners !  Ah !  we  need  not 
go  far  to  find  them.  Each  one  of  us  must  say  Mea  culpa  !  Mea 
culpa,  and,  because  we  are  priests  Mea  maxima  culpa  !  Did  not 
our  Lord  say  to  the  Blessed  Sister  that  the  sins  of  His  chosen  ones, 
those  who  are  consecrated  to  Him,  made  Him  suffer  most  ?" 

Love  and  repentance  filled  the  silent  assembly.  Tears  flowed 
from  every  eye  and  in  concluding  the  Holy  Hour  the  Rev.  Father 
made  an  offering  of  all  these  tears  to  the  Heart  of  the  Divine 
Priest  as  the  most  precious  reparation.  His  closing  words  were  : 
"  Oh,  Divine  Heart  of  Jesus,  remember  that  this  night  have  been 
shed  for  Thee  the  tears  which  Thou  lovest  most,  the  tears  of  Thy 
priests."  The  Parce,  Domine,  was  sung  three  times. 

The  Basilica  and  the  Visitation  Chapel  remained  open  all 
that  night.  The  great  pilgrimage  from  Lyons  spent  the  night  in 
adoration  in  the  two  Chapels.  Immediately  after  the  Sisters  had 
finished  Matins,  the  pilgrims  sang  the  Adoro  Te,  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment was  exposed  and  the  holy  vigil  was  begun.  The  community, 
according  to  their  rule,  withdrew.  During  the  night,  the  pilgrims 
prayed  and  sang,  with  increasing  fervor.  From  eleven  to  twelve 
the  Holy  Hour  was  made  aloud  by  the  Vicar-General  of  Autun. 
He  commented  on  the  anthem,  O  Sacrum  Convivium — the  Holy 
Hour  of  the  Eucharist. 

The  Masses  began  at  midnight. 

The  faithful^vere  so  eager  to  be  purified  in  the  sacred  tribunal 


BLESSED  MARGARET  MARY'S  Bl-CENTENARY.  617 

of  Penance  that  all  the  confessionals  were  crowded ;  and  as  they 
were  not  sufficient,  it  was  necessary  to  improvise  new  ones  for  the 
women,  but  the  men  knelt  anywhere  at  the  priest's  feet  to  con- 
fess their  sins  and  to  receive  absolution.  Who  will  count  the 
number  of  Holy  Communions  ?  For  over  twelve  hours  continu- 
ously the  Bread  of  Angels  became  the  Bread  of  travellers  and 
pilgrims.  As  soon  as  they  had  communicated  they  hastened  to 
give  place  to  others. 

In  the  two  churches  it  was  a  holy  Pasch  incessantly  renewed. 
From  half-past  six  till  half-past  seven  all  the  altars  of  the  Sisters' 
chapel  were  reserved  for  the  Bishops.  We  cannot  tell  all  the 
prayers,  all  the  acts  of  confidence  and  abandonment  that  were 
offered  to  our  Lord,  both  within  and  without  the  Enclosure  to 
obtain  fine  weather  for  this  great  day.  The  heavens  seemed  to  be 
holding  us  in  suspense.  Suddenly,  a  bright  light  would  fill  us 
with  hope  ;  then  a  dark  cloud  would  overshadow  the  sky  :  never- 
theless, preparations  were  continued. 

Three  or  four  Masses  were  celebrated  in  the  open  air,  in  the 
Enclosure  of  the  Chaplains,  on  improvised  altars  under  awnings. 
But  for  this  arrangement,  thousands  of  pilgrims  would  have  been 
deprived  of  the  consolation  of  assisting  at  the  holy  Sacrifice,  so 
difficult  was  it  to  enter,  either  the  Basilica  or  the  chapel.  The 
streets  were  densely  crowded,  and  our  own  chapel  had  never  been  so 
thronged.  The  Blessed  Sacrament  remained  exposed  only  until  8 
o'clock  A.M.,  for  on  this  day  all  eyes  wished  to  contemplate  the 
Shrine  of  the  Blessed  Sister,  and  our  worthy  Bishop  was  unwilling 
to  deprive  the  faithful  of  that  favor. 

At  half-past  eight  A.M.  the  pilgrims  of  Nevers  arrived. 
Hardly  had  they  entered  the  chapel  ere  their  worthy  Bishop 
exhorted  them  not  to  lose  a  moment  of  the  precious  time  spent  in 
Paray,  and  above  all,  within  these  holy  walls.  "  Paray-le- 
Monial !  Oh,  this  is  truly  the  house  of  the  Lord  of  which  the 
Prophet  speaks  !  Happy  are  those  who  tread  this  sanctified  soil." 

A  little  before  ten  o'clock  the  episcopal  cortege  reached  the 
interior  of  the  Basilica,  when  the  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Lyons 
and  fourteen  Bishops  took  their  places. 


618  BLESSED  MARGARET  MARY'S  BI-CEHTENARY. 

The  grand  Pontifical  Mass  was  celebrated  by  the  Bishop  of 
Nevers.  At  the  gospel,  the  Bishop  of  Coutance  made  the  souls 
of  his  hearers  thrill  with  hope  pointing  out  to  them  the  divine 
remedy  for  all  the  evils  from  which  our  country  suffers  at  the  present 
time.  Four  or  five  large  cathedrals  would  have  been  insufficient 
to  contain  the  thousands  of  pilgrims  striving  to  get  into  the 
Basilica. 

It  is  believed  that  the  total  number  of  pilgrims  in  Paray  on 
October  17  was  not  less  than  forty  thousand;  between  fifteen 
hundred  and  two  thousand  of  these  were  priests  and  religious. 
Nearly  fifteen  hundred  Masses  were  celebrated  from  midnight  to 
mid-day  in  the  churches  and  chapels  of  Paray. 

While  the  Bishops  and  some  of  the  clergy  were  dining  at 
Bethany,  the  mother-house  of  the  chaplains  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
Bishop  Perraud  arose  and  read  the  following  telegram  : 

"  On  this  happy  occasion  of  your  Centenary  Feast,  the  Bishops 
of  Ireland,  assembled  at  Dublin,  desire  to  join  with  you  in  hasten- 
ing the  canonization  of  Blessed  Margaret  Mary. 

"THE  ARCHBISHOP  OF  DUBLIN." 
The  answer  sent  was  as  follows  : 

"  Cardinal  Foulon,  Archbishop  of  Lyons,  the  Bishop  of 
Autun  and  thirteen  other  French  Bishops,  united  at  Paray  for  the 
Second  Centenary  of  Blessed  Margaret  Mary,  profoundly  touched 
with  the  sentiments  expressed  by  the  Bishops  of  Ireland,  offer 
them  their  best  wishes  for  themselves  and  for  their  country. 

"  THE  BISHOP  OF  AUTUN." 
The  following  dispatch  was  sent  to  the  Holy  Father : 

"  Cardinal  Foulon,  Archbishop  of  Lyons,  the  Bishop  of 
Autun  and  thirteen  other  French  Bishops,  united  at  Paray-le- 
Monial,  on  the  occasion  of  the  Bi-centenary  of  Blessed  Margaret 
Mary,  place  at  the  feet  of  Your  Holiness,  the  homage  of  their 


BLESSED  MARGARET  MARY'S  BI-CENTENARY.  619 

religious  and  filial  veneration.  They  echo  the  sentiments  of  the 
pilgrims  who  have  come  to  Paray  to  gain  the  Indulgence  of  the 
Jubilee ;  and  they  offer  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  fervent 
prayers  for  the  successor  of  St.  Peter,  while  humbly  soliciting 
him  to  bless  themselves  and  their  dioceses  and  all  France. 

"CARDINAL    FOTJLON, 

"Archbishop  of  Lyons." 

The  hour  for  the  processions  arrived  and,  notwithstanding 
the  clouds,  began  its  march.  The  pilgrims  from  Aries  sang  their 
harmonious  canticles  in  provengal,  while  those  from  Normandy 
put  their  whole  souls  into  the  repetition  of  their  dear  refrain  : 

Cease  !     The  Heart  of  Jesus  is  here  ! 

The  lay  pilgrims  were  two  hours  entering  and  leaving  the 
Enclosure  before  the  clergy  crossed  its  threshold  chanting  the 
Credo,  then — -fiat  voluntas  tua  ! — a  thick  cloud  discharged  itself 
in  torrents  on  this  multitude.  The  Blessed  Sacrament  was  prov- 
identially under  the  awning  which  sheltered  the  entrance,  thus 
sparing  the  Bishops  this  inundation.  The  Blessed  Sacrament 
borne  by  His  Eminence,  the  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Lyons,  was 
preceded  and  followed  by  an  imposing  file  of  Bishops,  Vicars- 
General  and  other  ecclesiastical  dignitaries. 

The  number  of  Masses  celebrated  at  Paray-le-Monial  from 
the  opening  of  the  Jubilee,  September  8,  until  its  close,  Novem- 
ber 1,  1890,  was  six  thousand  seven  hundred  and  twenty-seven,  of 
which,  three  thousand  three  hundred  and  seventy  were  offered  in 
the  Visitation  Chapel,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  at  the  Basilica, 
and  the  rest  in  other  chapels  of  the  city.  The  number  of  Com- 
munions given  during  the  jubilee  was  fifty-two  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  fifty,  of  which  twenty-six  thousand  were  given  in 
the  Visitation  Chapel. 

During  these  days  of  blessing  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  pilgrims  came  to  Paray,  the  "  City  of  the  Sacred  Heart," 
to  offer  the  homage  of  their  prayers  and  veneration  to  Blessed 
Margaret  Mary. 


THE    READER. 


The  Reader  feels  the  assurance  that  he  will  be  thanked  if 
he  gives  the  MESSENGER  readers  a  share  in  the  delight  he 
himself  had  when  perusing  the  letter  which  he  received 
from  Miss  Eliza  Allen  Starr  accompanying  her  poem,  "June 
Lilies,"  printed  in  a  preceding  form  of  this  issue.  Those  who 
have  heard  this  delightful  and  gracious  lady  in  private  interview 
or  in  her  public  lectures  will  readily  understand  the  delicate  charm 
of  thought  and  cadenced  rhythm  of  words  in  all  her  writings. 
The  Reader  wonders  how  many  of  our  Catholics  have  read  her 
Songs  of  a  Lifetime,  or  Pilgrims  and  Shrines,  or  Christian  Art  in 
our  own  Age — works  of  sterling  worth,  full  of  beauty,  Catholic 
thought  and  feeling  and  instruction.  And  yet  how  often  it  is  said, 
thoughtlessly  we  charitably  hope  (though  unknowingly  would  be 
the  proper  word),  that  we  have  no  books  by  Catholic  authors  ! 

In  explaining  why  her  poem  reached  us  too  late  for  June, 
Miss  Starr  says :  "  The  inspiration  would  not  come  until  the  lilies 
came,  and  not  until  I  saw  them  on  my  altar,  or  you  would  have 
had  the  little  poem  for  the  June  number  of  the  MESSENGER.  As 
it  is,  if  you  will  accept  this  for  another  issue,  perhaps  it  will  still 
serve  for  the  honor  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  .  .  .  Allow  me  to 
say  how  much  I  admire  the  June  MESSENGER,  and  how  it  brings 
back  my  own  visits  to  the  Gesu  in  Rome,  to  the  room  itself  of  St. 
Aloysius  and  his  l  true  picture.'  Then,  '  The  Home  and  Family ' 
brings  the  Saint  so  near  to  us  ;  '  The  Dalmatic,'  too,  and  the  illus- 
trations— all  these  articles  concerning  the  sanctuary  are  so  much 
needed.  A  great  many  pages  go  by  me  unread,  but  such  pages 
catch  my  eye,  hold  my  attention :  for  there  is  always  a  feeling  of 
their  great  educational  value ;  educating  all  classes  and  all  ages. 
The  people  of  this  dear  country  are  so  ignorant  in  these  matter?, 
because  so  few  have  an  opportunity  to  learn  them  unconsciously, 
as  in  other  countries  :  and  the  unconscious  education  is  so  much 
higher  than  all  others,  becoming  a  part  of  the  very  being  and 
essence  of  existence.  Is  it  not  so  ?" 


620 


THE  READER. 


621 


*  * 

A  letter,  dated  June  24,  on  a  different  subject  but  of  quite 
as  much  interest  to  our  readers,  has  come  to  us  from  an  old  friend 
of  the  MESSENGER,  Father  de  Augustinis,  S.J.,  late  professor  of 
theology  in  Woodstock  College,  Maryland,  and  now  holding  a 
like  position  in  the  Roman  College  of  the  Eternal  City.  He 
writes : 

"  To  the  greater  glory  of  God,  and  in  honor  of  St.  Aloysius, 
as  well  as  for  the  edification  of  all,  I  cannot  forbear  writing  to 
you  a  line  or  two  concerning  the  Tercentenary  Feast  which  we  are 
celebrating  here  in  Rome,  and  in  which  the  whole  Catholic  world 
is  joining.  It  is  truly  a  solemn  and  most  wonderful  triumph. 
It  is  already  a  week  and  a  half  now  that  this  celebration  has  been 
going  on,  and  the  fervor  and  enthusiasm  are  growing  more  and 
more  intense.  The  crowds  of  people  visiting  the  Church  of  St. 
Ignatius  to  kneel  at  the  altar  of  St.  Aloysius  have  surpassed  all 
expectation,  and  all  come  with  the  greatest  respect  and  piety. 
On  June  21,  the  crowd  was  so  numerous,  their  veneration  for  the 
hallowed  spot  so  great,  and  their  earnestness  in  prayer  so  remark- 
able, that  it  was  really  astonishing.  On  the  morning  of  the  same 
day,  in  Saint  Ignatius'  Church  alone,  there  were  more  than  13,000 
Communions,  and  in  nearly  all  the  other  churches  of  Rome,  I  am 
told,  the  Communions  were  very  numerous.  Doubtless,  you  have 
read  in  the  papers  of  the  magnificence  of  the  ornamentation,  the  gor- 
geous drapery,  the  profusion  of  lights,  etc.  But  what  is  most 
important  of  all  is  the  great  number  of  sinners  converted,  together 
with  the  evident  desire  manifested  by  many  to  lead  a  pious  life. 
Many  houses  were  illuminated  on  the  evening  of  the  20th,  and 
many  more  on  the  21st. 

"  Pamphlets,  books,  papers  without  number,  bearing  on  the 
Tercentenary,  are  on  all  sides.  But  a  most  interesting  feature  of 
this  celebration  is  the  Albums  containing  the  names  of  children. 
Volume  after  volume  arrives  from  every  part  of  Europe.  In 
England  the  Protestants  even  were  anxious  to  give  their  signa- 
tures. From  Germany,  chiefly  from  Austria,  and  from  other 
parts  of  Europe,  the  Lists  are  very  numerous.  This  very  day  a 
gigantic  volume  arrived  from  Croatia :  I  never  saw  the  like :  it  is 
a  masterpiece  of  art  and  taste  and  piety.  It  contains — mark  this  ! 
— 100,000  signatures  of  little  children. 


622  THE  READER.. 

"All  over  Italy,  in  every  city,  in  every  town,  the  enthusiasm 
to  honor  St.  Aloysius  is  astonishing  and  touching.  May  God  be 
blessed  !  The  United  States,  I  am  sure,  will  join  their  word  of 
faith  in  this  universal  concert  of  true  believers." 

*  *  * 

Those  who  have  broken  away  from  the  one  true  Church  are 
responsible  for  the  uncertainty  of  belief  prevalent  in  the  Christian 
world  to-day.  They  have  cut  many  loose  from  the  moorings  of 
early  faith  who  have  drifted  far  into  skepticism  and  unbelief.  The 
substitution  of  reason,  with  its  ignorance  and  prejudice,  for  an 
infallible  guide  in  the  doctrine  of  faith  has  wrought  havoc  where 
it  was  intended  to  purify  and  ennoble. 

Nowhere  does  this  appear  more  alarming  than  in  the  hosts 
that,  accepting  its  cardinal  principle,  have  been  logically  forced  to 
deny  Christ's  Divinity.  In  the  days  when  our  Saviour  went 
about  doing  good,  many  regarded  Him  as  a  mere  human  prodigy, 
and  to-day  liberty  of  thought  fosters  that  belief  in  the  minds  of 
many.  A  living  writer  who,  like  members  of  all  unstable  creeds, 
has  passed  through  a  series  of  religious  changes  says :  "  Every 
age  has  more  or  less  resemblance  to  that  of  some  particular 
Apostle.  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  this  century  has  Thomas 
for  its  model.  How  do  you  suppose  the  other  Apostles  felt  when 
that  experimental  philosopher  explored  the  wounds  of  the  Being 
Who  to  them  was  Divine,  with  his  inquisitive  forefinger  ?  In  our 
time  that  inquisitive  forefinger  has  multiplied  itself  into  ten 
thousand  implements  of  research,  challenging  all  mysteries  and 
sifting  through  a  prism  the  light  that  comes  from  the  throne  of 
the  Eternal." 

Some  sects  make  the  denial  of  Christ's  Divinity  a  tenet  of 
their  faith.  Unitarianism  is  such  a  sect.  In  the  court  of  Pilate 
Christ  was  stripped  and  clothed  in  the  garb  of  a  mock  king,  and 
to-day  the  Unitarian  strips  Him  in  men's  minds  of  all  save  His 
humanity  and  holds  Him  up  to  the  world  as  a  weakling  like  our- 
selves. Nor  is  this  the  only  sect  that  encourages  so  blasphemous 
a  belief.  The  Church  of  England,  while  not  openly  teaching  it, 
at  least  tolerates  it.  For  years  this  church  remained  most  like 
our  own,  followed  us  in  our  prayers  and  ably  defended  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Godhead  and  Incarnation.  But  the  cry  of  the  "  Bible 


THE  READER.  623 

and  nothing  but  the  Bible  "  has  been  heard  within  her  pale  and 
many  of  her  best  minds  belong  to  the  Broad  Church  Party,  or  in 
other  words,  to  the  rationalistic  school  of  the  Church  of  England. 
The  denial  of  Christ's  Divinity  is  no  bar  to  promotion,  and 
Cardinal  Wiseman  tells  us  that  this  heresy  "  has  stalked  abroad  in 
open  day  and  in  high  places  of  the  church  and  we  never  see,  nor 
have  we  seen,  the  church  exert  herself  to  dispel  the  error." 

Around  us  we  see  daily  the  practical  spirit  of  this  denial. 
And  what  better  proof  can  we  have  of  this  than  their  opposition 
to  the  devotion  we  pay  the  Mother  of  God  ?  "  She  is  a  mere 
creature,"  they  tell  us.  "True,"  we  answer,  "but  she  is  the 
Mother  of  God."  Cardinal  Newman  touched  the  heart  of  the 
difficulty  when  he  said  :  "  The  divine  Maternity  of  Mary  is  the 
real  test  of  orthodoxy." 

Of  Christ's  Divinity  we  find  evident  proofs  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament. Page  after  page  records  miracles,  miracles  wrought  to 
prove  He  was  Divine.  He  converted  water  into  wine ;  a  multi- 
tude sit  down  on  the  mountain-side  to  a  repast  that  His  power  had 
prepared  from  a  few  loaves  and  fishes.  How  many  lives  He 
brightened  by  miraculously  taking  off  them  the  weight  of  sickness 
or  the  heavier  burden  of  sin  !  His  word  gave  life  to  the  dead,  He 
foretold  His  own  death  and  rose  in  majesty  from  the  tomb.  These 
miracles  were  performed  in  proof  of  His  mission,  and  He  cited 
them  as  witnesses  of  His  Divinity. 

But  there  is  another  testimony  more  potent  than  these  won- 
drous facts,  and  that  testimony  came  from  His  own  lips.  His 
voice  was  raised  to  prove  His  Divinity  and  to  convince  the  world 
that  He  was  God.  The  High-priest  said  to  Him  :  /  adjure  Thee 
by  the  living  God  that  Thou  tell  us  if  Thou  be  the  Christ  the  Son  of 
God.  Jesus  saith  to  him :  Thou  hast  said  it.  Here  is  an  open 
avowal  of  His  Divinity,  for  His  enemies  regarded  the  solemn 
declaration  as  a  blasphemy  and  judged  Him  worthy  of  death. 

Yet  the  unbeliever,  in  the  words  of  the  writer  already 
quoted,  still  cries  out :  "  Pity  us,  dear  Lord,  pity  us  !  The 
peace  in  believing  that  belonged  to  other  ages  is  not  for  us. 
Again  Thy  wounds  are  opened  that  we  may  know  whether  it  is  the 
blood  of  one  like  ourselves  which  flows  from  them,  or  whether  it 
is  a  Divinity  bleeding  for  His  creatures." 


GENERAL  INTENTION 

FOR  AUGUST,    1891. 

Designated  by  His  Holiness,  Leo  XIII.,  with  his  special  blessing,  and  given  to  His 
Eminence  the  Cardinal  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda — the  Protector  of  the 
League  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  called  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer — for  recom- 
mendation to  the  prayers  of  the  Associates. 

SOCIAL  PEACE. 

BY  social  peace  is  here  meant  the  peace  of  society,  that  is,  a 
state  of  harmony  and  good  feeling  between  the  different 
orders  in  society,  between  the  rich  and  the  poor  more 
especially,  and  between  labor  and  capital.  To  those  who  are 
acquainted  with  the  contents  of  the  Encyclical  of  the  Holy  Father 
on  the  condition  of  workingmen,  it  is  not  necessary  to  insist  on  the 
great  need  there  is  of  praying  for  this  state  of  good  feeling.  As 
the  Holy  Father  points  out,  everything  is  now  tending  to  bring 
about  a  speedy  and  disastrous  rupture  of  social  peace.  What 
horrors  are  likely  to  accompany  and  follow  such  a  rupture,  we 
may  learn  from  the  history  of  the  French  Revolution  of  1789,  of 
the  Paris  Commune  of  1871,  and  of  the  succession  of  social 
upheavals  in  France  and  Italy  which  have  drawn  the  attention  of 
the  world  on  these  countries  so  often  during  the  intervening  years. 

I. 

Every  sign  of  the  times  seems  to  proclaim  that  we  are  on  the 
eve  of  a  great  social  revolution.  Outside  of  the  Church  religion 
has  apparently  lost  all  hold  on  the  working  classes.  Religious  or 
moral  restraints,  then,  can  hardly  be  counted  on  to  restrain  men  at 
the  present  crisis.  The  greed  and  luxury  of  the  rich,  their  callous 
indifference  to  the  needs  and  grievances  of  the  poor,  add  to  the 
gravity  of  the  situation.  Blind  and  vicious  theorists  and,  side  by 
side  with  them,  not  a  few  earnest  and  honest  seekers  after  truth, 
have  thoroughly  rehearsed  the  tale  of  the  rights  and  grievances  of 
the  poor  man  and  the  laborer,  and  the  duties  and  shortcomings  of 

624 


GENERAL  INTENTION.  625 

the  rich  man  and  the  employers.  The  workingmen  moreover  are 
organized.  National  prejudices  and  barriers  are  disappearing  as  it 
becomes  clearer  that  success  in  the  great  movement,  which  is  now 
rapidly  maturing,  depends  on  international  action.  Capital  will 
soon  have  ranged  against  it  an  army  such  as  the  world  has  not  yet 
seen,  cool,  determined,  perfectly  disciplined  up  to  the  point  at 
least  of  being  able  to  destroy  and  devastate,  if  not  to  reconstruct. 
And  little  or  nothing  is  being  done  in  the  way  of  preparations  to 
avert  the  catastrophe. 

We  are  now  passing  through  the  lull  before  the  storm.  The 
May  strikes  and  labor  demonstrations,  here  and  in  Europe,  which 
passed  off  as  a  rule  so  quietly  were  but  a  sort  of  dress-parade,  a 
preliminary  test  of  the  strength  and  efficiency  of  the  great  labor 
army  against  the  day  not  far  distant,  if  the  leaders  are  to  be 
credited,  when  the  old  order  will  finally  disappear  and  the  new 
order  rise  triumphant  on  the  ruins. 

II. 

What  is  the  programme  of  the  new  order  of  things  ?  Of  this 
we  are  not  left  in  doubt.  After  the  horrors  of  a  revolution  such 
as  the  world  has  not  yet  seen,  socialism  or  communism  in  politics 
and  naturalism  in  religion — these  are  what  we  have  to  expect. 
Under  the  new  order,  men  shall  be  free  from  every  yoke  and 
existing  evil.  Poverty  shall  be  no  more,  nor  inequality  of  any 
kind,  and  every  form  of  superstition  shall  disappear.  In  other 
words,  the  promise  held  out  to  men  is  in  another  form  :  You  shall 
be  as  gods,  knowing  good  and  evil.1 

Not  all  to  whom  this  prospect  is  held  out  are  deceived  by  it. 
But  to  the  masses  who  cannot  look  ahead  very  far,  and  on  whom 
existing  burdens  press  hard,  any  programme  that  promises  more 
liberty,  more  comfort,  more  pleasure,  is  a  welcome  one.  And 
once  engaged  in  the  actual  struggle  for  their  rights,  real  and 
fancied,  who  will  answer  that  even  the  honest  and  upright  will  not 
be  carried  away  by  the  intoxication  of  the  moment  ? 

1  Genesis,  iii.  5. 


626  GENERAL   INTENTION. 

HI. 

Now  the  duty  of  Associates  at  this  time  is  very  plain.  Our 
hope  and  aim  is  the  speedy  establishment  of  the-  Kingdom  of  Jesus 
Christ  on  earth — Thy  Kingdom  Come  !  Our  great  arm  against 
the  enemies  of  Christ,  visible  and  invisible,  is  prayer.  Here  in 
our  country,  the  very  great  evils  we  have  pointed  out  may  not 
seem  to  be  so  imminent.  In  other  lands  they  are  imminent. 
Experience  of  the  past  proves  this.  The  threats  and  boasts  of 
the  Socialist  leaders  in  France  and  Belgium  and  Germany  leave 
little  doubt  of  it.  The  venerable  voice  of  the  Holy  Father  is 
raised  to  warn  us  that  the  storm  is  fast  approaching.  Let  us 
then  pray  that  this  storm  may  be  dispersed. 

The  remedy  is  in  a  return  of  the  nation  to  God.  There 
would  be  little  to  fear  for  the  world  or  for  society  to-day,  if  the 
spirit  of  the  Sacred  Heart  ruled  the  hearts  of  men.  In  the  first 
place,  classes  and  divisions  in  society  would  be  as  if  they  were  not. 
For  then  there  would  be  neither  Gentile  nor  Jew,  circumcision  nor 
uncircumcision,  Barbarian  nor  Scythian,  bond  nor  free,  for  Christ 
would  be  all  and  in  all*  In  the  second  place,  charity  would  then 
rule,  and  charity  is  patient,  is  kind;  charity  envieth  not,  dealeth 
not  perversely,  is  not  puffed  up.3  Then  would  forbearance  and 
considerateness  mark  the  conduct  of  the  rich  towards  the  poor, 
and  patience,  self-respect  and  acquiescence  in  the  dispositions  of 
God's  fatherly  providence  be  the  characteristics  of  the  poor. 

But  as  things  are  now,  the  poor  forget  the  lessons  of  the  Cave 
of  Bethlehem  and  of  the  carpenter's  bench  at  Nazareth.  They 
listen  to  the  vaporings  of  wicked  or  deluded  agitators  and  hope 
from  them  the  remedy  for  their  woes,  whereas  there  is  but  One 
Who  could  say  :  Come  to  Me  all  you  that  labor  and  are  burdened 
and  I  will  refresh  you.  Take  up  My  yoke  upon  you  and  learn  of 
Me,  because  I  am  meek  and  humble  of  heart  and  you  shall  find  rest 
for  your  souls.  For  My  yoke  is  sweet  and  My  burden  light.*  The 
rich  on  the  other  hand  forget  the  words  of  the  Apostle  so  very 
applicable  to  them  :  Who  distinguisheth  thee  ?  Or  what  hast  thou 
that  thou  hast  not  received  ?  And  if  thou  hast  received,  why  dost 

*Colossians,  iii.  11.          3 1.  Corinthians,  xiii.  4St.  Matthew,  xi.  28. 


GENERAL  INTENTION.  627 

thou  glory  as  if  thou  hadst  not  received."  They  turn  a  deaf  ear  to 
the  terrible  denunciations  of  the  Lord  :  Wo  to  you  that  are  rich 
for  you  have  your  consolation.  Wo  to  you  that  are  filled  for  you 
shall  hunger.  Wo  to  you  that  now  laugh  for  you  shall  mourn  and 
weep.6  They  are  heedless  of  the  injunction  :  Make  unto  you  friends 
of  the  mammon  of  iniquity;''  that  is,  use  wisely  and  as  God's  righteous 
stewards  the  wealth  He  has  given  you.  Thou  shalt  not  refuse  the 
hire  of  the  needy  and  the  poor  whether  he  be  thy  brother  or  a  stranger 
that  dwelleth  with  thee  in  the  land  and  is  within  thy  gates  ;  but  thou 
shalt  pay  him  the  price  of  his  labor  the  same  day  before  the  going 
down  of  the  sun,  because  he  is  poor  and  with  it  maintaineth  his  life  : 
lest  he  cry  against  thee  to  the  Lord  and  it  be  reputed  to  thee  for  a 
sin.s  And  remember  always  that  alms  deliver eth  from  death  and 
the  same  is  that  which  purgeth  away  sins  and  maketh  to  find  mercy 
and  life  everlasting.9 

We  should  have  everything  to  hope  for,  if  these  truths  were 
practically  believed.  And  believed  they  must  be  if  the  world  is 
to  be  saved.  He  hath  given  to  every  one  of  us  commandment  con- 
cerning our  neighbor,10  says  the  Wise  man,  and  Christ  Himself  has 
said :  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  thy  whole  heart  and 
thy  whole  soul  and  with  thy  whole  mind.  This  is  the  greatest  and 
the  first  commandment.  And  the  second  is  like  to  this,  thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  On  these  two  commandments  dependeth 
the  whole  law  and  the  prophets.11  When  will  the  world  open  its 
eyes  to  this  truth  ?  The  united  and  fervent  prayers  of  our  Asso- 
ciates can  do  much  to  hasten  this  happy  day. 

OFFERING  FOE  THE  INTENTIONS  OF  THE  MONTH. 

O  Jesus,  through  the  Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary,  I  offer 
Thee  all  the  prayers,  work,  and  sufferings  of  this  day  for  all  the 
intentions  of  Thy  Divine  Heart,  in  union  with  the  Holy  Sacrifice 
of  the  Mass,  in  reparation  for  all  sin,  and  for  all  requests  pre- 
sented through  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer  :  and  in  particular  that 
social  peace  may  be  established.  Amen. 

5 1.  Corinthians,  iv.  7.  6  St.  Luke,  vi.  24,  25.  T  Ibid.  xvi.  9. 

8  Deuteronomy,  xxiv.  14.        9  Tobias,  xii.  9.         10  Ecclesiasticus,  xvii.  12. 

11  St.  Matthew,  xi.  28. 


THE   LEAGUE  AND   TEMPERANCE. 
"THE  HEKOIC  OFFERING." 

INTEMPERANCE  is  a  sin.  Reparation  should  be  made  for 
sin.  These  are  the  Christian  principles  underlying  the  work 

begun  by  Father  Cullen,  the  Irish  Head-Director  of  the  League, 
and  now  proposed  to  our  American  Associates  in  the  Children's 
Manual  recently  published  by  the  American  Head-Director. 

That  intemperance  is  a  sin,  no  Catholic  can  deny.  That 
it  is  a  sin  productive  of  other  sins,  no  one,  who  is  at  all 
observant,  will  hesitate  to  acknowledge.  That  it  is  a  sin  bringing 
with  it  inevitable  ruin  to  body  and  soul,  to  homes,  and  families, 
and  communities,  sad  experience  too  often  testifies.  Who  can 
count  the  blighted  lives,  the  ruined  homes,  the  broken  hearts  due 
to  this  sin  ?  Who  will  number  the  immortal  souls  lost  through 
the  sin  of  intemperance  ? 

But  it  is  not  our  design,  in  advocating  the  practice  of  the 
Heroic  Offering,  to  enlarge  upon  the  temporal  evils  resulting  from 
this  sin ;  we  wish  to  look  upon  another  aspect  of  the  evil,  to  con- 
sider it  in  its  bearing  upon  the  spiritual  life  of  souls.  This  con- 
sideration will  appeal  with  special  force  to  those  of  our  Associates 
who  have  learned,  by  the  practice  of  the  Third  Degree  of  the 
League,  the  true  spirit  of  reparation  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus. 

We  do  not  wish  in  any  way  to  exaggerate  the  harm  done  to 
souls  by  this  sin ;  nor  is  there  any  need  of  exaggeration,  for  the  plain 
and  simple  truth  is  sufficiently  terrible.  No  priest  of  God  whose 
life  has  been  passed  in  ministering  to  souls  can  think  of  the  ruin 
wrought  in  his  flock  by  intemperance  without  shuddering  at  the 
thought.  No  father  or  mother  whose  boy,  led  away  by  evil  com- 
panions and  neglecting  prayer  and  the  Sacraments,  fell  a  victim  to 
this  vice  and  sank  into  an  untimely  grave  need  be  told  that  intem- 
perance is  destructive  to  souls. 

Our  contention  is  not  that  intemperance  is  the  only  sin,  nor 
do  we  claim  that  it  is  the  worst  sin  committed,  but  we  do  hold 

628 


THE  LEAGUE  AND   TEMPERANCE.  629 

that  is  a  great  and  widespread  sin,  a  public  sin,  a  sin  peculiarly 
prevalent  at  the  present  time,  a  sin  that  demands  atonement  or 
reparation,  a  sin  that  can  be  atoned  for  and  repaired. 

The  motives  that  impel,  and  the  reasons  that  underlie  the 
many  works  of  reparation,  undertaken  of  late  to  atone  for  special 
sins,  are  applicable  to  this  sin  as  well.  We  may  even  say  that 
they  gain  additional  force  when  applied  to  the  sin  of  intemperance. 
Other  sins  atoned  for  are,  for  the  most  part,  private  sins  or  the  sins 
of  very  few :  this  sin  is  public  and  widespread,  limited  neither  to 
any.  condition  of  life,  or  age,  or  occupation,  or  sex.  Our  duty  to 
God  leads  us  to  make  reparation  for  sins  of  intemperance. 

Our  Associates  of  the  Holy  League  have  taken  upon  them- 
selves the  defence  of  our  Lord's  interests ;  when  His  interests  are 
in  danger  they  claim  for  themselves  the  right  to  protect  them. 
Now  the  chief  interest  of  our  Blessed  Lord  is  to  glorify  His 
Father  by  the  salvation  of  souls.  The  sin  of  intemperance  robs 
God  of  His  glory  by  destroying  the  souls  which  Christ  has 
redeemed.  Our  Associates  are  asked  to  make  reparation  for  this 
injury  done  to  Almighty  God.  In  this  spirit  of  atonement  and 
reparation,  the  Heroic  Offering  is  proposed.  It  is  to  be  a  free 
offering ;  a  voluntary  sacrifice  of  a  thing  indifferent  in  itself,  the 
use  of  which  is  not  forbidden  to  those  to  whom  the  Heroic  Offer- 
ing is  proposed.  This  work  of  self-denial  is  not  intended  to  be 
merely  a  remedial  measure  to  be  practised  by  those  who  have 
sinned  and  are  still  in  proximate  danger  of  sinning  by  intemper- 
ance ;  their  duty  is  plain ;  if  they  do  not  avoid  what  is  a  proxi- 
mate occasion  of  sin  for  them  they  cannot  hope  to  save  their  souls. 
If  they  are  not  resolved,  with  God's  help,  to  avoid  these  occasions, 
they  cannot  be  absolved  from  their  sins  in  the  Sacrament  of 
Penance.  There  is  no  question  of  simple  counsel  for  them ;  they 
must  avoid  the  occasion  of  sin.  Victims  of  intemperance  are  not 
to  be  allowed  to  make  this  offering.  "  The  chief  aim  of  the 
Heroic  Offering  is,"  in  the  words  of  Father  Cullen,  "  to  band  in 
holy  alliance  around  the  Heart  of  Jesus  self-denying  souls,  who 
are  prepared  to  combine  with  prayer  the  sacrifice  of  a  legitimate 
luxury,  in  order  to  give  greater  glory  and  consolation  to  His  Heart." 


MONTHLY   COMMUNION   OF   CHILDREN. 
THE  VENERABLE  OLIER  AND  THE  PARISH  OF  ST.  SULPICE. 

IN  speaking  of  the  Monthly  Communion  of  Children  in  the 
June  MESSENGER,  we  insisted  on  its  influence  for  good  on 

the  whole  parish.  The  example  of  the  children,  it  was  said, 
will  draw  the  parents ;  or  if  it  will  not  do  this,  one  generation  at 
least  in  the  parish  will  form  the  habit  of  frequently  approaching 
the  Blessed  Sacrament,  thus  preparing  the  way  for  the  sanctifica- 
tion  of  succeeding  generations.  In  the  life  of  M.  Olier,  the 
venerable  Founder  of  St.  Sulpice,  we  have  a  remarkable  confir- 
mation of  this.  M.  Olier  reformed  the  parish  of  St.  Sulpice 
by  means  of  the  Monthly  Communion  of  Children.  To  under- 
stand all  that  this  means,  we  must  realize  the  condition  of  that 
parish  at  the  time  when  M.  Olier  was  given  charge  of  it.  If 
ever  difficulties  sufficient  to  daunt  the  stoutest  heart  were  put 
in  the  way  of  a  parish  priest,  there  was  here  a  condition  of 
things  enough  to  discourage  even  an  apostle.  Here  is  an 
account  left  us  by  a  writer  who  was  almost  contemporary  with 
M.  Olier : 

"  I  wish  I  were  able  to  give  you  an  idea  of  the  state  of  St. 
Sulpice  at  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  the  Seminary.  It  was 
then  a  very  sewer,  into  which  was  turned  every  sort  of  disorder  and 
every  kind  of  abomination  that  you  can  imagine.  This  Sodom 
was  the  refuge  of  all  the  abandoned  wretches  of  Paris,  who  found 
there  impunity  and  the  means  of  living  according  to  their 
passions.  It  was  a  special  Providence  over  this  faubourg  that 
made  God  raise  up  M.  Olier  and  his  zealous  co-laborers.  Their 
tireless  efforts  made  this  sterile  ground  a  very  land  of  promise, 
in  which  each  one  taught  his  neighbor  to  know  and  to  glorify 
God.  The  change  was  easily  observed  through  frequent  confes- 
sions, and  the  numerous  instances  in  which  restitution  was  made ; 
through  the  obedience  of  the  parishioners  to  the  precepts  of  the 
Church  and  their  insatiable  hunger  for  the  Word  of  God ;  and 

630 


MONTHLY  COMMUNION  OF  CHILDREN.  631 

lastly,  through  the  sorrow  and  repentance  of  such  numbers  of 
prodigal  children,  who  were  brought  to  detest  the  irregularities  of 
their  former  lives.  In  this  parish,  where  up  to  this  time  the 
Holy  Table  had  been  deserted,  the  eagerness  to  receive  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  became  so  universal  that  in  one  year  the  number  of 
Communions  made  in  the  parish  church  amounted  to  200,000  ; 
and  this  was  in  spite  of  the  fact  that,  in  the  neighborhood,  there 
were  thirty  churches  belonging  to  communities,  which  the  parish- 
ioners might  attend." 

So  great  indeed  was  the  change  that  M.  Faillon,  the  biographer 
of  the  servant  of  God,  does  not  hesitate  to  say :  "  The  labors  of 
M.  Olier  produced  so  astonishing  fruit  that  in  one  year  his  parish 
offered  a  vivid  picture  of  what  the  first  Christian  community  must 
have  been." 

The  first  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  this  is  that  no  parish, 
in  however  bad  a  state  it  may  be,  is  to  be  despaired  of.  The  truly 
pious  and  zealous  priest  can  transform  a  Sodom  into  a  holy  city, 
and  prodigies  of  this  kind,  thanks  be  to  God,  we  see  renewed  in 
our  own  days. 

The  second  conclusion  that  might  be  drawn  is  that  the 
means  which  produced  such  astonishing  results  in  one  case  may 
be  depended  on  not  to  fail  in  similar  cases,  and  may  be  depended 
upon,  too,  to  sanctify  still  more  parishes  in  which  God  is  already 
being  served. 

The  means  employed  by  M.  Olier  to  convert  his  parish  were 
many  and  admirable.  Still,  in  the  opinion  of  one  historian,  the 
most  efficacious  of  the  means  he  employed  was  the  care  he 
expended  on  the  children  and  in  particular  the  institution  of  the 
Monthly  Communion  of  the  Children  of  the  parish.  We  may 
here  give  in  his  own  words  the  idea  which  inspired  M.  Olier. 
"  I  begin  to  understand  the  mind  of  God  in  the  reform  of  this 
parish.  His  will  is  that  we  should  first  help  the  young  people, 
making  them  understand  the  principles  of  the  Christian  life  and 
sowing  in  their  hearts  the  truths  of  salvation."  The  full  truth 
of  this  he  showed  himself,  for  his  first  step  was  to  institute  fre- 
quent catechetical  instructions,  and  certainly  there  was  great  need 


632  MONTHLY  COMMUNION  OF  CHILDREN. 

of  them,  for  his  biographer  tells  us  :  "  The  ignorance,  as  regards 
the  things  of  salvation  in  which  the  greater  part  of  the  children 
lived,  appeared  to  the  servant  of  God  to  be  the  first  of  the  evils 
of  his  parish  that  he  should  labor  to  correct.  For  a  long  time 
the  teaching  of  religion  had  been  that  even  the  fathers  and  the 
mothers  of  these  children  were  as  little  acquainted  with  the 
elements  of  Christian  doctrine  as  were  their  children.  They  did 
not  seem  to  have  ever  heard  of  the  Apostles'  Creed.  It  was 
necessary  therefore  to  teach  them  anew,  and  to  explain  the 
Gospel  from  the  beginning  to  all  alike,  great  and  small.  In 
order  to  succeed  in  this  difficult  enterprise,  M.  Olier  established 
a  number  of  catechism  classes  in  different  quarters  of  his  parish. 

He  himself  wished  to  take  part  in  this  ministry,  and  his 
especial  charge  was  the  youngest  of  the  children,  and  his  care  of 
them  was  marked  by  a  love  and  humility  that  were  admirable. 
Over  and  above  these  general  classes,  in  which  he  gathered  over 
4,000  children,  he  had  other  classes,  in  which  he  prepared  them 
for  their  First  Communion,  and  .which  were  known  as  "  Weekly 
Classes."  He  had  still  another  class,  in  which  the  children  were 
prepared  for  the  Sacrament  of  Confirmation,  and  he  made  it  a  rule 
that  all  should  undergo  an  examination  before  being  admitted  to 
receive  the  Sacrament. 

In  addition  to  this  regular  teaching  of  the  catechism,  M. 
Olier  adopted  another  device  without  which  his  instructions  would 
have  remained,  as  he  believed,  without  results  as  far  as  regards 
the  reform  of  the  morals  and  the  preservation  of  the  innocence  of 
the  souls  of  the  children.  This  means  was  the  confessional. 
"  Children,"  he  said,  "  should  be  made  to  go  to  confession  as  often 
as  possible,  once  they  have  passed  the  age  of  six  or  seven  years. 
Without  this  the  teaching  of  revealed  truth  remains  inefficacious, 
and  has  no  practical  influence  on  their  lives." 

This  work  of  hearing  children's  confessions,  moreover,  he 
did  not  leave  to  others.  His  labors  were  great  and  burdensome. 
His  parish  was  very  extensive,  and  still  more  extensive  were  the 
needs  of  his  parishioners.  But  this  made  little  difference  to  him. 
He  never  refused  to  hear  the  confessions  of  little  children,  and  his 


MONTHLY  COMMUNION  OF  CHILDREN.  633 

heart  was  always  open  to  receive  them  with  a  fatherly  tenderness. 
He  had  learned  in  the  school  of  his  Divine  Master  how  glorious 
and  elevating  in  the  sight  of  God  is  this  ministry  which  is  so 
obscure  in  the  eyes  of  the  world.  We  again  quote  from  his 
biographer  :  "  In  spite  of  his  constant  occupations  M.  Olier  never 
refused  to  hear  the  confessions  of  the  children  who  came  to  him. 
He  received  them  with  a  gentleness  and  tenderness  worthy  of  a 
mother  or  a  nurse.  Knowing  that  their  young  hearts  are  like 
wax  to  receive  every  sort  of  impression,  he  tried  to  imprint  upon 
them  the  first  elements  of  the  New  Man,  after  the  model  offered  us 
in  the  Child  Jesus,  Who  was  subject  to  His  parents  and  grew  each 
day  in  grace." 

A  person  who  had  the  greatest  admiration  for  M.  Olier  and 
who,  after  the  death  of  the  man  of  God,  felt  himself  obliged  to 
put  in  writing  whatever  had  most  struck  him  in  the  conduct  of 
the  servant  of  God,  insists  especially  upon  this  point.  He  recalls 
with  admiration  the  humility  and  the  charity  with  which  M.  Olier 
received  these  little  children  ;  and  he  adds  :  "  When  I  recall  the 
touching  remembrance  of  these  scenes,  I  can  scarcely  restrain  my 
tears." 

The  chief  means  of  all,  however,  upon  which  the  intelligent 
and  devoted  zeal  of  M.  Olier  depended  was  the  Holy  Communion, 
and  to  this  he  added  devotion  to  the  Blessed  Virgin.  He  estab- 
lished among  the  children  a  General  Communion  every  month, 
and  this  pious  practice,  as  we  have  said  in  the  beginning,  had  the 
greatest  influence  on  the  reform  of  St.  Sulpice.  It  was  one  of  the 
principal  causes  of  its  return  to  the  right  way  and  of  its  continued 
piety.  "  The  principal  means  M.  Olier  employed  to  reform  his 
parish,"  says  his  biographer,  "  was  devotion  to  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment ;  and  in  his  efforts  to  preserve  his  parishioners  from  the 
poison  of  Jansenism,  which  was  then  beginning  to  show  itself,  he 
displayed  the  greatest  zeal  in  bringing  his  people  to  receive  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  frequently,  and  the  most  efficacious  means  that 
he  employed  was  to  inspire  in  them  from  childhood  the  sincerest 
and  tenderest  love  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  impress  upon  them  the 
dispositions  with  which  they  should  receive  this  true  Bread  of  Life. 


634  MONTHLY  COMMUNION   OF  CHILDREN. 

He  demanded  of  those  in  the  catechism  classes  that  they  should 
prepare  their  children  for  First  Communion,  and  in  order  to 
do  this  he  set  on  foot  General  Communions,  which  are  still  known 
as  such." 

This  is  the  explanation  which  has  been  given  by  the  people 
of  the  place  for  the  revival  of  piety  which  took  place  in  the  time 
of  M.  Olier,  and  which  has  existed  ever  since.  M.  Olier  himself 
said:  "It  is  God's  will  that  piety  should  revive  through  devo- 
tion to  the  most  Blessed  Sacrament  on  the  altar.  The  aim  of  the 
Son  of  God  in  coming  upon  this  earth  was  to  communicate  Him- 
self, His  own  divine  life,  to  men,  and  thus  make  them  like  unto 
Himself.  This  transformation  He  begins  in  Baptism;  He 
advances  it  in  Confirmation ;  but  the  finishing  touch  and  the  per- 
fection of  His  work  He  wills  to  come  through  the  most  Blessed 
Sacrament,  the  divine  food  which  really  gives  us  His  own  life. 
This  is  the  inexhaustible  fountain,  the  bottomless  ocean  out  of  the 
fulness  of  which  we  are  all  sanctified.  Through  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  it  is  that  He  desires  to  fill  His  priests  with  His  own 
spirit  and  with  His  grace,  so  that  they  may  convert  souls.  The 
priest  who  is  untiring  in  his  efforts  to  honor  It,  to  appeal  to  It,  to 
supplicate  It  in  favor  of  his  people,  may  sooner  or  later  obtain  the 
conversion  of  them  all.  Alas  !  dear  Lord,  if  You  would  but  be 
pleased  to  make  me  present  in  many  places  where  the  Host  is  pre- 
served throughout  the  world,  so  that  I  might  live  there  and  spend 
my  days  and  my  life  adoring  Thee,  how  happy  should  I  be  !  I 
perish  at  the  thought  that  the  dear  Lord  is  not  honored  in  the 
Blessed  Sacrament." 

Would  that  all  of  our  priests  were  full  of  these  ardent 
desires,  especially  the  newly-ordained,  who  are  beginning  their 
labors  for  souls  !  Young  people  have  always  more  influence  over 
young  people  than  others  have.  What  a  magnificent  field,  then, 
is  open  to  the  activity  of  young  priests  in  this  work  of  the 
Monthly  Communion  of  Children  !  What  an  abundant  harvest  of 
souls  may  be  gained  by  them,  if  they  thus  become  the  apostles  of 
the  young  ! 


APOSTLESHIP  H     NOTICES 


RECENT  AGGREGATIONS. — To  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer, 
League  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  (June  12  to  July  12, 
1891). 

(Name  of  diocese  in  italics,  before  parish  or  comnmnity  aggregated.) 

Brooklyn,  New  York :  St.  Michael's  Church,  Flushing. 

Cleveland,  Ohio :  St.  Mary's  Church,  Verraillion. 

Davenport,  Iowa :  St.  Mary's  Church,  Red  Oak. 

Detroit,  Michigan :  Cathedral  of  Sts.  Peter  and  Paul,  Detroit. 

Fort  Wayne,  Indiana :  Church  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  Notre  Dame. 

Grand  Rapids,  Michigan :  St.  Mary's  Church,  Provemont ; 
St.  Mary's  Church,  Cascade ;  House  of  the  Aged  Poor  (Little  Sis- 
ters of  the  Poor),  Grand  Rapids. 

Hartford,  Connecticut :  St.  Mary's  Church,!  New  London  ; 
St.  John's  Church,  New  Haven ;  Convent  of  Mercy,  Fairhaven. 

Kansas  City,  Missouri :  St.  Bridget's  Church,  Rich  Hill. 

Louisville,  Kentucky :  St.  Stephen's  Church,  Owensboro. 

Milwaukee,  Wisconsin :  St.  Patrick's  Church,  Beaver  Dam. 

Newark,  New  Jersey :  Holy  Trinity  Church,  Hackensack ; 
Sacred  Heart  Church,  Newark ;  Assumption  B.Y.M.  Church, 
Morristown. 

New  York,  New  York :  St.  Stanislas'  Church,  New  York. 

Oregon,  Oregon :  St.  Mary's  Church,  Pendleton. 

Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania:  St.  Wendel's  Church,  Carbon 
Centre. 

Scranton,  Pennsylvania :  St.  Gabriel's  Church,  Hazleton. 

Syracuse,  New  York :  St.  Francis'  Church,  Utica. 

635 


636  APOSTLESHIP  NOTICES. 

Trenton,  New  Jersey :  St.  Clare's  Church,  Florence. 

Vincennes,  Indiana :  Nativity  B.  V.M.  Church,  North 
Vernon. 

Wilmington,  Delaware:  Immaculate  Conception  Church, 
Elkton ;  St.  John  Baptist's  Church,  Newark. 

THE  SODALITY  OF  THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN. 
Diplomas  of  Affiliation,  received  from  the  Prima  Primaria, 
have  been  transmitted  to  the  following : 

Grand  Rapids,  Michigan:  St.  Patrick's  Church,  Grand 
Haven. 

Milwaukee,  Wisconsin :  St.  Catharine's  Church,  Mapleton. 

Providence,  Rhode  Island:  St.  John  Evangelist's  Church, 
Slatersville. 

Springjield,  Massachusetts :  St.  Paul's  Church,  Blackstone. 

Syracuse,  New  York:  St.  John  Evangelist's  Cathedral, 
Syracuse. 

THE  TREASURY  OF  THE  SACRED  HEART. 

Associates  can  gain  100  days'  Indulgence  for  each  action  offered  for  the 
Intentions  of  the  League. 

Offerings  for  the  Intentions  of  the  Sacred  Heart,   received   from  June  12  to 

July  12,  1891. 

No.  or  TIKIS.  No.  or  TIMES. 

1.  Acts  of  Charity  ....  669,220  11.  Masses  Heard    ....       124,851 

2.  Beads 254,530  12.  Mortifications    ....       244,530 

3.  Stations  of  the  Cross     .  36,243  13.  Works  of  Charity     .    .         97,311 

4.  Holy  Communions    .    .  124,666  14.  Works  of  Zeal  ....    1,626,887 

5.  Spiritual  Communions  .  266,034  15.  Prayers 2,575,311 

6.  Examens  of  Conscience  137,711  16.  Charitahle  Conversation       72,709 

7.  Hours  of  Labor  ....  427,486  17.  Sufferings  or  Afflictions 

8.  Hours  of  Silence    .    .    .  183,108  18.  Self-Conquest    .... 

9.  Pious  Reading    ....  64,519  19.  Visits  to  B.  Sacrament 
10.  Masses  Celebrated     .    .  2,218  20.  Various  Good  Works   . 

Total 8,107,454 

The  above  returns  represent  four  hundred  and  twelve  Centres.  These 
offerings  for  the  TREASURY  are  made  for  all  the  Intentions  recommended  during 
the  past  month. 


ALL  YOU  THAT  UBOUMNOARE  BURDENED 


IN  THANKSGIVING  FOR  GRACES  OBTAINED. 

TOTAL  NUMBEE  OF  THANKSGIVINGS  FOB  LAST  MONTH,  54,422. 

Having  teen  delivered  ty  God  out  of  great  dangers,  we  give  Him  great  thanks 

(II.  Machabees,  i.  11). 

HALIFAX,  N.  S.,  JUNE  11. — Thanksgiving  is  offered  for 
the  conversion  and  restoration  to  health  of  a  careless  Catholic  who 
for  many  years  had  given  up  all  religious  practices.  He  was 
taken  suddenly  ill  and  refused  to  see  a  priest.  His  friends  then 
recommended  him  to  the  prayers  of  the  League  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  and  in  a  short  time  he  made  his  confession  and  received 
Holy  Communion,  and  is  now  almost  entirely  restored  to  health. 

MILWAUKEE,  Wis.,  JUNE  12. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart 
of  Jesus  for  the  complete  restoration  of  mind  to  two  persons  who 
were  insane,  and  confined  in  an  asylum.  One  cure  was  instanta- 
neous. 

CINCINNATI,  O.,  JUNE  12. — Persons  who  were  recommended 
to  the  prayers  of  the  League  not  long  ago  have  returned  to  the 
practice  of  their  religious  duties  after  an  absence  of  15,  18,  20,  22 
and  25  years. 

POET  HURON,  MICH.,  JUNE  12. — A  Promoter  returns  thanks 
for  the  cure  of  a  disease  which  had  caused  much  suffering  for  a 
year.  Promise  was  made  to  publish  the  favor  in  the  MESSENGER. 

NEW  ORLEANS,  LA.,  JUNE  12. — Special  thanks  are  returned 
to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  happy  death  of  one  who  had  not  been 


637 


638  IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES   OBTAINED. 

to  his  duties  for  fifteen  years.  His  conversion  was  manifestly  due 
to  the  prayers  of  the  Associates  of  the  League.  Also,  for  the  res- 
toration to  health  of  a  young  man  whose  case  was  pronounced 
fatal  by  the  physicians. 

TACOMA,  WASH.,  JUNE  15. — Being  told  by  my  doctor  that 
I  would  be  obliged  to  undergo  surgical  treatment  for  the  removal 
of  a  cancerous  tumor  from  which  I  suffered  and  dreading  the 
knife,  I  placed  all  my  confidence  in  the  Sacred  Heart  and  made 
my  peace  with  God.  In  two  weeks  I  was  cured  by  simple  treat- 
ment without  the  dreaded  knife. 

KNOXVILLE,  TENN.,  JUNE  16. — I  desire  in  fulfilment  of 
my  promise  to  return  thanks  through  the  MESSENGER  for  the 
recovery  of  my  husband  who  was  dangerously  ill. 

PHILA.,  PA.,  JUNE  19. — I  wish  to  return  thanks  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus,  and  to  the  Immaculate  Heart  of  His 
Mother,  for  the  conversion  of  my  father  who  had  not  practised  his 
religion  for  more  than  forty  years.  I  recommended  him  to  the 
prayers  of  the  League  for  two  years,  promising,  if  my  request  was 
granted,  to  publish  it  in  the  MESSENGER.  One  month  ago  he 
went  to  confession  and  received  Holy  Communion. 

NEW  YORK,  N.  Y.,  JUNE  21. — An  Associate  returns  thanks 
to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  recovery  of  a  child,  eight  months  old, 
thought  to  be  dying.  A  member  of  the  family  placed  a  League 
Badge  on  his  chest,  promising  to  offer  public  thanks  through  the 
MESSENGER  if  he  should  recover.  He  improved  rapidly  and  is 
now  entirely  well.  An  Associate  returns  thanks  for  preservation 
from  pneumonia. 

SHREVEPORT,  LA.,  JUNE  22. — We  offer  thanks  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  for  the  return  to  his  religious  duties  of  a  gentleman  who, 
for  twelve  years,  had  not  approached  the  Sacraments.  This  conver- 
sion had  been  recommended  to  the  prayers  of  the  League  for  many 
months. 

TRAVERSE  CITY,  MICH.,  JUNE  22. — We  return  heartfelt 
thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  conversion  of  two  girls.  They 
had  neglected  their  duties  since  their  First  Communion,  declaring 
that  they  were  Protestants  and  would  never  be  Catholics.  They 


IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES   OBTAINED.  639 

were  recommended  to  the  prayers  of  the  Holy  League  for  the 
past  four  months,  and  now,  thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart,  they  have 
received  the  Sacraments  and  have  been  admitted  into  the  League. 

CHELSEA,  MICH.,  JUNE  22. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart 
for  the  return  to  the  Sacraments  of  a  man  who  had  not  approached 
them  for  twenty-six  years.  He  was  recommended  three  times  to 
the  prayers  of  the  League.  Also  for  the  complete  cure  of  a  person 
afflicted  with  a  troublesome  disease. 

NEW  ORLEANS,  LA.,  JUNE  23. — I  was  in  need  of  a  sum  of 
money,  and  prayed  at  the  altar  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  promising, 
if  my  petition  were  granted,  to  acknowledge  the  same  through  the 
MESSENGER.  My  prayer  was  heard. 

HOBOKEN,  N.  J.,  JUNE  24. — The  First  Communion  of  an  aged 
father  was  recommended  at  Easter,  and  a  promise  made  to  publish 
the  favor  when  granted.  On  the  first  day  of  the  month  of  the 
Sacred  Heart  he  made  his  First  and  last  Communion,  dying  three 
hours  after,  in  full  possession  of  his  faculties.  He  was  in  the 
ninetieth  year  of  his  age.  He  was  baptized  two  years  ago.  I  beg 
each  of  the  MESSENGER  readers  to  make  a  distinct  act  of  thanks- 
giving for  me,  as  I  desire  to  make  one  for  every  favor  I  see 
recorded  in  its  beloved  pages. 

OMAHA,  NEB.,  JUNE  24. — A  Promoter  gives  thanks  for 
the  return  of  a  wayward  brother  who  has  been  absent  from  the 
Sacraments  for  about  ten  years.  He  received  Holy  Communion 
over  a  month  ago. 

AUSTIN,  TEXAS,  JUNE  26. — We  beg  special  thanksgiving  to 
be  made  for  six  conversions  in  our  midst  since  the  establish- 
ment of  the  League  here.  Also  for  the  great  success  achieved  in 
our  school,  and  for  numberless  other  spiritual  and  temporal 
blessings. 

BOSTON,  MASS.,  JUNE  28. — Grateful  thanks  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  for  success  with  a  class  of  disorderly  boys.  Also  for  a 
father's  conversion.  He  has  given  up  drink,  joined  the  sodality, 
and  not  missed  a  single  monthly  Communion.  Both  intentions 
had  been  frequently  recommended. 

NEW  YORK,  N.  Y.,  JUNE  28. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart 


64 O  IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES  OBTAINED. 

of  Jesus  for  a  miraculous  deliverance  after  a  trial  of  over  twenty 
years'  duration.  Within  the  past  week  we  have  received  all  we 
ever  asked  for,  and  in  such  a  manner  that  the  hand  of  God  is 
clearly  visible. 

ST.  PAUL,  MINN.,  JUNE  28. — My  mother  made  a  novena  to 
the  Sacred  Heart,  and  when  it  was  completed  my  brother  obtained 
the  position  he  desired. 

SYRACUSE,  N.  Y.,  JUNE  30. — I  return  thanks  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  and  the  Holy  League  for  the  reformation  of  two  young 
men  who  were  addicted  to  drink.  I  recommended  them  to  the 
League  last  month  and  they  have  been  sober  ever  since.  One  of 
them  had  not  been  to  confession  for  five  years ;  he  has  received  the 
Sacraments  and  goes  to  Mass  regularly. 

GLENS  FALLS,  N.  Y.,  JUNE  30. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  for  an  extraordinary  favor.  My  eyes  have  troubled  me  for 
a  number  of  years,  and  recently  they  became  so  inflamed  that 
vision  was  impeded.  I  made  a  triduum  to  the  Sacred  Heart  and 
at  the  end  of  the  third  day  the  change  was  marvellous.  The  next 
day  I  was  able  to  resume  my  duties  which  require  constant  use  of 
the  eyes. 

FREDERICK,  MD.,  JUNE  30. — Two  months  ago  we  recom- 
mended to  the  prayers  of  the  Associates  a  person  who  had  fallen 
into  a  deep  state  of  melancholy,  bordering  on  insanity,  an  heredi- 
tary affliction,  which  left  but  little  hope  of  recovery.  Contrary 
to  all  expectation  the  person  is  now  completely  restored,  and 
returns  sincere  thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart. 

VARIOUS  CENTRES. — On  the  feast  of  the  Sacred  Heart  I 
placed  an  intention  in  the  box  at  the  League  Shrine.  The  follow- 
ing Friday  I  heard  it  read.  Yesterday  the  favors  I  asked,  peace 
of  mind  and  money  to  pay  a  debt,  were  granted  in  a  most  unex- 
pected manner. — About  two  months  ago  I  asked  the  prayers  of  the 
League  for  an  Associate  who  was  out  of  employment.  The 
request  was  granted  and  he  has  now  a  good  position. — Thanks  are 
returned  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  cure  of  a  person. 


©IF  ITKli 


i.ni  a  Design  of  tl.t  Roman  Paii.ter,  Gagliafdi.i 


THE  MESSENGER 

OF   THE 

SACRED  HEART  OF  JESUS 

VOL.  VI  (xxvi).        SEPTEMBER,  1891.  No.  9 


ST.  PETER   CLAVER, 

APOSTLE  OF  THE  NEGROES. 

By  Eleanor  C.  Donnelly. 


comes  before  us  in  the  early  splendor 

Of  sweet  September  days ; 
The  brush  of  Gagliardi,  rich  and  tender, 
In  graceful  lines,  portrays 

A  vision  of  the  dear,  heroic  Claver 

Before  the  Mercy-Seat, 
Invoking  humbly  from  the  great  All-Father, 

A  benediction  sweet 

Upon  His  dusky  sons. — The  court  of  heaven 

Unfolds  its  glories — see  ! 
Girdled  with  light,  they  glow,  like  statues  graven 

From  polish' d  ebony  ! 


Copyright,  1891,  by  Rev.  R.  S.  Dewey,  S.  J.    All  rights  reserved.]  641 


642  AMONG    THE  CCEUR   D' 'ALENES. 

First  priceless  fruits,  which  Carthagena's  saviour 
Snatch'd  from  the  sons  of  Ham  : 

Fruits,  which  the  toil,  the  tears,  the  sweat  of  Claver 
Purchased  unto  the  Lamb ! 

An  earnest  of  that  harvest,  grand  and  glorious, 
Which  Christ  shall  call  His  own, 

When  white  and  colored,  bond  and  free,  victorious, 
Unite  around  His  Throne ! 


AMONG  THE    COEUR   D'ALENES. 
By  a  Missionary. 


HEART  Mission  among  the  Cceur 
d'Alene  Indians  being  in  a  special  manner  under 
the  protection  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  we  believe  a 
short  account  of  its  history  will  be  interesting  to 
the  readers  of  the  MESSENGER,  who,  we  know, 
are  anxious  about  the  progress  of  that  greatest 
of  all  devotions,  even  among  their  sturdy  brethren  of  the  far 
Northwest.  Well-nigh  fifty  years  have  passed  since  the  "  Black 
Gown"  came  among  the  Redmen  of  Idaho.  Father  De  Smet, 
that  intrepid  Belgian,  led  by  the  spirit  of  God,  marched  over 
mountain,  river,  and  forest,  from  St.  Louis  even  beyond  Uncle 
Sam's  domain.  His  was  the  march  of  a  conqueror  :  yes,  the 
greatest  of  all  conquerors,  for  in  the  hearts  of  the  Indians  of 
to-day  his  visit  among  them  lives  in  sweet  memory. 

In  1842  the  first  mission  was  established  among  the  Coeur 
d'Alenes  at  what  is.  now  known  as  "St.  Joe."  The  glowing 
descriptions  which  Father  De  Smet  spread  over  Europe  of  the 
great  harvest  to  be  reaped  among  the  Indians  brought  many  appli- 
cations from  members  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  Belgium,  France, 


644  AMONG    THE  CCEUR   D'ALENES. 

Italy,  Germany  and  even  Switzerland,  sent  their  noble  sons  ready 
to  bear  all  difficulties  and  to  suffer  all  hardships  in  the  defence 
and  propagation  of  the  faith.  The  path  of  the  missionaries  during 
that  half  century  was  not  always  strewn  with  flowers,  nor  did  the 
sun  of  prosperity  always  cheer  them  on  their  way.  The  rugged 
hills  and  mountains,  which  to  the  prospector  nowadays  seem  so 
fair,  especially  if  he  strike  a  good  ledge  of  precious  metals,  were 
to  the  missionaries  obstacles  rather  than  encouragement.  They 
had  come  with  a  different  prospect.  In  the  heart  of  the  uncouth 
savage  there  was  a  mine  to  be  discovered.  The  vices  that  sur- 
rounded that  heart  were  harder  to  overcome  than  the  clearing 
away  of  timber  from  the  mountain's  brow,  or  digging  deep  into  its 
sides.  It  was  only  by  the  fire  divine  the  work  could  be  done,  and 
so  the  mission  was  placed  under  the  protection  of  the  Sacred 
Heart. 

The  location  on  the  "St.  Joe  "  was  found  to  be  unhealthy  from 
the  great  number  of  marshes  which  surrounded  it,  and  the  count- 
less armies  of  mosquitoes  made  the  place  an  unpleasant  residence 
during  the  summer  months.  It  was  then  decided  to  move  to  what 
is  now  known  as  the  "Old  Mission,"  a  spot  venerated  by  all 
classes  and  creeds.  There  is  no  place  that  the  inhabitants  of 
Spokane,  the  metropolis  of  the  inland  empire,  look  to  with  greater 
pride  than  the  "  Old  Mission."  Fathers  Joset  and  Point  were 
its  founders.  This  makes  the  history  of  this  mission  doubly  dear, 
for  these  two  Fathers  still  live  as  connecting  links  between  the 
past  and  present.  Father  Point  has  found  a  haven  of  rest  in  the 
Jesuit  Novitiate  near  Montreal,  Canada,  while  Father  Joset  is 
still  wrestling  with  the  evil  one  in  trying  to  keep  from  his  grasp 
those  whom  he  has  loved  so  much,  and  for  whom  he  has  sacrificed 
forty-seven  years  of  his  life. 

Here  then  at  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Creur  d'Alene 
River,  about  thirty  miles  from  the  beautiful  Creur  d'Alene  Lake, 
the  "Old  Mission"  was  begun  in  1844.  Here  that  monument, 
the  Church  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  stands  on  a  knoll.  In  front  is 
the  broad  prairie  which  sti  etches  along  the  Cceur  d'Alene  as  it 
winds  and  turns  in  its  onward  march  to  the  Lake.  Behind,  the 


646  AMONG    THE  CCEUR   D'^LENES. 

mountain-streams  rush  down  the  rugged  sides,  and  the  huge 
pines  swayed  to  and  fro  by  the  wind,  mingle  their  sighs  with  the 
murmur  of  the  waters,  which  united  add  awe  to  the  grandeur  of 
the  scene.  But  while  you  stand  admiring  the  beauty  of  the  place 
and  are  told  that  the  church  is  the  work  of  the  Indians,  who 
forty-seven  years  ago  hewed,  dressed  and  piled  log  upon  log  of  that 
huge  building,  ninety  feet  long,  forty  wide,  with  walls  twenty-five 
feet  high ; — their  tools  being  a  saw,  auger,  ax,  and  an  old  jack- 
plane — and  that  the  logs  had  to  be  raised  to  their  place  with  ropes 
made  from  the  wild  grass  of  the  prairie,  and  Were  fastened  together 
with  wooden  pegs,  your  imagination  can  go  no  farther. 

So  far  for  the  material  work.  The  conversion  of  a  race 
known  as  the  most  treacherous  and  cruel  of  all  the  Indian  tribes 
must  be  a  work  superhuman,  but  when  we  add  to  this  that  the  Coeur 
d'Alenes  of  to-day  are  the  most  fervent  Catholic  community  in  the 
world  the  work  of  grace  is  plain.  This  is  no  idle  boast,  for  the  con- 
sent of  all  who  visit  them  gives  them  this  palm.  When  the  place 
where  "  Old  Mission  "  now  stands  was  declared  outside  the  reser- 
vation, another  more  suitable  selection  had  to  be  made,  as  tl^e  great 
rush  of  bullion  seekers  to  the  Creur  d'Alene  mines  brought  the 
Indians  into  too  close  communication  with  the  whites,  which  has 
always  been  a  great  evil  to  them.  Accordingly,  in  1878,  the 
mission  was  moved  to  its  present  place — Desmet.  The  present 
site,  nestling  among  the  mountains  of  Idaho,  at  a  short  distance 
from  the  line  that  divides  Idaho  from  Montana,  is  beautifully 
located.  This  spot  was  chosen  as  the  best  suited  for  the  change 
that  was  now  coming  over  the  life  of  the  Indian.  The  land  is  a 
continuation  of  the  Palouse  country,  so  famous  as  an  agricultural 
district.  When  the  Indians  saw  the  advantage  of  farming,  they 
began  it  with  a  courage  that  brought  forth  success.  Large  crops 
of  wheat,  oats,  and  barley,  with  all  kinds  of  vegetables,  are  raised 
every  year  on  their  farms.  They,  by  their  own  exertions,  bought 
all  modern  improvements  in  farm  implements.  Each  family  has 
a  house  to  live  in :  the  wigwam  is  a  thing  of  the  past.  The 
church  stands  in  the  centre  between  the  two  schools.  The  school 
for  girls,  conducted  by  the  Sisters  of  Providence,  has  been  in 


AMONG    THE  COEUR   D'^LENES.  647 

existence  for  over  eleven  years.  The  boys'  school  was  begun  a 
little  later.  Both  schools  attend  church,  night  and  morning,  and 
the  fervor  with  which  they  say  their  prayers  moved  a  Methodist 
preacher  to  commend  them  for  the  way  they  recited  the  Command- 
ments. But  Protestant,  Catholic,  Jew  and  Atheist  have -visited 
them  in  our  own  memory  and  all  have  spoken  very  highly  of 
their  good  behavior,  both  in  and  out  of  church. 

But  it  is  only  on  the  first  Friday  of  each  month  that  this  is 
seen  most  perfectly.  A  late  visitor  thus  describes  his  impressions  : 

"  We  arrived  at  Desmet  on  the  eve  of  May.  We  expected 
to  see  how  the  Indian  practised  devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart. 
Our  longing  to  see  verified  what  we  had  heard  so  much  about  was 
soon  satisfied.  We  had  rested  but  a  short  time  when  we  heard 
the  bell  ring  and  at  the  same  time  some  one  shouting  aloud.  We 
hastened  to  the  window,  when  we  saw  a  number  of  Indians  coming 
in  all  directions  from  their  village  and  dropping  into  line.  At 
the  two  schools  there  were  lines  forming,  and  at  another  signal  all 
began  to  march  towards  the  church.  They  were  singing  as  they 
met  from  the  different  quarters  opposite  the  door.  There  were 
about  five  hundred  in  line.  They  entered  in  perfect  order  and,  as 
they  passed  the  altar  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  they  laid  upon  it  a 
candle  as  an  offering  to  her  for  the  month  of  May.  Each  one 
received  a  little  paper,  the  motive  of  which  I  was  anxious  to  know 
but  I  had  to  wait.  Then  followed  solemn  Benediction. 

"The  next  morning,  at  a  quarter  past  six,  the  bell  rang 
again.  The  same  three  lines  were  forming  again,  but  the  Indians 
were  not  in  as  perfect  order  as  on  the  day  before.  The  morning 
prayers  were  recited  in  Indian  and  English,  followed  by  Mass  of 
exposition.  There  were  about  four  hundred  Communions.  The 
(  soldiers  of  the  Sacred  Heart/  with  their  flaming  red  sashes,  filled 
the  altar-rail.  Then  followed  the  schools  and  the  rest  of  the  con- 
gregation in  perfect  order.  There  was  a  spirit  of  devotion  per- 
vading the  whole  community.  Simplicity  and  solemnity  were  the 
two  striking  features  of  the  occasion.  '  We  could  learn  much  in 
piety  and  devotion  from  these  people  whom  we  consider  savages/ 
was  the  conviction  I  left  with  on  that  occasion.  Then  I  saw  lines 


AMONG    THE  CCEUR   D'ALENES.  649 

filing  towards  the  residence  of  the  Fathers.  Father  Joset,  the 
4  Old  Man/  as  they  lovingly  call  him,  was  besieged  by  them. 
Then  I  found  what  were  the  papers  that  were  given  them  the 
evening  before.  Written  in  Indian  were  different  little  maxims 
that  the  Blessed  Virgin  wished  them  to  practise  during  the  month. 
They  were  for  men,  women,  and  children.  In  some  the  men  were 
not  to  drink,  or  quarrel,  while  the  women  were  to  be  kind  to 
their  husbands  and  to  keep  their  houses  clean  and  prepare  good 
food  for  their  families,  and,  instead  of  scolding  their  husbands, 
they  were  to  pray  for  them  when  they  saw  them  getting  angry. 
After  Father  Joset  had  explained  to  each  what  they  were  to  do, 
they  all  started  for  their  homes,  some  on  horse-back,  some  in  farm- 
wagons,  and  not  a  few  with  good  spring-wagons.  I  have  seen 
the  May  devotion  practised  in  different  climes  and  by  different 
peoples,  but  nowhere  have  I  beheld  it  more  beautiful,  or  more 
practical  than  among  the  Coeur  d'Alene  Indians,  and  I  leave  with 
the  impression  that  God  dwells  in  a  special  manner  amongst 
them." 

We  have  quoted  our  visitor  at  great  length,  for  the  reason 
that  he  gives  a  disinterested  and  accurate  picture  of  the  Indian  at 
his  devotions. 

Do  those  then  who  have  labored  among  the  Indians  attribute 
their  present  state  to  the  work  done  ?  Does  even  Father  Joset, 
who  has  been  with  them  for  forty-seven  years,  who  has  baptized  most 
of  them,  who  has  instructed  them  for  their  First  Communion,  who 
has  labored  so  long  and  so  constantly  among  them,  claim  their 
conversion  as  his  work  ?  Here  is  the  Father's  decisive  answer : 
"  It  is  all  due  to  the  protection  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  It  is  this 
devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart,  early  instilled  into  the  minds  of  the 
Indians  and  now  grown  deep,  which  has  become  the  daily  guide 
of  their  action,  teaching  them  that  the  motive  which  animates 
the  fervent  Christian  must  be  love  of  God  and  of  the  neighbor." 

Still  we  cannot  help  thinking  that  Father  Joset  must 
acknowledge  with  St.  Paul :  I  have  planted,  Apollo  watered,  but 
God  gave  the  increase.  The  more  than  life-size  picture  of  the 
Sacred  Heart  which  hangs  behind  the  main  altar  of  the  Church  of 


650 


AMONG    THE  CCEUR   D'JLENES. 


the  Sacred  Heart  at  Desmet  should  not  be  passed  over  in  a 
description  of  the  effects  of  this  devotion  on  the  wild  Indians.  It 
was  brought  by  Father  De  Smet  from  Belgium  in  1844.  The 
frame  and  ornaments  surrounding  it  are  the  handiwork  of  Father 
Ravalli,  who  for  many  years  through  the  wild  and  great  West 
was  priest,  physician,  architect,  carpenter,  etc.,  all  at  once.  When 
the  residence  at  the  "Old  Mission"  was  burning  down,  there 
seemed  no  hope  that  the  church  would  escape  the  flames ;  conse- 
quently, everything  was  removed  to  a  place  of  safety :  but  though 
seven  men  tried  to  remove  the  picture,  they  could  not  succeed. 
The  saving  of  the  church  from  burning  and  the  inability  of  the 
men  to  remove  the  picture  are  beyond  human  understanding. 

The  picture  of  the  Madonna  by  Raphael,  in  the  domestic 
chapel,  should  be  spoken  of  briefly.  It  was  given  to  Father  Gazzoli 
on  his  departure  from  Rome  for  the  Rocky  Mountain  Mission 
by  the  President  of  St.  Luke's  Academy.  The  Holy  Father  Pius 
IX.  was  a  personal  friend  of  Father  Gazzoli.  Father  Roothaanr 
the  General  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  ordered  him  to  visit  the  Holy 
Father  before  his  departure.  Father  Gazzoli  took  his  much-prized 
picture  of  the  Madonna  and  asked  the  Pope  to  bless  it.  The 
request  was  willingly  granted  with  many  Indulgences  attached  to 
it.  It  was  first  exposed  at  the  "  Old  Mission  "  by  Father  Gazzoli 
himself,  and  while  everything  around  it  was  burned,  even  the 
frame  in  which  it  was  enclosed  on  two  different  occasions,  the 
picture  itself  has  ever  remained  intact. 

We  have  cast  a  brief  glance  over  the  outward  effects  of  the 
devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart  on  our  Coaur  d'Alene  Indians.  The 
most  conspicuous  figure,  humanly  speaking,  in  that  great  work 
was  Father  Joset.  He  is  still  living  and  could  tell  many  tales  of 
hardships  suffered  amid  the  wild  forests.  After  years  of  hungerr 
thirst,  and  fatigue,  he  felt  as  if  he  would  have  to  abandon  this 
sterile  mission  which  seemed  unblessed  of  God.  However,  sud- 
denly a  change  took  place  that  was  least  expected,  and  the  whole 
tribe  became  submissive  to  the  yoke  of  the  Gospel.  These  savage 
hearts  became  meek  and  humble  like  their  Master's.  Perseverance 
had  brought  about  the  perfect  work. 


AN  ONLY  SON. 

A  new  order  of  things  is  coming  over  the  Northwest.  There 
never  was  more  need  of  priests  than  at  the  present  time.  The 
life  of  the  priest  here  is  in  many  things  different  from  that  of  his 
Eastern  brothers.  The  Northwest  of  to-day  is  what  the  East  was 
fifty  years  ago.  Here,  then,  some  three  years  since  Father 
Cataldo,  S.J.,  Superior  in  charge  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  Mis- 
sions, opened  a  house  for  the  third  year  of  probation,  or  "  Ter- 
tianship,"  for  those  Fathers  who  had  finished  their  studies,  but 
had  not  yet  begun  their  active  life.  By  this  means  they  will  be 
more  readily  acclimated  and  learn  the  customs  and  manners  of  the 
Indians.  Some  have  already  gone  to  Alaska,  while  others  are 
working  among  the  whites  or  Indians  of  Washington,  Montana, 
Idaho,  and  Oregon. 

A  Novitiate,  too,  was  opened  here  this  year.  Germany, 
France,  Scotland,  Ireland  and  our  own  America,  are  represented 
in  this  band  of  youths  who  have  heard  the  divine  call  and  have 
chosen  the  belter  part.  As  yet  the  band  is  small,  but  as  the  needs 
of  the  mission  increase,  the  number  of  laborers  in  this  fair  vine- 
yard, we  hope,  will  also  grow.  And  a  fair  vineyard  it  is,  for  upon 
these  mountains  are  the  feet  of  them  that  bring  good  tidings  and 
that  preach  peace.1 


AN   ONLY  SON. 

By  B.  A. 
III. 

RAW  November  wind  was  scurrying  down  the  street, 
stripping  the    trees    of  the  last   remnant  of  their 
green  garniture,   and    its    short,  quick    gusts  were 
whirling  about  clouds  of  dust  and    fallen  leaves. 
Mr.  Corcoran  was  just  entering  his  own  domi- 
cile.    With  a  sigh  of  relief  he  shook  the  rain  off  his  great-coat 
as  though  it  were  a  Newfoundland  dog,  and  entered  the  little 
parlor. 

1  Nahuru,  i.  15. 


AN   ONLY  SON.  653 

It  looked  particularly  cheery  to-night,  for  the  lamp  was  lit 
and  there  was  a  bright  fire  in  the  little  chimney-place.  But 
Agnes  was  not  there  to-night  to  warm  his  slippers  and  talk  non- 
sense to  him  as  was  her  custom  when  he  came  home  tired  of  an 
evening,  so  he  opened  his  paper  for  lack  of  something  better  to  do. 
In  a  moment  or  so,  Mrs.  Corcoran  appeared  at  the  parlor-door,  a 
plate  in  one  hand,  a  dish-cloth  in  the  other.  Mrs.  Corcoran' s  face 
had  hard  lines  in  it,  and  she  wore  her  hair  drawn  tightly  back  in 
severe  simplicity  of  style. 

"Joseph,"  she  said,  "what  in  the  world  made  you  come 
home  at  this  time  of  night?" 

"  This  time  of  night !"  repeated  Mr.  Corcoran.  "  Why,  it 
isn't  more  than  seven.  I  was  detained  at  the  store.  Have  I  put 
you  out  at  all  ?" 

"Oh,  no,  not  at  all/'  rejoined  Mrs.  Corcoran,  with  grieved 
sarcasm.  "  Only  I  think  you  might  have  remembered  that  I 
wanted  to  go  out ;  that's  all.  Did  you  bring  home  that  patent 
clothes-wringer  I  told  you  about  ?" 

"  Blest,  if  I  didn't  forget  all  about  it !" 

Mrs.  Corcoran  pursed  up  her  lips,  elevated  her  nose  an  inch 
or  so,  ,and  left  the  room.  She  was  silent,  but  her  expression  spoke 
volumes.  In  a  few  moments  she  re-appeared  at  the  door,  this 
time  in  bonnet  and  shawl. 

"Joseph,"  she  said,  "I'm  going  out.  I  left  the  meat  to 
keep  warm  for  you.  The  tea  is  on  the  fire." 

A  look  of  disappointment  came  over  Joseph's  face. 
"  Where's  Agnes  ?"  he  asked. 

"  Gone  out  to  a  friend's  to  supper,  and  then  to  the  Sodality 
meeting  over  at  the  church." 

"  Where  are  you  going,  Lizzie  ?" 

"  I'm  going  to  confession,"  replied  Mrs.  Corcoran,  calmly. 
It  did  not  occur  to  her  that  Joseph's  evening  did  not  promise  to 
be  a  particularly  hilarious  one. 

"  Humph  !  I  should  think  you'd  need  it,"  observed  Joseph, 
under  his  breath. 


654  AN  ONLY  SON. 

Mrs.  Corcoran  had  gotten  as  far  as  the  house-door,  but  at 
this  she  came  all  the  way  back. 

"  What  did  you  say,  Joseph  ?"  said  she. 

Mr.  Corcoran  glanced  nervously  about  the  room.  "  I  was 
remarking,  my  dear,"  he  said,  promptly,  "that  you  had  better 
take  an  umbrella." 

Mrs.  Corcoran  gave  a  kind  of  suspicious  snort  and  left. 

Joseph  went  out  in  the  kitchen,  gazed  helplessly  about,  then 
put  the  kettle  on,  and  sat  down  in  front  of  it  while  it  came  slowly 
to  a  boil.  Two  years  had  passed  since  Mrs.  Stevenson's  death, 
and  he  was  thinking  of  a  conversation  which  he  had  had  at  that 
time  with  Stevenson  relative  to  Dod's  religion.  He  had  never  for- 
gotten the  promise  he  had  once  made  to  the  boy's  mother,  and  he 
did  not  feel  as  though  he  had  kept  it  as  faithfully  as  he  might. 
At  twenty-two  years  of  age,  however,  one  is  not  going  to  change 
one's  faith  to  order,  and  Joe  realized  that  it  was  too  late  now. 

He  found  himself  comparing  his  boy  with  that  of  his  friend ; 
for,  like  Dod,  Joe  was  an  only  son.  What  were  Dod's  brains 
compared  with  Joe's  ?  Dod  was  finer-looking,  it  was  true,  but 
there  was  more  character  in  his  son's  face.  And  besides,  Joe  was 

at  the  seminary  at  W .  A  fatherly  sense  of  pride  welled  up 

in  Joseph's  heart.  He  looked  very  sternly  at  the  fire  a  minute, 
then  wiped  his  eye  on  his  cuff,  looking  furtively  about  the  room 
as  he  did  so,  as  though  he  expected  to  find  a  looker-on  lurking 
behind  the  dresser. 

Joe  now  proceeded  to  the  concoction  of  the  tea.  He  looked 
about  him  for  the  tea-pot,  and  not  seeing  it  anywhere  handy,  was 
about  to  institute  a  search  in  the  closets  when  he  suddenly  realized 
that  it  was  directly  in  front  of  him  upon  the  stove.  Joseph 
smiled  indulgently  to  himself  at  his  own  stupidity  and  proceeded 
to  pour  out  his  cupful. 

As  he  did  so,  the  door-bell  rang.  He  decided  that  it  must 
be  Agnes,  but  reflecting  that  there  was  a  high  wind,  that  he  had 
his  slippers  on,  and  furthermore,  was  subject  to  rheumatism  in  his 
feet,  he  decided  that  he  wasn't  going  to  open  the  door  for  "noth- 
ing." So  he  cautiously  raised  the  parlor-window  and  called : 


AN  ONLY  SON.  655 

"  Who's  there  ?" 

"  I'm  Mr.  Cam*/'  said  a  voice  from  below. 

Mr.  Corcoran  misunderstood. 

"  I  don't  care  a  hang  whether  you  missed  a  car  or  not,"  he 
shouted.  "I  guess  you  can  wait  for  another,"  and  closed  the 
window  with  a  bang. 

The  gentleman  outside,  however,  was  absolutely  untiring  in 
his  energies,  and  finally  Joseph  began  to  fear  that  the  bell-wire 
might  be  injured.  In  that  case,  Mrs.  Corcoran  would 

Joseph  raised  the  sash.  "  Say,  do  you  want  to  ring  up  the 
whole  neighborhood  ?"  he  said,  in  an  agonized  whisper. 

The  stranger's  message  this  time  was  unmistakable. 

"  Mr.  Corcoran,  won't  you  come  down  ?     You're  wanted." 

Joseph  prided  himself  on  his  perspicacity. 

"  Ten  to  one  it's  a  tramp,"  thought  he ;  "  if  I  go  down  he'll 
stick  me  for  a  quarter." 

"  Who  wants  me  ?"  he  demanded. 

"Mr.  Stevenson." 

"  Good  gracious  !     What  for  ?     I've  got  my  slippers  on." 

"  Then  put  on  your  boots,"  yelled  the  voice. 

Joseph's  fear  for  his  friend  prevailed. 

"All  right,"  he  returned. 

He  hastily  put  on  his  boots  and  street-apparel  and  joined  the 
stranger  on  the  steps,  having  left  a  message  for  Mrs.  Corcoran  on 
the  kitchen-table,  embodying  the  following  conclusive  evidence : 

"  MY  DEAR  WIFE, 

"  I  have  gone  out. 

"  Yours, 

"J." 

"  You're  Mr.  Stevenson's  man,  aren't  you  ?"  asked  Corcoran, 
as  he  gained  the  pavement. 

"  Yes,  sir.  Mr.  George  wants  you."  And  as  they  walked 
rapidly  along,  Carr  told  Joseph  what  had  happened. 


656  AN   ONLY  SON. 

IV. 

George  did  not  go  into  the  bank  with  his  father.  He  had 
more  taste  for  a  mercantile  pursuit,  and  as  a  good  opening  wa& 
offered  him,  he  had  accepted,  much  to  his  father's  disgust. 

As  for  Roger  Kenrick,  he  was  a  good-natured  fellow  enoughr 
and  perhaps  we  saw  him  under  the  worst  aspect.  At  any  rate, 
during  the  past  two  years,  he  and  Dod  had  remained  fast  friends. 
The  latter  spent  one  evening  at  least  every  week  at  the  Corcorans', 
and  Joe  had  frequently  dined  with  him  in  return.  Late  in  the 
summer,  however,  Joe  had  left  the  city  to  begin  his  theological 
studies,  and  Dod  felt  rather  lost  in  consequence.  He  used  to  go 
to  the  Cathedral  frequently  with  the  Corcorans,  and  Agnes  prophe- 
sied that  he  would  be  a  Catholic  some  day ;  but  her  father  sighed 
and  shook  his  head  at  the  idea,  much  to  innocent  Agnes'  mystifi- 
cation. About  ten  o'clock  one  November  evening,  Dod  was 
writing  in  his  room.  It  was  a  cold,  blustering  night  and  Steven- 
son, coming  in  early,  went  up  to  his  son's  room. 

"  I  have  a  headache,"  he  said,  sitting  down  wearily  in  Dod'& 
big  chair,  and  burying  his  face  in  his  hands. 

"Guess  the  governor's  tired,"  thought  Dod,  but  he  said 
nothing.  There  was  no  sound  in  the  room  except  the  rapid 
scratch  of  Dod's  pen,  and  the  tick  of  the  clock  on  the  mantel. 

Stevenson  leaned  back  in  the  chair  and  closed  his  eyes. 
"George,"  he  said,  "do  you  remember  Morton,  the  broker,  who 
failed  last  year  ?" 

"  Well,  rather  !  That  was  one  of  the  biggest  failures  of  the 
season." 

"  They  say  young  Morton  virtually  refuses  to  recognize  him," 
Stevenson  continued,  knocking  the  ashes  off  his  cigar.  "I 
remember  seeing  Dick  and  his  fiancee  driving  in  the  Park  the 
very  day  after  the  crash." 

"  Dick  Morton  is  a  scoundrel,"  Dod  burst  out.  "  Why,  it 
was  his  own  father — although  I  grant  you,  it  was  hardly  an 
honorable  failure." 

"  Yet  there  were  excuses  for  Morton,"  said  Stevenson,  medi- 
tatively. "  Temptation  of  that  kind  is  an  awful  thing,  George  ;. 


AN  ONLY  SON.  657 

you  don't  know  what  it  is.  Just  suppose  your  father  were  in 
old  Morton's  boots,  George/'  he  added,  laughing,  "you  wouldn't 
go  back  on  him,  would  you  ?" 

Dod  laughed  without  troubling  himself  to  reply.  He  was  in 
the  middle  of  a  calculation,  and  was  only  half  listening.  His 
father  slowly  lit  a  cigar,  and  as  he  did  so,  his  gaze  wandered  up 
to  the  Sacred  Heart  above  the  mantel. 

"  That  picture  has  been  on  this  wall  for  twenty-five  years, 
George,"  he  said.  "  Your  mother  hung  it  there  when  I  first 
brought  her  here.  It's  a  picture  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  I 
remember  being  told  of  that  when  I  was  a  boy  at  school.  I've 
done  wrong  by  you,  son.  I  promised  your  mother  I'd  raise  you 
a  Catholic  and  I  didn't.  Some  day  the  Lord  '11  punish  me  for 
that." 

Dod  was  rather  astonished.  Certainly  this  strain  of  conver- 
sation was  unusual  on  the  part  of  his  father.  He  made  no 
comment,  however,  and  continued  writing,  smiling  to  himself  over 
"  the  governor's  "  strange  mood.  Ten  minutes  went  by. 

Dod  rose,  yawned  prodigiously  and  began  to  put  his  writing 
materials  away.  His  father's  head  was  leaning  against  the  back 
of  the  chair,  where  it  was  hidden  from  the  light  of  the  lamp. 

"  Guess  I'll  go  to  bed,  father,"  said  Dod.  "  I'm  as  tired  as 
a  dog.  I  think  I've  walked  all  over  the  city  to-day,  besides 
being  worked  to  death  in  the  office,  in  the  bargain.  I  do  all  my 
work  and  half  the  bookkeeper's,  too,  and  I'm  not  going  to  stand 
it.  Father,  are  you  asleep  ?" 

Dod  smiled  to  think  how  soon  the  latter  had  dropped  off. 
He  threw  some  waste  paper  in  the  fire-place,  and  as  the  flickering 
flame  shot  up,  he  glanced  into  his  face. 

Stevenson's  eyes  were  open  and  set,  but  a  glassy  look  was 
coming  over  them. 

"  Father  !"  called  Dod,  desperately.  "  For  God's  sake,  say 
something  !" 

There  was  not  so  much  as  a  movement  of  the  hand  in 
reply.  Death  from  heart-failure  often  leaves  no  time  for  even 
that  much. 


658  AN  ONLY  SON. 

Before  he  reverently  closed  his  father's  eyes,  Dod  noticed 
that  his  last  look  must  have  been  upon  the  picture  of  the  Sacred 
Heart  above  him.  He  knelt  down  beside  the  chair  and — said  a 
De  Profundis  for  his  father's  soul ! 

The  next  day  the  National  Trust  Fund  stopped  payment. 
There  was  the  usual  crowd  of  anxious  men  and  haggard-looking 
women  hovering  about]  the  door,  and  now  and  then  there  was  a 
movement  of  impatience  in  the  crowd  and  a  sinister  murmur, 
growing  stronger  and  louder  each  moment,  demanding  the  bank's 
president.  But  he  did  not  appear,  and  the  great  iron  doors 
remained  mercilessly  closed  in  their  faces. 

Dod  had  sent  for  Joseph  Corcoran,  and  ever  since  he  had 
come  the  latter  had  been  on  his  knees  in  that  upstairs  room,  say- 
ing his  Rosary  for  his  friend's  soul.  Dod  knelt  beside  him.  He 
didn't  know  the  Hail  Mary,  but  he  did  the  best  he  could. 

Early  in  the  day  there  had  been  a  warrant  out  for  the  arrest 
of  James  A.  Stevenson.  All  the  city  was  ringing  with  it.  It 
was  cried  on  the  street-corners  and  posted  on  bulletin-boards,  and 
discussed  in  shops  and  offices.  Men  conjectured  as  to  the  whys 
and  wherefores  of  the  case,  and  denounced  him  as  the  despoiler  of 
their  homes,  and  the  robber  of  widows  and  orphans. 

And  all  the  while,  James  Stevenson  himself  was  far  beyond 
the  reach  of  any  human  power.  Was  it  a  fact  lacking  in  signifi- 
cance that  his  last  look  on  earth  had  been  upon  the  figure  of  the 
Sacred  Heart  ?  It  is  an  awful  thing  to  hover  over  the  brink  of 
eternity  with  a  lifetime  of  sins  upon  one's  soul ;  but  who  knows 
what  contrite  prayer  may  have  risen  to  the  man's  lips  at  that  last 
moment  ?  God  is  always  more  merciful  than  men.  He  often  for- 
gives where  they  condemn,  and  perhaps  in  his  last  hour  the  soul 
of  James  Stevenson  heard  the  Divine  absolution  spoken  once 
before  to  a  repentant  thief:  This  day  shall  thou  be  with  Me  in 
Paradise. 

V. 

All  day  long  the  lights  had  been  burning  on  the  altar,  and 
rare  tropical  plants  and  sweet-smelling  flowers  were  grouped  at 
its  foot.  A  hush  was  over  the  church,  for  all  that  day,  high 


AN  ONLY  SON.  659 

above  the  altar,  enthroned  amidst  the  lights  and  flowers,  our 
Lord  Himself  had  presided  visibly  over  the  devotions  of  His 
creatures. 

For  it  was  the  Feast  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  the  day  which  we 
believe  to  be  so  singularly  blessed  with  graces  for  His  children ; 
and  through  the  long  morning  hours  and  until  late  in  the  after- 
noon adorers  had  knelt  before  Him,  some  in  joy,  and  some  in 
sorrow,  many  of  them  with  the  consciousness  of  guilt  upon  their 
souls,  but  all  feeling  sure  that  here,  at  least,  nothing  but  mercy 
would  be  found  in  the  Heart  of  Him  Who  did  not  think  it  too 
much  to  descend  from  heaven  that  He  might  receive  the  poor 
worship  and  meagre  service  of  His  children  in  the  Sacrament  of 
His  love. 

Dod  Stevenson  was  kneeling  near  the  altar-rail.  He  had 
come  to  see  Father  Corcoran,  and  had  dropped  into  the  church  to 
say  his  prayers  before  leaving.  Agnes  and  he  had  gone  to  Com- 
munion at  Joe's  Mass  that  morning,  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Corcoran, 
for  it  was  the  first  Feast  of  the  Sacred  Heart  they  had  celebrated 
together  since  their  marriage. 

All  things  considered,  Dod  felt  particularly  happy.  He  and 
Agnes  had  not  begun  their  married  life  on  very  much  per  annum. 
His  salary  was  not  a  princely  one,  but  they  had  a  comfortable 
home  of  their  own,  and  Dod  didn't  miss  the  velvet  carpets  and 
curtains  and  the  numerous  servants.  He  had  been  obliged  to 
depend  on  himself  for  a  great  deal ;  for  true  friends  are  tried  in 
time  of  trouble,  and  when  Roger  Kenrick  cut  him  in  the  street 
the  day  after  the  failure,  he  proved  to  be  only  the  first  of  many 
who  turned  on  Dod  the  cold  shoulder  in  his  misfortunes. 

The  first  thing  Dod  did  after  his  reception  into  the  Church 
was  to  send  his  painting  of  the  Sacred  Heart  to  St.  Philip's,  a 
small  city  church  of  which  Joe  had  been  appointed  pastor. 
To-day  for  the  first  time  it  was  hanging  above  the  high  altar — the 
same  face  that  had  smiled  down  on  him  as  a  boy,  had  received  his 
father's  last  look  on  earth,  and  Dod's  first  impulsive  prayer  for 
the  repose  of  the  latter's  soul.  What  wonder  if  Dod's  heart 
warmed  with  gratitude  as  he  looked  at  it? 


HOW  A   BISHOP   REACHED   HIS   SEE. 
BENEDICT  JOSEPH  FLAGET,  FIRST  BISHOP  OF  KENTUCKY.' 

HE  First  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore  was  held 
in  1829.  What  fairy  tale  was  ever  so  wonderful 
as  the  matter-of-fact  history  of  the  faith's  progress 
in  those  sixty  years  !  Now  that  love  of  country 
is  so  earnestly  discussed,  a  little  incident  of  that 
first  assemblage  of  "  Roman  "  prelates  in  the  American  Republic 
may  well  be  recalled. 

"At  the  close  of  the  Council,  the  bishops  visited  in  a  body 
the  venerable  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrolton,  then  ninety-two  year& 
of  age.  The  estimable  survivor  of  that  intrepid  band  of  patriots, 
who  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  was  much  affected 
at  this  delicate  and  well-deserved  compliment.  He  received  the 
prelates  with  his  accustomed  courtesy  and  grace,  and  he  was  much 
rejoiced,  when  now  so  near  the  close  of  his  mortal  career,  to  see 
that  the  Church  which  he  so  much  loved  was  visibly  keeping  pace 
with  the  rapid  improvement  of  the  country." 

Among  these  prelates  was  one  of  the  four  who  had  been 
recommended,  twenty-two  years  previously,  by  our  first  Bishop 
as  assistants  in  governing  the  infant  Church  in  America.  Rome 
had  accepted  Bishop  Carroll's  suggestions,  and  created  the  four 
new  Sees  of  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia  and  Bardstown. 
The  first  prelate  of  the  latter,  in  his  varied  experiences  and  per- 
sonal traits,  is  like  a  hero  of  romance. 

I. 

"Benedict  J.  Flaget,"  says  Bishop  Spalding,  "was  born  of 
respectable  parents  at  Contournat,  a  village  in  the  commune  of 
St.  Julien,  near  the  town  of  Billom,  France,  on  November  8, 
1764.  He  was  the  youngest  of  three  sons;  and  he  survived  his 
two  elder  brothers,  both  of  whom,  however,  lived  to  a  very 

1  Rev.  Dr.  Spalding's  Life  of  Bishop  Flaget. 

660 


HOW  A  BISHOP  REACHED  HIS  SEE.  661 

advanced  age.  At  the  age  of  about  two  years,  he  was  left  an 
orphan ;  when  a  pious  aunt  took  charge  of  him  and  his  brothers, 
and  devoted  herself  assiduously  to  rearing  them  up  piously,  and 
bestowing  upon  them  the  blessings  of  a  Christian  education.  God 
bestowed  an  abundant  benediction  upon  her  exertions ;  and  her 
three  nephews  all  became  distinguished  members  of  society,  and 
two  of  them  bright  and  shining  lights  in  the  Church  of  God." 

Benedict  Joseph,  being  plainly  called  to  the  priesthood,  was 
sent  to  the  city  of  Clermout  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  and 
zealously  attended  the  University  classes  of  philosophy  and 
theology  for  two  years,  supporting  himself  the  while  by  discharg- 
ing the  office  of  tutor  towards  two  wealthy  young  men.  He  then 
entered  the  Sulpician  university,  under  a  free  scholarship  from  the 
venerable  Bishop  of  Clermont,  by  whom  the  holy  youth  was  much 
beloved.  In  his  twentieth  year  he  became  a  member  of  the 
Sulpician  Congregation.  After  his  ordination  as  priest  he  spent 
two  years  as  professor  of  dogmatic  theology,  making  friends  alike 
of  superiors  and  pupils.  The  French  Revolution  having  sup- 
pressed religious  institutions,  the  members  had  to  take  shelter 
with  their  families,  or  seek,  in  foreign  lands,  "  freedom  to  worship 
God."  Two  of  the  Sulpician  clergy,  Rev.  B.  J.  Flaget  and  Rev. 
John  B.  David,  with  a  subdeacon — the  far-famed  Stephen  Theodore 
Badin,  who  was  to  be  immortalized  as  the  first  priest  ordained  in 
the  United  States — sailed  in  November,  1791,  just  a  century 
ago,  and  arrived  in  Philadelphia  March  26,  1792.  Reaching 
Baltimore  late  on  the  second  day  after,  they  deferred  paying  their 
respects  to  Bishop  Carroll  till  the  next  morning.  Meantime  he 
had  heard  the  good  news  of  the  arrival  of  reinforcements  for  his 
small  ecclesiastical  army,  and,  hurrying  to  welcome  them,  met 
them  on  the  way.  To  the  profuse  French  apologies  for  their 
delay  in  waiting  upon  him,  the  equally  polite  American  prelate 
replied : 

"  It  is  surely  little  enough  that  I  should  be  the  first  to  visit 
you,  seeing  that  you  have  come  fifteen  hundred  leagues  to  see 
me." 

The  three  exiles  were  soon  separated.      While  the  young 


662  HOW  A  BISHOP  REACHED  HIS  SEE. 

subdeacon  was  sent  to  pursue  his  studies,  Father  David  was 
actively  engaged  in  missionary  labors  in  Maryland  (having  learned 
English  during  the  voyage  from  France),  and  Father  Flaget  was 
appointed  to  mission  work  in  Indiana.  Being  detained  some 
months  at  Pittsburg,  waiting  for  the  river  to  rise,  the  young  priest 
volunteered  on  a  duty  which  evinced  at  once  the  heroic  devoted- 
ness  of  a  soldier  of  the  Cross,  and  the  feminine  sensibility  which 
must  have  made  his  whole  life  a  martyrdom.  Pittsburg  was  then 
a  military  post,  under  command  of  the  celebrated  General  Anthony 
Wayne,  whose  rigid  ideas  of  duty  are  well  known.  Father 
Flaget,  learning  that  four  soldiers  were  under  sentence  of  death 
for  desertion,  asked  permission  to  prepare  them  for  their  doom, 
which  was  readily  granted.  Three  of  them  had  been  baptized 
Catholics ;  the  fourth  had  never  received  any  religious  rite  or 
instruction,  and  professed  to  believe  nothing.  Yet  this  man,  with 
two  of  the  others,  joyfully  accepted  the  priest's  ministrations, 
which  the  other  one  scornfully  refused.  In  vain  he  pleaded  with 
"  Mad  Anthony  "  for  the  mercy  of  a  reprieve  to  this  poor  sinner, 
to  give  him  time  for  repentance.  The  sorrowing  priest  accom- 
panied the  four  to  the  place  of  execution,  gave  to  the  repentant 
three  the  last  absolution  and  spoke  consoling  words,  but,  unable 
to  bear  the  sound  of  the  fatal  shots,  fled  from  the  spot  and  fainted 
away  by  the  roadside.  He  afterwards  learned  that  the  obstinate 
sinner  had  been  reprieved  at  the  last  moment.  Gen.  Wayne  could 
not,  it  seemed,  retain  his  wonted  inflexibility  on  this  occasion. 

On  December  21,  1792,  our  missionary  reached  Vincennes. 
The  rough  log-hut  which  had  been  intended  for  divine  service  was 
nearly  fallen  to  decay  from  disuse,  and  the  former  congregation 
was  in  a  still  more  hopeless  state,  for  though  the  energetic  priest 
got  the  first  in  order  for  the  celebration  of  Christmas,  he  could 
only  bring  seven  communicants  to  the  altar,  out  of  a  congregation 
nominally  of  seven  hundred  souls  !  The  hunters  of  Kentucky, 
so  famed  in  song  and  story,  were  rather  an  unpromising  material 
for  a  quiet,  pious  congregation,  but  Father  Flaget  accomplished 
the  miracle.  He  had  a  school  for  the  children,  and  himself  taught 
them  to  sing  in  the  church  services ;  he  inspired  the  women  with 


HOW  A  BISHOP  REACHED  HIS  SEE.  663 

homely  tastes  and  industries,  and  induced  the  men  to  spare  some 
of  their  hunting  energies  for  agricultural  pursuits. 

Recalled  by  his  superiors  to  Baltimore,  in  1795,  he  was 
engaged  for  three  years  in  teaching  at  Georgetown  College,  the 
Society  of  Jesus  having  been  suppressed,  and  its  heroic  sons 
scattered.  Here  he  enjoyed  an  enviable  privilege :  he  made 
the  acquaintance  of  him  who  was  "  first  in  war,  first  in  peace, 
and  first  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen."  "  His  estimate  of  the 
character  of  Washington  had  before  been  exalted,"  remarks  Dr. 
Spalding,  "  but  having  once  seen  him,  and  listened  to  his  wise 
reflections  on  subjects  that  had  for  himself  and  his  co-religionists 
a  peculiar  interest  at  the  time,  he  was  ready  to  give  to  him  the  title 
that  has  since  inured  to  him  by  popular  favor,  f  the  Father  of  his 
Country.' " 

II. 

The  childlike  character  of  this  gifted  priest  was  evinced  in 
a  manner  not  less  amusing  than  pathetic,  when,  in  September,  1808, 
he  learned  of  his  appointment  as  Bishop.  As  he  could  not  pre- 
vail with  Bishop  Carroll  to  urge  a  more  suitable  choice  on  the 
Holy  See,  he  induced  his  Sulpician  brethren  to  plead  his  cause, 
which  they  did,  curiously  enough,  by  urging  that  they  had  prayed 
for  divine  direction,  and  the  effect  of  this  prayer  on  their  minds 
was  to  seek  their  brother's  deliverance  from  the  dreaded  dignity. 
They  Avere  foiled  with  their  own  weapon. 

"Gentlemen,  you  tell  me  you  have  prayed,"  said  Bishop 
Carroll.  "  Think  you  then  I  did  not  pray  before  proposing  your 
brother  ?  That  the  Cardinals  who  surround  the  Holy  Father,  and 
the  Sovereign  Pontiff  himself,  did  not  pray  ?  I  tell  you  plainly 
that  Mr.  Flaget  must  accept." 

"Mr.  Flaget"  thought  otherwise.  He  wrote  to  the  supe- 
rior of  the  Sulpicians  to  win  him  over  to  his  cause,  and  receiving  no 
answer  set  off  for  France  to  urge  his  petition  in  person.  He  had 
no  opportunity  to  do  so,  for  the  stern  superior  addressed  him  as 
soon  as  he  entered  :  "  My  Lord,  you  should  be  already  in  your 
diocese.  Know  you  not  that  the  Pope  has  commanded  your 


664  HOW  A  BISHOP  REACHED  HIS  SEE. 

acceptance  of  his  appointment  ?"  The  poor  Bishop-elect  had  to 
return  from  his  fruitless  errand.  He  reached  Baltimore  early  in 
July,  1810,  but  his  consecration  did  not  take  place  till  the  4th  of 
November:  and  he  did  not  set  out  for  his  diocese  till  May  11, 
1811,  although  he  was  anxious  to  be  at  work  in  the  sphere  to 
which  duty  called  him.  What  caused  the  delay  ?  "  The  princi- 
pal obstacle  was  his  truly  apostolic  poverty,"  is  the  touching 
explanation  of  Dr.  Spalding :  "  he  had  not  wherewith  to  defray 
the  necessary  expenses  of  his  journey." 

In  an  official  account  afterwards  sent  to  the  Association  for 
the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,  Bishop  Flaget  says : 

"  To  give  you  a  clear  idea  of  the  bishoprics  of  the  United 
States,  I  propose  to  lay  before  you  a  brief  statement  of  the  condi- 
tion in  which  I  found  myself  after  the  Holy  See,  on  the  represen- 
tation of  Bishop  Carroll,  had  nominated  me  to  the  bishopric  of 
Bardstown.  I  was  compelled  to  accept  the  appointment,  whether 
I  would  or  not ;  I  had  not  a  cent  at  my  disposal ;  the  Pope  and 
the  Cardinals,  who  were  dispersed  by  the  revolution,  were  not 
able  to  make  me  the  slightest  present ;  and  Archbishop  Carroll, 
though  he  had  been  bishop  for  more  than  sixteen  (twenty)  years, 
was  still  poorer  than  myself,  for  he  had  debts,  and  I  owed  nothing. 
Nevertheless,  my  consecration  took  place  on  the  4th  of  November, 
1810,  but  for  want  of  money  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the 
journey,  I  could  not  undertake  it.  It  was  only  six  months 
afterwards,  that,  through  a  subscription  made  by  my  friends 
in  Baltimore,  I  was  enabled  to  reach  Bardstown,  my  episcopal 
See." 

:  In  Mary's  month,  then,  they  started,  and  arrived  in  Louis- 
ville on  the  4th  of  June.  The  conclusion  of  his  journey  is  thus 
described  by  the  Bishop  in  a  letter  "  home "  to  his  brother  in 
France. 

"While  we  were  there  (in  Louisville),  the  faithful  of  my 
.episcopal  city  put  themselves  in  motion  to  receive  me  in  a  manner 
conformable  to  my  dignity.  They  despatched  for  my  use  a  fine 
equipage  drawn  by  two  horses ;  and  a  son  of  one  among  the 
principal  inhabitants  considered  himself  honored  in  being  the 


HOW  A  BISHOP  REACHED  HIS  SEE.  665 

driver.     Horses  were  furnished  to  all  those  who  accompanied  me, 
and  four  wagons  transported  our  baggage. 

"  It  was  then,  for  the  first  time,  that  I  saw  the  bright  side  of 
the  episcopacy,  and  that  I  began  to  feel  its  dangers.  Neverthe- 
less, God  be  thanked,  if  some  movements  of  vanity  glided  into  my 
heart,  they  had  not  a  long  time  to  fix  their  abode  therein.  The 
roads  were  so  detestable,  that,  in  spite  of  my  beautiful  chargers 
and  my  excellent  driver,  I  was  obliged  to  perform  part  of  the 
journey  on  foot ;  and  I  should  have  so  travelled  the  entire  way, 
had  not  one  of  my  young  seminarians  dismounted  and  presented 
me  his  horse. 

"The  next  day,  the  sun  was  not  yet  risen  when  we  were 
already  on  our  journey.  The  roads  were  much  better ;  I  entered 
the  carriage  with  two  of  my  suite.  I  was  not  the  more  exalted 
for  all  this ;  the  idea  that  I  was  henceforth  to  speak,  to  write,  and 
to  act  as  Bishop,  cast  me  into  a  profound  sadness.  How  many 
sighs  did  I  not  breathe  forth  while  traversing  the  four  or  five 
remaining  leagues  of  my  journey  ! 

"At  the  distance  of  a  mile  and  a  half  from  town,  an  eccle- 
siastic of  my  diocese,  accompanied  by  the  principal  inhabitants, 
came  out  to  meet  me.  So  soon  as  they  had  perceived  us,  they  dis- 
mounted to  receive  my  benediction.  I  gave  it  to  them,  but  with 
how  trembling  a  hand,  and  with  what  heaviness  of  heart ! 
Mutual  compliments  were  now  exchanged,  and  then  we  all 
together  proceeded  towards  the  town.  This  cortege,  though 
simple  and  modest  in  itself,  is  something  very  new  and  extraor- 
dinary in  this  country.  It  was  the  first  time  a  Bishop  was  ever 
seen  in  these  parts ;  and  it  was  I,  the  very  last  of  the  tribe,  who 
was  to  have  this  honor  I" 

The  installation  of  Bishop  Flaget  took  place  on  the  llth  of 
June  at  the  pastoral  residence  of  Father  Badin,  which  was  a  log- 
cabin  named  in  honor  of  St.  Stephen.  The  ceremony  was  unique, 
as  described  by  Father  Badin.  "  The  Bishop  there  found  the  faith- 
ful kneeling  on  the  grass,  and  singing  canticles  in  English :  the 
country  women  were  nearly  all  dressed  in  white,  and  many  of 
them  were  still  fasting,  though  it  was  then  four  o'clock  in  the 


666  HOW  A  BISHOP  REACHED  HIS  SEE. 

evening ;  they  having  entertained  an  idea  to  be  able  on  that  day 
to  assist  at  his  Mass,  and  to  receive  the  Holy  Communion  at  his 
hands.  An  altar  had  been  prepared  at  the  "entrance  of  the  first 
court,  under  a  bower  composed  of  four  small  trees,  which  over- 
shadowed it  with  their  foliage.  Here  the  Bishop  put  on  his  pon- 
tifical robes.  After  the  aspersion  of  the  holy  water,  he  was 
conducted  to  the  chapel  in  procession,  with  the  singing  of  the 
Litany  of  the  Blessed  Virgin ;  and  the  whole  function  closed  with 
the  prayers  and  ceremonies  prescribed  for  the  occasion  in  the 
Roman  Pontifical." 

Thus  the  "  Great  West "  received  its  first  prelate  ! 

HI. 

He  had  come  in  poverty  to  a  diocese  where  poverty  was 
extreme.  "At  that  time,"  as  he  wrote  nine  years  later,  "there  were 
but  six  priests  scattered  here  and  there  in  the  whole  of  Kentucky, 
a  State  as  large  as  the  half  of  France,  though  it  is  but  the  sixth 
of  the  territory  over  which  I  exercise  jurisdiction.  No  provision 
had  been  made  for  the  Bishop  or  his  clergy ;  no  property  on 
which  they  could  settle  down ;  no  house  that  they  could  call  their 
own,  and  no  revenues  whatever  to  meet  their  most  urgent  necessi- 
ties. God  alone  was  our  resource ;  we  abandoned  ourselves  to 
His  fatherly  care,  and  He  has  been  great  and  munificent  towards 
us." 

What  had  been  accomplished  in  those  nine  years,  in  a  material 
point  of  view,  may  be  briefly  summed  up  :  A  preparatory  Sem- 
inary, with  a  brick  chapel ;  a  convent  of  Sisters  of  Charity,  with 
twenty-two  religious,  who  taught  in  three  schools,  all  popular 
with  the  faithful ;  the  establishment  of  an  American  Order,  called 
the  "  Friends  of  Mary  at  the  Foot  of  the  Cross,"  who  had  schools 
in  three  parishes,  took  charge  of  orphans,  and  gave  hospitality  to 
girls  preparing  for  their  First  Communion ;  the  erection  of  a 
"  pretty  cathedral ";  the  commencement  of  a  large  Seminary,  and 
the  opening  of  a  first-class  College.  "  We  have  also  made  a  trial 
effort,"  says  Bishop  Flaget,  in  the  appeal  already  quoted,  "in 
opening  a  free-school  for  poor  Catholic  boys  who  have  not  made 


HOW  A  BISHOP  REACHED  HIS  SEE.  667 

their  First  Communion.  The  half  of  their  time  will  be  employed 
in  work  on  the  farm,  to  defray  the  expense  of  their  board,  and 
the  other  half,  in  learning  to  read  and  write,  and  being  instructed 
in  the  catechism.  Although  it  is  in  operation  only  three 
months,  many  have  had  the  happiness  of  receiving  Holy  Com- 
munion with  the  greatest  devotion,  and  one  of  them  has  entered 
the  preparatory  seminary  with  the  intention  of  becoming  a 
priest." 

Thus  Bishop  Flaget  inaugurated  the  "Industrial  School 
System"  which  is  one  of  our  boasted  signs  of  "Progress." 
True,  it  had  a  religious  object  in  view,  wherein  it  differed  from 
its  secular  imitators. 

Religion  being  in  this  promising  condition  in  Kentucky,  the 
untiring  prelate  felt  free  to  visit  another  portion  of  his  large  dio- 
cese— Tennessee.  Early  in  May,  1821,  he  set  out  on  horseback, 
accompanied  by  Father  Abell,  and  arrived  in  Nashville  on  the 
10th.  To  quote  Dr.  Spalding  : 

"  The  total  number  of  Catholics  in  Nashville  and  vicinity  did 
not  exceed  sixty ;  and  there  were  not,  perhaps,  half  as  many  more 
in  all  the  rest  of  the  State.  The  prospects  for  soon  establishing  a 
congregation  here  were  certainly  not  very  flattering.  The  Catho- 
lics were  both  few  and  poor.  Yet  the  Bishop  was  not  disheartened, 
and  he  resolved  to  make  the  experiment. 

"  What  was  his  joy,  when  he  found  that  his  proposal  was 
most  favorably  entertained,  even  by  the  first  Protestant  citizens  of 
the  place.  A  liberal  subscription  was  taken  up,  signed  by  Prot- 
estants as  well  as  Catholics.  A  lot  for  a  church,  70  by  100  feet, 
was  offered  by  a  Mr.  Foster,  grand  master  of  the  Masons.  The 
Protestants  of  the  city  vied  with  one  another  in  showing  every 
polite  attention  to  the  Bishop  and  his  companion.  The  late  Hon. 
Felix  Grundy  and  his  amiable  family  are  gratefully  mentioned  by 
the  prelate  in  his  journal.  He  was  even  invited  to  take  tea  with 
a  Presbyterian  preacher,  named  Campbell.  Many  of  the  first 
families  attended  Mass :  and  a  large  and  intelligent  concourse 
were  assembled  every  evening  at  the  court-house,  to  hear  the  ser- 
mons of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Abell." 


668  HOW  A  BISHOP  REACHED  HIS  SEE. 

IV. 

With  his  active  zeal  and  administrative  ability,  Bishop  Fla- 
get  was  a  model  of  the  tenderest  charity.  This  was  especially 
manifested  towards  his  priests.  He  waited  on  them,  personally, 
when  they  fell  sick ;  and  at  the  funeral  of  one  he  had  scarcely 
begun  to  speak  of  his  dear  son's  virtues  when  his  feelings  over- 
came him,  and  he  was  obliged  to  cease.  In  his  official  reports  to 
Rome  he  dwelt  almost  extravagantly  on  the  "  continual  sacrifices 
and  generous  devotedness  of  his  priests."  His  correspondence 
with  them  was  motherly  in  its  kindness.  A  New  Year's  letter  to 
Father  Chabrat  is  a  specimen  : 

"  VERY  DEAR  F.  CHABRAT  :  Although  I  am  a  little  behind- 
hand in  manifesting  the  sentiments  of  my  heart  at  the  commence- 
ment of  this  New  Year,  they  are  none  the  less  sincere  and  affec- 
tionate. Yes,  my  dear  child,  I  wish  you  a  good  and  holy  year. 
I  desire  that  you  be  meek  and  humble  of  heart ;  that  you  may 
have  the  zeal  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,  the  mortification  of  St. 
Francis  Borgia,  the  angelic  purity  of  St.  Francis  Assisi,  and  the 
penetration  of  St.  Ignatius.  In  fine,  I  wish  with  all  these  incom- 
parable treasures,  you  may  live  yet  half  a  century ;  that  you 
may  share  your  immense  riches  with  all  those  souls  confided  to 
your  care ;  and  after  having  triumphed  over  all  the  enemies  of 
your  salvation,  full  of  good  works  and  merits,  you  may  sleep  in 
peace  on  the  bosom  of  your  Divine  Saviour,  to  rise  with  Him  in  the 
realms  of  glory  and  happiness. 

"  You  must  acknowledge  now  that  you  have  lost  nothing  by 
my  delay,  and  that  you  are  well  disposed  to  excuse  me,  and  be  as 
friendly  as  you  were  last  year.  I  pray  you  to  extend  these  heart- 
felt wishes  of  mine  to  all  your  good  daughters  at  Loretto.*  Do 
the  same  in  the  case  of  Father  Badin,  if  he  is  about ;  for  since  he 
has  left  St.  Joseph's  Seminary,  no  one  can  tell  me  his  where- 
abouts. It  is  believed  that  he  is  in  ten  different  places ;  but  no  one 
knows  where  he  resides,  and  perhaps  it  is  unknown  even  to  him- 
self. At  any  rate,  if  he  is  at  Loretto,  tell  him  that  I  love  him 
most  cordially,  and  that  I  wish  a  vigorous  health  to  his  body  and 
angelic  fervor  to  his  soul.  I  would  have  a  great  many  other 
things  to  tell  him,  but  probably  they  would  be  useless ;  e.  g.,  a 
little  more  order  in  rising  and  retiring ;  in  his  meals,  his  prayers, 
etc.,  etc. 

*  Father  Chabrat  was  their  chaplain. 


HOW  A  BISHOP  REACHED  HIS  SEE.  669 

"After  all,  those  irregularities  are  not  sins  ;  in  him  they  may 
be  brilliant  virtues,  by  reason  of  the  motive  which  actuates  him, 
which  we  must  charitably  suppose  to  be  holy  and  divine.  Still  it 
is  not  the  less  true  that  what  in  that  apostolic  man  may  be  most 
meritorious,  would  be  a  notable  disorder  in  another,  not  actuated 
by  like  principles,  and  especially  in  a  community.  To  be  better 
understood,  I  will  explain  myself:  To  this  good  Father  it  is  of 
little  concern  to  say  his  Mass  at  seven  o'clock  to-day,  at  eight 
o'clock  to-morrow,  and  the  day  after  at  ten ;  for,  provided  he  says 
it  holily  and  fervently,  he  will  advance  with  great  strides  in  the 
path  of  perfection.  To  breakfast  at  nine  in  the  morning,  to  dine 
at  four  in  the  afternoon,  and  to  take  a  little  refreshment  at  eleven 
at  night,  may  be  all  very  good  and  very  holy  for  an  individual, 
but  if  religious  observance  were  subject  to  such  irregularities, 
what  would  become  of  it?  If,  therefore,  the  good  and  amiable 
Father  Badin  wants  the  Sisters  to  interrupt  their  written  rule  (as 
I  know  he  is  tempted  to  do),  just  to  suit  themselves  to  his  varying 
habits,  then  it  would  be  necessary,  sweetly  of  course,  but  firmly, 
to  tell  him  that  such  things  cannot  be  allowed ;  at  the  same  time 
assuring  him  that  anything  in  the  world,  not  contrary  to  order  and 
the  holy  rule,  will  be  done  to  make  him  happy  at  Loretto. 

"  How  glad  would  I  be  if  I  were  near  you  in  my  little  cell  ! 
With  what  pleasure  would  I  not  assist  at  the  spiritual  reading  of 
the  good  Sisters !  I  think  my  heart  would  melt  with  devotion  in 
such  an  angelic  assembly.  But,  my  God  !  when  will  I  have  the 
time  ?  May  God's  most  holy  will  be  done !  If  I  have  not  so 
great  a  happiness  as  to  see  you  and  your  holy  community,  at  least 
I  have  the  satisfaction  of  cherishing  you  all  in  my  heart  at  all 
times  and  in  all  places ;  and  in  these  sentiments  I  am  going  to 
commence  this  year,  and  finish  my  career  with  regard  to  you* 
Receive  then  the  most  cordial  and  affectionate  blessing  of 

Your  tender  Father, 

88  BENEDICT  J., 
Jan.  5,  1830.  Bishop  of  Bardstoum" 

V. 

Although  oral  controversies  with  Protestant  ministers  were 
then  the  fashion,  Bishop  Flaget  is  known  to  have  had  but  one. 
His  meekness  and  charity  impressed  his  dissenting  brethren 
deeply,  and  when  at  the  end  he  offered  his  hand  to  his  antagonist 
they  were  filled  with  indignation  at  seeing  it  refused.  No  wonder 


67O  HOW  A  BISHOP  REACHED  HIS  SEE. 

he  made  converts  everywhere.  His  own  feelings  found  vent  in 
the  aspiration  :  "  How  happy  shall  I  be,  O  Lord  !  if  I  cause 
Thee  to  be  known  and  loved  by  all  these  unfortunate  sectaries, 
who  are  generally  such  only  because  they  had  the  misfortune  to 
be  born  in  heresy  !" 

Among  the  many  reminiscences  and  tributes  to  the  lovable 
qualities  of  this  holy  prelate  which  his  death  evoked,  was  one  of 
peculiar  interest  from  the  pen  of  Col.  John  Johnson,  as  follows : 

"  The  death  of  this  venerable  prelate  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
which  lately  happened  at  Louisville,  Kentucky,  at  an  advanced 
age,  reminds  me  of  times  and  seasons  during  my  long  intercourse 
with  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  Northwest.  .  .  .  The  largest 
and  most  important  treaty  held  with  the  natives,  since  that  of 
Greenville,  in  1795,  by  General  Wayne,  was  the  one  concluded  in 
1818 — thirty-two  years  ago.  Bishop  Flaget  was  in  attendance  at 
this  treaty  during  the  whole  time  of  its  continuance,  a  period  of 
about  seven  weeks.  The  Indians  present  on  that  occasion  num- 
bered about  ten  thousand,  consisting  of  Miamis,  Pottowattomies, 
Chippewas,  Ottawas,  Delawares,  Shawanees,  Wyandotts,  Senecas, 
and  Kickapoos.  It  fell  to  my  lot,  as  the  oldest  agent  in  the  serv- 
ice acting  under  the  authority  of  the  commissioners  of  the  United 
States,  to  make  all  necessary  arrangements  for  the  treaty.  This 
included,  of  course,  the  comfortable  accommodation  of  the  good 
Bishop.  I  procured  him  a  horseman's  tent,  a  sufficiency  of 
blankets,  a  man  to  attend  to  his  wants,  sent  him  breakfast  and 
supper  from  the  officers'  mess,  he  dining  regularly  with  us  at  the 
public  table.  By  invitation,  the  Bishop  performed  divine  service 
and  preached  every  Sabbath.  Many  of  the  sub-agents,  inter- 
preters and  Indians  were  of  the  Catholic  persuasion,  and  occupied 
much  of  his  time  in  attending  to  their  spiritual  wants.  His 
conduct  throughout  his  sojourn  with  us  was  so  marked  by  the 
affability,  courtesy,  and  kindness  of  his  manners,  with  the  dignity 
of  the  Christian  and  gentleman,  that  he  won  all  hearts.  Added 
to  this,  he  possessed  a  fine-proportioned  and  commanding  person  ; 
few  persons  excelled  him  here,  when  in  the  prime  of  his  years. 
Previous  to  the  departure  of  the  Bishop,  it  was  proposed  to  raise 
a  collection  for  him.  One  hundred  dollars  were  speedily  made 
up,  and  the  undersigned  was  charged  with  the  delivery  of  the 
money.  The  Bishop  peremptorily  refused  to  receive  any  of  it, 
stating  that  we  had  treated  him  so  kindly  that  he  was  largely  our 
debtor.  When  departing  on  horseback,  he  stopped  at  my  tent, 


HOW  A  BISHOP  REACHED  HIS  SEE.  671 

which  was  some  distance  from  his  own,  and,  dismounting  to  bid 
farewell,  he  took  me  in  his  arms.  After  many  thanks  for  my 
attentions  to  him,  he  said  :  '  I  have  nothing  better  to  bestow  than 
the  blessing  of  a  Christian  Bishop ;'  and,  after  imparting  that  in 
the  most  affectionate  manner,  he  bade  me  adieu.  I  have  never 
seen  him  since." 

In  his  childlike  letters  from  Europe  in  1835—6,  the  dear 
Bishop  artlessly  displays  the  same  characteristics.  "It  is  in 
vain  that  they  feast  me  wherever  I  go,"  he  writes  from  France. 
"  In  vain  do  I  find  myself  associated  with  archbishops  and  bishops, 
with  mayors  and  prefects,  with  marquises  and  counts ;  the  remem- 
brance of  the  humble  roof,  under  which  I  had  the  happiness  to  be 
born,  of  poor  but  very  pious  parents,  puts  me  back  entirely  into 
my  proper  place.  In  vain  do  they  overwhelm  me  with  polite 
attentions  and  compliments,  in  prose  and  in  verse,  treating  me  as 
an  apostolic  man,  as  the  foreign  missionary,  etc.,  etc.  ...  If 
I  think  but  one  moment  of  Billom,  and  the  good  aunt  who  nursed 
me  as  a  mother,  all  these  beautiful  eulogies  pass  over  my  head 
like  a  light  breeze,  without  affecting  it  in  the  least." 

He  thus  describes  his  interview  with  the  Sovereign  Pontiff: 

"On  the  29th  of  September,  having  gone  to  the  palace 
towards  eleven  o'clock  A.M.,  I  was  without  delay  introduced  into 
the  palace  of  the  Father  of  all  the  faithful.  Following  the  usual 
ceremonial,  I  made  the  three  prostrations,  and  at  the  third  I  kissed 
with  affection  the  cross  embroidered  on  his  sandal.  It  seemed  to 
me  that  I  was  kissing  the  feet  of  St.  Peter  himself.  At  this 
thought,  my  heart  felt  a  sensation  which  I  cannot  describe ;  sighs 
and  sobs  choked  my  utterance.  According  to  the  ceremonial,  I 
should  have  remained  kneeling,  until  the  Pope  would  give  me  a 
sign  to  rise ;  but  in  this  audience,  altogether  friendly  and  paternal, 
there  was  no  ceremony  to  be  observed.  The  excellent  Pontiff 
bowed  down,  seized  me  in  both  arms,  and  as  I  was  preparing  to 
kiss  his  ring,  he  pressed  me  to  his  bosom,  and  embraced  me 
tenderly,  saluting  me  affectionately  on  both  cheeks. 

"  Such  was  the  impression  which  these  marks  of  friendship 
made  on  my  heart,  that  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  articulate  a 


672  HOW  A  BISHOP  REACHED  HIS  SEE. 

single  word,  and  I  thought  I  was  going  to  be  ill.  At  this  sight 
the  Pope  was  moved,  he  pressed  me  again  on  his  breast,  and,  with 
a  tender  embrace,  encouraged  me  to  be  calm,  bade  me  sit  down  by 
his  side,  and  taking  both  my  hands  into  his,  waited  until  I  would 
open  my  heart  to  him.  Throughout  this  whole  scene  my  heart 
was  in  violent  agitation.  Happily  for  me,  tears  succeeded  my 
sobs  ;  they  flowed  in  abundance.  At  this  juncture,  the  Pope  again 
embraced  me  for  the  third  time. 

"  Having  recovered  my  senses,  and  feeling  now  perfectly  at 
my  ease,  I  entered  into  conversation  with  this  good  and  excellent 
Father  of  the  faithful.  Our  interview,  which  lasted  more  than 
half  an  hour,  was  conducted  in  Latin ;  and  he  assured  me  that  he 
understood  me  perfectly  well. 

"As  I  was  speaking  to  him  of  my  journey  to  Europe,  of  the 
sickness  I  had  suffered  at  Angers,  and  the  Confirmation  I  had 
given  at  Nantes,  he  stopped  me,  saying,  that  he  had  followed  all 
my  footsteps  from  Havre  till  my  arrival  in  Rome,  that  he  was 
satisfied  with  my  conduct,  that  I  was  a  worthy  successor  of  the 
Apostles,  etc.  Oh,  how  agreeable  and  delicious  are  such  conver- 
sations !" 

Those  who  confound  the  childlike  sensibility  of  the  Saints 
with  softness  and  indolence  might  learn  something  from  viewing 
this  toil-worn  prelate,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five,  setting  off  on  a 
new  missionary  career,  at  the  Pope's  suggestion,  to  travel  all  over 
France  in  behalf  of  the  Association  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Faith.  His  success  in  enrolling  "thousands  and  tens  of  thousands" 
in  its  ranks,  was  less  wonderful  than  the  impulse  given  to  piety 
and  devotion  wherever  he  appeared. 

VI. 

Despite  the  Bishop's  energy  and  self-sacrificing  spirit,  the 
infirmities  of  age  began  to  give  token  that  the  end  was  approaching. 
The  first .  noteworthy  indication  was  on  St.  Joseph's  feast,  1844, 
when  Bishop  Purcell  had  to  take  his  place  at  the  consecration  of 
Rev.  J)rs.  Reynolds  and  Henni  for  the  Sees  of  Charleston  and 
Milwaukee.  Bishop  Flaget's  infirm  condition  only  allowed  him 


HOW  A  BISHOP  REACHED  HIS  SEE.  673 

to  be  present  at  the  consecration,  and  through  the  solemn  Mass. 
Mr.  Webb,  in  his  Centenary  of  Catholicity  in  Kentucky,  says  in  a 
note : 

"  I  was  present  at  the  consecration,  and  I  remember  to  have 
been  greatly  struck  by  an  incident  that  took  place  immediately 
after  the  newly-consecrated  Bishops  had  imparted  the  episcopal 
blessing  to  the  kneeling  crowds  that  filled  the  cathedral.  I 
observed  from  where  I  sat  the  tottering  form  of  our  late  saintly 
prelate  being  led  up  the  steps  of  the  high  altar.  In  a  moment 
after,  in  accents  so  feeble  that  they  could  scarce  be  heard  at  the 
extremity  of  the  church,  he  intoned  the  initiatory  words  of 
the  solemn  episcopal  benediction,  Sit  nomen  Domini.  •  When  he 
turned  to  give  the  blessing,  every  knee  was  bent  to  receive  it, 
whether  of  bishops,  priests  or  people."  This  was  in  Cincinnati. 

The  transcriber  of  this  still  vividly  recollects  an  almost  sim- 
ilar incident  when  Bishop  Flaget  was  starting  on  his  European 
tour.  He  stayed  a  few  days  in  Philadelphia,  and  preached  on 
Sunday  in  St.  Augustine's  Church.  Rev.  Dr.  Hurley  sang  High 
Mass,  and  the  two  Fathers  Nicolas  O'Donnell  were  in  the  sanct- 
uary. When,  at  the  close  of  the  service,  Bishop  Flaget  turned 
to  give  the  episcopal  blessing,  to  the  writer's  wonder — in  fact, 
alarm — "young  Father  Nicolas"  was  seen  prostrate  with  his 
face  on  the  floor.  His  cousin,  "  old  Father  Nicolas,"  had  knelt 
and  bowed  his  head ;  Dr.  Hurley  was  standing  at  the  corner  of 
the  altar,  bent  very  low,  but  what  ailed  the  priest  who  buried  his 
face  on  the  ground  ?  Coming  out  of  the  church  every  one  was 
commenting  on  it.  None  would  have  been  surprised  had  the  elder 
cousin  acted  so  ;  but  the  young  Father  was  an  enemy  to  all  affecta- 
tion, sentimentality  or  uncommon  demonstrations  in  piety,  and  his 
prostrating  before  the  strange  Bishop  was  taken  as  proof  positive  of 
the  latter' s  sanctity. 

During  all  the  years  from  the  first  of  his  episcopate,  the  holy 
man  had  borne  in  his  body  "  the  mark  of  the  cross."  While 
engaged  in  visiting  his  extensive  diocese,  in  1813,  he  was  success- 
ful "  in  healing  at  Detroit  a  formidable  dissension  that  was  threat- 
ening the  life  of  the  mission."  Says  his  biographer  : 


674  HOW  A   BISHOP  REACHED  HIS  SEE. 

11  On  the  day  of  the  reconciliation,  the  Bishop  had  dined  with 
Governor  Cass,  and  on  the  day  following  with  General  Macomb. 
Returning  from  the  house  of  the  latter,  the  horses  took  fright  on 
the  brink  of  the  river,  and  he  was  thrown  from  the  carriage  down 
a  precipice  into  the  water.  He  was  not  dangerously  wounded,  but 
he  received  a  severe  contusion  of  the  right  shoulder,  from  the 
effects  of  which  he  never  recovered.  The  first  symptom  of  his 
approaching  dissolution,  a  few  months  before  his  death,  was  this 
shoulder  turning  black." 

On  September  10,  1848,  Bishop  Flaget  closed  his  public 
career  of  official  duty  by  consecrating  the  holy  Doctor  who  was  to 
be  his  worthy  successor,  Right  Rev.  Martin  J.  Spalding.  Scarcely 
could  even  his  indomitable  will  nerve  the  aged  prelate  to  this 
crowning  glory  of  his  episcopacy.  Soon  after  strength  failed  for 
his  daily  Mass.  Then  failing  eyesight  forced  him  to  lay  aside  his 
Breviary.  The  Rosary,  blessed  resource  of  millions !  was  now 
his  resource,  companion  and  consolation. 

Death  came  slowly,  as  if  even  the  grim  visitant  of  all 
respected  the  glorious  Flaget  and  was  unwilling  to  take  him  from 
the  scene  of  his  labors,  trials  and  successes.  The  night  of  Feb- 
ruary 10,  1850,  he  slept  uneasily;  "even  while  delirious,  the 
holy  man  seemed  constantly  engaged  in  prayer."  The  next  even- 
ing the  end  came.  "  He  died,  as  he  had  lived — a  saint ;  and  the 
last  day  was  perhaps  the  most  interesting  and  impressive  of  his 
whole  life.  Tranquilly  and  without  a  groan,  did  he  fall  asleep 
in  the  Lord — like,  an  infant  gently  sinking  to  its  rest." 

It  may  not  be  generally  known  that  among  the  letters  found 
after  his  death  and  still  preserved,  there  was  one  in  which  Bishop 
Flaget  indicated  whom  he  wished  to  succeed  him  in  his  episcopal 
see.  This  was  the  venerable  Father  John  McElroy,  S.J;,  who 
died  almost  a  centenarian  at  Frederick,  Md.,  in  September,  1877. 
Bishop  Flaget's  desire,  however,  was  never  realized,  and  Father 
McElroy's  humility  suffered  only  from  the  apprehension  of  the 
threatened  dignity. 


VILLAGE   OF    LA  SALETTE. 


OUR   LADY   OF   LA  SALETTE.1 

the  southern  part  of  Dauphine  where  the  French 
Alps  rise  abruptly,  and  in  some  places  almost  per- 
pendicularly, is  an  obscure  village  called  La  Salette, 
consisting  of  some  fourteen  hamlets  scattered  here 
and  there  on  the  slope  of  the  mountain.  It  is  a 
remote,  quiet,  but  beautifully  picturesque  little  place,  unknown 
save  to  the  inhabitants  of  its  immediate  vicinity,  until  the  famous 
Apparition  made  it  the  resort  yearly  of  thousands  of  pilgrims,  and 
Our  Lady  of  La  Salette  a  household  word  among  Catholics  of 
every  clime. 

Belonging  to  Catholic  France  yet  situated  in  a  portion  of  it 
where  at  that  time  the  people  were  notorious  for  inattention  to 
their  religious  duties,  the  greater  number  of  the  seven  hundred 
souls  composing  the  parish  of  La  Salette  were  po  exception  to 
their  neighbors,  but  like  them  lived  as  if  there  were  no  God. 
Poor  before  the  Apparition,  poor  the  villagers  still  remain,  but 

1  As  our  Associates  know,  this  is  one  of  the  shrines  to  which  the  Intentions 
of  the  League  are  sent  for  prayers. 

675 


OUR  LADY  OF  LA  S ALETTE. 


677 


instead  of  the  lukewarm,  careless  Christians  they  were  before  the 
Blessed  Virgin  appeared  on  their  mountain,  they  have  become 
faithful,  fervent  Catholics. 

On  Saturday,  September  19,  1846,  the  eve  of  the  feast  of  the 
Seven  Dolors,  two  little  shepherds  were  tending  their  herds  on  the 
mountains  where  they  drove  them  to  pasture  every  day.  The 
elder — Melanie  Cal vat-Math ieu — was  a  girl  of  nearly  fifteen  who 
had  been  at  service  as 
a  shepherdess  ever 
since  she  was  nine 
years  old  and  had 
been  employed  by  her 
present  master  for  six 
months ;  the  other,  a 
boy  of  eleven — Max- 
imin  Giraud  —  was 
almost  a  stranger  in 
the  village,  having 
come  on  the  previous 
Monday  from  the  town 
of  Corps,  five  or  six 
miles  away,  as  a  tem- 
porary substitute  for  a 
shepherd  who  was  ill. 
About  mid-day  they 
had  driven  the  cattle 
as  usual  to  a  certain 
rivulet  to  drink  and 
had  then  wandered  a 
little  distance,  sitting 

down  on  the  grass  near  a  fountain  that  was  dry,  to  eat  their 
frugal  meal.  Tired  and  weary  with  the  early  morning  start, 
the  children  fell  asleep  and,  on  awakening,  were  frightened  at 
finding  that  the  cows  had  strayed  away,  and  hastened  to 
search  for  them ;  from  the  brow  of  the  hill,  however,  the  herds 
were  soon  discovered,  but,  before  going  to  drive  them  back  to 


THE  WITNESSES. 


SCENES    OF    THE    APPARITION. 


OUR  LADY  OF  LA  S ALETTE.  679 

their  proper  pasture,  they  returned  for  the  empty  provision 
bags  which  were  used  to  carry  their  meals.  Reaching  the 
spot  they  had  vacated  only  a  few  moments  before,  the  children 
were  startled  at  seeing  a  dazzling  light  more  brilliant  than  the 
sun,  in  the  midst  of  which  was  a  lady  sitting  on  the  stones  at  the 
head  of  the  fountain.  Her  attitude  betokened  the  most  profound 
grief,  her  elbows  rested  on  her  knees  and  her  face  was  buried  in 
her  hands,  whilst  the  tears  flowed  copiously  from  her  eyes. 

They  heard  the  Lady  say  :  "  If  you,  my  people,  will  not  be 
submissive,  the  hand  of  my  Son  will  fall  upon  you  ;  it  is  so  strong, 
so  heavy,  that  I  can  no  longer  hold  it  up.  Oh,  how  long  have  I 
suffered  for  you  !  If  I  wish  my  Son  not  to  abandon  you,  I  must 
pray  to  Him  without  ceasing  whilst  you  remain  totally  indifferent 
to  my  loving  solicitude.  However  much  you  may  pray,  whatever 
you  may  do,  you  cannot  repay  the  trouble  I  have  taken  for  your 
welfare." 

M6lanie  was  frightened  and  dropped  her  shepherd's  crook, 
but  the  boy  advised  her  to  pick  it  up  again,  adding  that  he 
intended  keeping  his  to  defend  himself  if  necessary. 

Then  in  a  most  sweet  and  musical  voice  the  Lady  bade  them 
come  to  her  and  not  to  be  afraid,  as  she  had  great  news  to  tell 
them.  Their  fears  vanished  at  the  charm  of  her  voice,  and  the 
shepherds  ran  toward  her :  the  Lady  arose  and  stood  upright,  tall 
and  majestic — "  so  tall,"  thought  M6lanie,  "  I  have  never  seen 
any  one  of  equal  height."  She  was  clothed  in  a  white  robe, 
studded  with  pearls,  and  a  gold-colored  apron ;  white  shoes  with 
roses  of  every  variety  of  color  encased  her  feet ;  a  wreath  of  roses 
encircled  her  head-dress,  which  was  a  high  cap  slightly  bent  in 
front ;  upon  her  breast  was  a  crucifix  suspended  by  a  small  chain 
from  her  neck ;  on  the  left  of  this  crucifix  was  a  hammer  and  on 
the  right  a  pair  of  pincers.  Another  and  larger  chain  encircled 
all  these  instruments  of  the  Passion,  whilst  this  again  was  within 
a  still  larger  wreath  of  roses. 

Such  was  the  description  of  the  vision  given  by  the  children 
themselves  at  that  time,  but  as  the  boy  when  grown  into  a  man 
justly  observes : 


680 


OUR   LADY  OF  LA  S ALETTE. 


"  How  could  ignorant  children  called  upon  to  describe  such 
extraordinary  things  find  fitting  expressions?  When  asked  to 
depict  what  I  saw  I  feel  something  of  the  same  embarrassment 
which  St.  Paul  must  have  felt  when  he  returned  from  the  third 
heaven,  for  the  eye  of  man  has  not  seen  nor  his  ear  heard  what 
was  then  given  us  to  see  and  hear.  In  that  beautiful  dress  there  was 
nothing  earthly :  the  cap,  the  chain  and  the  roses  had  scarcely  the 

real  form  of  those 
objects ;  rays  of  light 
and  a  variety  of  hues 
combined  to  produce  a 
magnificent  whole  which 
is  only  dimmed  and  ma- 
terialized by  attempt- 
ing to  describe  it." 

Advancing  to  meet 
them  the  Lady  seemed 
not  to  tread  on  earth 
but  to  glide  along  a 
few  inches  above  the 
ground;  then  standing 
before  the  children,  who 
were  unable  to  gaze 
steadfastly  upon  her 
countenance  because  of 
its  brightness,  she  con- 
tinued :  "It  is  the  pro- 
fanation of  the  Sunday 
and  the  continual  blas- 
phemous use  of  His  Name  which  makes  the  arm  of  my  Son  so  heavy. 
If  men  continue  to  violate  the  laws  of  God  and  of  the  Church  and 
will  not  listen  to  the  warnings  from  Heaven,  they  will  be  visited 
with  terrible  punishments ;  whilst  on  the  contrary,  if  they  be  con- 
verted and  return  to  God,  innumerable  blessings  will  be  heaped  upon 
them."  Here  the  Lady  paused,  and  to  Melanie  she  seemed  to  be 
speaking  to  the  boy,  although  she  heard  nothing  of  what  was 


THE   CONVERSATION. 


OUR  LADY  OF  LA  S ALETTE.  681 

said.  In  like  manner  the  little  shepherdess  was  addressed,  not  a 
word  being  audible  to  Maximin.  Not  until  the  vision  had  dis- 
appeared, did  the  children  mention  this  mysterious  silence,  when 


OUR    LADY    OF    LA  SALETTE. 


«ach  declared  the  Lady  had  confided  a  secret  not  to  be  revealed 
before  the  proper  time :  neither  knew  the  secret  of  the  other, 
whether  it  was  the  same  or  different. 


682 


OUR.  LADY  OF  LA  S ALETTE. 


After  this  both  together  were  addressed  :  "  Do  you  say  your 
prayers  devoutly,  my  dear  little  children  ?"  .  "  No,  my  Lady," 
was  the  reply.  "Ah  !  my  children,  you  must  say  your  prayers 
carefully  night  and  morning.  Only  a  few  old  women  attend  Mass 
while  the  rest  work  every  Sunday  during  the  summer ;  in  winter 
when  there  is  nothing  else  to  do,  they  go  to  church  merely  to 

make  a  mockery  of 
religion ;  in  Lent  no 
attention  is  paid  to 
the  fast." 

"She  cried  contin- 
ually," said  the  little 
shepherdess.  "I  saw 
the  tears  streaming 
from  her  eyes." 

"My  children,  you 
will  tell  this  to  all 
my  people,"  and  with 
these  last  words  she 
passed  before  them, 
crossed  the  rivulet, 
and  ascended  the  short 
but  steep  side  of  the 
opposite  slope.  Again 
repeating — "  You  will 
tell  my  people  what 
I  have  said" — she 
walked  forward  to 

the  place  where  the  children  had  gone  in  quest  of  their 
herds.  The  shepherds  stood  motionless  as  statues,  their  eyes 
fixed  on  the  beautiful  Lady  whom  they  saw  with  feet  close 
together,  like  those  of  a  person  skating,  gliding  over  the  grass 
without  causing  a  blade  to  bend.  Recovering  from  their  rapture, 
they  ran  after  and  soon  overtook  her,  M6lanie  placing  herself  in 
front  and  Maximin  behind,  a  little  to  the  right.  In  their  presence 
she  then  rose  slowly,  visible  for  some  moments  between  heaven 


THE    ASSUMPTION. 


OUR  LADY  OF  LA  S ALETTE.  683 

and  earth,  until  gradually  disappearing  in  the  brilliant  light  which 
surrounded  her,  nothing  was  seen  but  a  globe  of  fire  ascending 
into  the  heavens.  Overpowered  by  the  splendor  of  the  vision, 
they  gazed  fixedly  at  the  spot  where  it  had  vanished,  then  turned 
towards  each  other  unable  at  first  to  utter  a  single  word. 

M6lanie  finally  broke  the  silence :  "  It  must  be  the  good 
God,  Maximin,  or  my  father's  Blessed  Virgin,  or  perhaps  some 
great  Saint." 

"  Oh  !"  cried  the  boy,  "  had  I  known  that,  I  would  certainly 
have  asked  her  to  take  me  with  her  to  heaven.  Oh,  if  she  would 
only  return  once  more  !" 

But  they  sighed  in  vain  for  another  glimpse  of  the  resplendent 
figure.  It  was  now  time  to  think  of  descending  from  the  mount- 
ain ;  so  calling  together  their  cattle,  the  children  returned  to  the 
village.  Meeting  the  mistress  of  M6lanie,  they  began  talking  of 
the  beautiful  Lady  who  had  appeared  in  a  fire,  in  a  second  sun, 
and  were  amazed  that  she  had  not  seen  the  brilliant  light  on  the 
top  of  the  mountain,  visible,  they  fancied,  at  a  great  distance,  as  in 
their  simplicity  they  did  not  dream  that  a  special  grace  was  given 
them.  The  strange  news  spread  among  the  neighbors,  and  as  soon 
as  Mass  was  over  the  next  morning,  the  few  that  were  there  col- 
lected around  the  children  to  hear  the  marvellous  tale  from  their 
own  lips  scarcely  gave  credence  to  the  story.  The  shepherdess 
was  sent  as  usual  to  drive  her  herd,  but  none  of  the  villagers  had 
the  faith  to  accompany  her  up  the  long  and  tedious  ascent.  After 
Vespers  eight  or  ten  people,  impelled  by  curiosity,  went  up  the 
mountain.  The  fountain,  always  dry  at  this  season,  was  running 
freely  which  tended  to  give  credibility  to  the  children's  words,  so 
they  made  M61anie  tell  her  story  again  and  again,  and  point  out 
the  precise  spots  where  the  wonderful  events  were  said  to  have 
occurred.  Thus  began  the  first  pilgrimage  to  La  Salette.  That 
same  Sunday  evening  the  children  were  brought  before  the  mayor 
and  subjected  to  the  most  rigorous  examination.  At  first  in 
separate  rooms,  then  together,  he  exhorted  them  to  confess  the 
imposture,  promising  to  shield  them;  next  he  tried  to  bribe  them 
to  keep  silence ;  finally  he  threatened  imprisonment  and  other 


OUR  LADY  OF  LA  S ALETTE.  685 

punishments,  but  it  was  useless  :  the  little  shepherds  repeated  the 
one  refrain — they  must  do  as  the  Lady  had  told  them.  The 
authorities  of  the  Church  used  the  utmost  prudence  and  caution, 
instigating  a  thorough  search  before  declaring  their  belief  in  the 
Apparition,  or  in  the  miracles  wrought  upon  using  the  water  of 
La  Salette. 

One  feature  in  the  case,  however,  remained,  which  might 
afford  a  convenient  shelter  for  doubt  and  suspicion.  The  children 
said  they  had  been  entrusted  with  a  precious  secret,  yet  steadily 
refused  to  communicate  it  to  any  one,  notwithstanding  the  incredi- 
ble efforts  made  to  wrest  it  from  them.  Monseigneur  Dupanloup 
recounts  the  various  ways  in  which  he  tried  to  tempt  the  boy. 
One  time  he  gave  him  a  present  of  a  new  hat  and  blouse,  promis- 
ing him  that  instead  of  poverty  and  distress  he  and  his  father 
should  live  in  ease  and  plenty  the  remainder  of  their  lives,  if  he 
would  reveal  the  secret ;  then  again  he  took  out  his  purse  contain- 
ing a  number  of  gold-pieces  which  delighted  Maximin,  all  would 
be  his  on  that  one  condition — but  without  avail.  Finally,  the 
Monseigneur  said  :  "  Perhaps,  you  do  not  confide  your  secret  to 
me  because  you  have  none  ?" 

"  Oh,  but  I  have  !"  replied  the  boy,  "  only  I  cannot  tell  it." 

"  Why  not  ?     Who  has  forbidden  you  ?" 

"  The  <  Holy  Virgin.'  " 

Henceforth  he  gave  up  the  contest  and  placing  his  hand  on 
Maximin's  head  he  made  the  sign  of  the  cross  on  his  forehead  say- 
ing, "Adieu,  my  child ;  I  trust  the  Blessed  Virgin  will  pardon 
the  methods  by  which  I  have  tried  you  :  be  faithful  all  your  life 
to  the  grace  you  have  received."  The  Bishop  of  Grenoble  deter- 
mined to  remove  this  stumbling  block,  and  early  in  July,  1851, 
sent  for  the  two  children,  explaining  to  them  that  all  visions  and 
supernatural  events  that  happen  in  the  Church  should  be  fully 
and  completely  submitted  to  the  Holy  Father ;  that,  as  Vicar  of 
Jesus  Christ  on  earth,  it  belonged  to  His  Holiness  to  judge  in 
these  matters.  He  therefore  required  them  under  obedience  ta 
his  authority  to  commit  to  writing  the  secret,  which  they  said  our 
Lady  had  entrusted  to  them,  whilst  he  would  assume -the  responsi- 


OUR  LADY  OF  LA  S ALETTE.  687 

bility  of  sending  the  missives  to  Rome.  When  the  children 
understood  that  it  was  their  duty  to  obey  the  Bishop,  they  sat 
down  at  different  tables,  writing  their  respective  letters  without 
the  slightest  hesitation,  as  if  they  were  copying  from  a  book 
before  them.  These  precious  documents  they  then  signed  and 
sealed,  and  the  Bishop  forwarded  them  at  once  to  Rome  by  his 
Vicar-general  who  placed  them  in  the  hands  of  Pius  IX. 

His  Holiness  immediately  opened  them  without,  of  course, 
communicating  any  of  their  contents,  remarking  that  he  must  read 
them  again  at  his  leisure.  "  These  are  scourges  for  France,  but 
Germany,  Italy  and  many  other  countries  deserve  the  same,"  he 
added.  The  secret  which  those  two  poor  ignorant  children  had 
for  five  years  so  jealously  guarded  against  the  efforts  of  curious 
inquirers  was  no  fiction,  but  a  reality  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  mind 
of  the  Pope. 

In  May,  1852,  on  the  top  of  what  had  been  a  desolate  mount^ 
ain  until  our  Lady  deigned  to  visit  it,  the  foundation  of  the 
Church  of  La  Salette  was  laid,  fifteen  thousand  pilgrims  assisting 
at  the  High  Mass.  Thirteen  years  were  devoted  to  the  completion 
of  this  superb  edifice,  built  by  voluntary  subscriptions,  every  stone 
being  as  it  were  an  ex-voto  for  a  favor  granted.  Thus  was  finally 
and  authoritatively  established  the  pilgrimage  of  La  Salette,  whose 
first  feeble  beginnings  may  be  said  to  date  from  the  very  day  after 
the  original  announcement  of  the  Apparition,  and  La  Salette 
took  its  place  among  the  most  famous  of  our  Lady's  sanctu- 
aries. 

The  Queen  of  Heaven  seems  to  have  a  special  love  for  the 
children  of  the  poor  and  often  confounds  the  great  ones  of  the 
earth  by  choosing  them  for  her  own  pages  and  messengers.  Melanie 
and  Maximin  whose  names  are  inseparably  linked  with  that  of 
Our  Lady  of  La  Salette  were  no  exception,  for  they  were  born  of 
parents  of  the  very  poorest  classes,  and  brought  up  in  the  grossest 
ignqrance.  Melanie  had  been  a  shepherdess  from  her  ninth  year 
and  had  tended  her  flocks  on  Sunday  almost  as  constantly  as  dur- 
ing the  week,  so  knew  very  little  about  her  faith.  After  the 
Apparition  she  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  nuns  who  found  her 


688 


OUR  LADY  OF  LA  S ALETTE. 


extremely  simple  and  modest  in  manner.  She  remained  five  years 
with  them,  and  afterwards  joined  the  Carmelites,  wishing  her  life 
to  be  one  of  atonement  and  self-denial,  as  she  never  could  forget 
the  bitter  tears  which  she  saw  our  Lady  shed.  Maximin  served 
the  Church  in  the  ranks  of  the  Pontifical  Zouaves  where 
he  was  noted  for  his  strong  attachment  to  the  faith,  to  the 

Holy  See  and,  above 
all,  for  his  great  de- 
votion to  the  Blessed 
Virgin. 

From  the  beginning 
of  May  until  late  in 
October  the  holy 
mountain  is  easy  of 
access,  and  a  body  of 
priests,  called  Mission- 
aries of  Our  Lady  of 
La  Salette,  whose  mon- 
astery is  attached  to 
the  church,  attend  to 
the  thousands  of  pil- 
grims who  yearly 
wend  their  way  to 
the  spot  made  sacred 
by  our  Lady's  pres- 
ence. Three  of  the 
principal  feasts,  the 
Visitation,  the  As- 
sumption and  the  19th  of  September,  the  anniversary  of  the  Appari- 
tion, are  preceded  by  a  retreat  preached  in  the  church ;  but  the  last 
mentioned  is  the  great  feast-day  of  the  mountain,  when  pilgrims 
throng  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  sometimes  numbering  10,000  ; 
in  the  evening  with  lighted  torches,  praying  and  singing,  they 
visit  in  procession  the  sacred  places ;  no  one  but  an  eye-witness 
can  conceive  the  beauty  and  holiness  of  the  scene.  At  the 
bottom  of  the  ravine,  where  the  Blessed  Virgin  was  first  seen  by 


THE   INTERIOR    OF  "THE   SANCTUARY." 


THE  APOSTLESHIP  OF  STUDY,  OR  THE  POPE'S  MILITIA.      689 

the  children,  is  a  bronze  statue  representing  our  Lady  in  tears,  and 
at  its  feet  runs  the  now  ever-flowing  fountain,  never  dry  even  in 
time  of  long  drought.  Fourteen  crosses,  each  enriched  with  a 
bronze  medallion  representing  a  Station  of  the  Cross,  mark  the 
path  trod  by  our  Lady,  whilst  the  group  consisting  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  and  the  shepherds  is  on  the  exact  spot  where  she  spoke  to 
them.  These  are  all  encircled  by  a  costly  iron-railing  to  protect 
them  from  the  pious  ravages  of  the  people  who  in  their  devotion 
would  carry  off  the  very  blades  of  grass ;  the  stone  on  which 
our  Lady  was  seated  is  preserved  in  the  church,  otherwise  it 
would  have  been  chipped  and  broken  and  the  pieces  taken  away 
to  be  treasured  as  precious  mementoes.  This  mountain  always 
retains  the  echo  of  the  plaints  and  moans  of  the  Queen  of  Heaven, 
and  the  tears  shed  by  Mary  here  continue  still  to  bathe  the  eyes  of 
the  faithful  who  crowd  all  day,  without  ever  being  wearied, 
around  those  spots  where  our  Blessed  Mother  was  seen,  but  par- 
ticularly where  she  wept. 

The  arm  of  the  Lord  is  not  shortened,  and  in  these  days  when 
so  many  scoff  at  the  possibility  of  miracles  and  at  a  revealed  God, 
He  delights  in  showing  its  strength  and  His  condescending  love 
for  us.  Far  off  on  these  once  lonely  mountains,  through  the  interces- 
sion of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  what  miracles  have  been  wrought, 
what  conversions  obtained,  what  salutary  and  efficacious  resolutions 
have  been  made,  proving  that  the  Mother  of  Divine  Grace  still 
possesses  that  power  over  her  Son  which  she  exerted  nearly 
nineteen  hundred  years  ago  at  the  wedding  feast  of  Cana  of 
Galilee ! 


THE  APOSTLESHIP  OF  STUDY,  OR  THE  POPE'S 

MILITIA. 

THE  month  of  September  will  find  the  colleges,  academies  and 
schools  welcoming  back  to  their  precincts  the  vivacious 
and  precious  American  youth.      Both  teacher  and  pupil 
will  enter  upon  another  school  term  with  renewed  energies,  hoping 
for  successful  results  at  the  end  of  the  year.     For  the  Catholic 


69O      THE  APOSTLESHIP  OF  STUDY,  OR  THE  POPE'S  MILITIA. 

scholar  a  double  result  must  be  kept  in  view — advancement  in 
religious  knowledge  along  with  progress  in  secular  sciences.  Of 
the  two,  advancement  in  religious  knowledge  is  the  more  impor- 
tant, as  all  of  us  unhesitatingly  admit. 

But  the  religious  education  of  the  child  must  not  be  merely 
theoretical,  giving  out  truths  and  principles  and  axioms ;  it  must 
be  practical,  too.  The  child  must  be  instructed  how  to  make 
practical  the  blessed  teachings  of  the  Divine  Master ;  what  faith 
and  hope  and  charity  are  in  every-day  life ;  what  help  and 
strength  and  comfort  the  Sacraments  bring  to  those  who  make  use 
of  their  grace.  In  other  words,  the  practical  part  of  the  religious 
education  of  a  child  is  to  teach  it  to  form  habits  of  virtue,  and 
this  can  be  done  only  by  the  adoption  into  daily  life  of  the  devo- 
tions with  which  the  Church  is  so  enriched. 

It  was  with  this  object  in  view  that  Father  Cros  began  the 
Pope's  Militia,  or  Apostleship  of  Study,  among  children  who  were 
still  at  school ;  to  plant  in  their  young  hearts  a  strong  and  fervent 
love  of  the  Church,  and  to  make  them  docile,  studious  and  pious. 
"It  is  a  branch,"  said  Father  Cros,  "of  that  great  tree,  the 
Apostleship  of  Prayer,"  which  has  for  its  object  to  make  all 
Catholics  pray  for  the  needs  of  the  Church  in  union  with  Jesus 
Christ  ever  Living  to  make  intercession  for  us. 

What  is  the  Apostleship  of  Study  ? 

The  Apostleship  of  Study  is  but  a  special  form  of  the  Apos- 
tleship of  Prayer,  League  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  more  largely 
indulgenced  by  the  Pope  than  the  rest  of  the  work,  for  the  benefit 
of  those  who  are  still  at  their  studies. 

What  is  it  for? 

Just  as  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer  is  an  organization  to  make 
all  Catholics  love  and  serve  the  Sacred  Heart,  and  to  promote  the 
interests  of  the  Church ;  so  the  Apostleship  of  Study  is  intended 
to  plant  a  strong  and  fervent  love  of  the  Church  in  the  hearts  of 
children,  before  they  have  left  school. 

Has  it  any  further  object  ? 

Yes,  it  has.  Pope  Leo  XIJLL.  has  urged  upon  us  all  the  need 
of  warning  our  children  and  pupils  of  the  criminal  nature  of  Secret 


THE  APOSTLESH1P  OF  STUDY,  OR  THE  POPE'S  MILITIA.      691 

Societies ;  and  he  has  expressed  the  wish  that  all  children  should 
be  induced  to  make  a  firm  resolution  never  to  join  them.  The 
especial  object  of  the  Apostleship  of  Study  is  to  reduce  these 
recommendations  of  the  Pope  to  easy  practice. 

It  is,  then,  approved  by  the  Church  ? 

Yes.  Besides  the  two  particular  Rescripts,  in  which  the 
extra  Indulgences  are  granted  to  the  Apostleship  of  Study,  its 
objects  have  been  urgently  enjoined  upon  all  the  Church  by  the 
Encyclical  Humanum  Genus. 

For  whom  is  it  intended  ? 

'  The  Apostleship  of  Study  is  equally  suitable  for  all  Catholic 
Students,  whether  in  Parochial  Schools,  Normal  Schools,  Acade- 
mies, Boarding  Schools,  Colleges,  Convents,  Seminaries. 

Is  any  special  admission  required,  in  order  that  these  Indul- 
gences may  be  gained  in  a  school  or  house  of  studies  ? 

No  further  admission  is  necessary ;  but  it  is  necessary  that 
the  Apostleship  of  Study  should  have  a  public  and  recognized 
existence  in  that  House. 

But  the  members — what  have  they  to  do  ? 

The  members  of  the  Apostleship  of  Study  have  no  other 
duties  of  obligation  than  other  members  of  the  Apostleship  of 
Prayer  ;  they  have  only  greater  rewards. 

What  are  these  duties  ? 

They  are :  first,  to  make  the  Morning  Offering,  with  their 
morning  prayers  ;  then,  to  say,  each  day,  one  decade  of  the  Beads ; 
and  lastly,  to  go  to  Holy  Communion,  either  once  a  month,  or 
once  a  week. 

Is  nothing  more  than  this  expected  of  them  ? 

They  are  urged  and  encouraged  to  consecrate  daily  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  an  hour  of  study,  an  hour  of  silence,  and  an  hour  of 
play,  which  they  purpose  to  fulfil  with  more  than  ordinary  care, 
more  than  usual  purity  of  intention. 

How  is  the  Apostleship  of  Study  worked  in  a  School? 

Only  by  the  usual  means — of  the  Rosary  Bands,  with  Pro- 
moters at  their  head,  just  as  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer  is  worked 
everywhere  else. 


692      THE  APOSTLESHIP  OF  STUDY,  OR  THE  POPE'S  MILITIA. 

And  now,  for  all  this,  what  are  the  rewards  ? 

First,  almost  all  the  ordinary  Indulgences  of  the  Apostleship 
of  Prayer  are  doubled  for  the  members  of  the  Apostleship  of 
Study.  Then  special  feasts  are  given,  to  which  Plenary  Indul- 
gences are  attached.  But  what  is  most  remarkable  is  that  the 
members  have  a  right  to  the  Papal  Blessing,  on  the  days  the  Six 
Decorations  are  conferred. 

What  are  the  Six  Decorations  ? 

The  Apostleship  of  Study  has  the  privilege  from  the  Pope 
of  granting  Decorations  to  the  members,  during  the  course  of  their 
studies. 

What?  for  saying  morning  prayers,  and  a  decade  of  beads? 
and  going  to  Holy  Communion  f 

Not  exactly  for  that.  But  the  Pope  understands,  better  than 
we  do,  the  importance  of  children  learning  to  love  the  Church,  and 
to  fly  and  renounce  all  Secret  Societies ;  and  has  granted  this  great 
privilege  to  encourage  all  children  to  do  so. 

But  how  do  these  Decorations  encourage  children  to  renounce 
Freemasonry  ? 

Because  it  is  a  condition  of  the  Rescript,  that  whenever 
these  Decorations  are  conferred,  the  scholar  should  renew  the 
engagement  never  to  join,  but  always  to  oppose,  societies  con- 
demned by  the  Church. 

What  do  these  Decorations  consist  of? 

They  consist  of  metal  clasps — with  the  words  Thy  Kingdom 
Come  engraved  on  them — holding  silk  bands  of  ribbon,  of  the  six 
different  colors,  according  to  the  degree  arrived  at. 

What  are  these  six  colors  ? 

They  are  Blue,  Purple,  Violet,  Red,  White,  and  the  sixth 
and  highest,  White  and  Gold. 

When  are  these  Decorations  conferred  ? 

It  is  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  Superiors  to  arrange  the 
distribution  according  to  the  length  of  the  school  course;  but 
the  last  and  highest  can  be  given  only  when  the  scholar  is  leaving 
school. 


THE  APOSTLESHIP  OF  STUDY,  OR  THE  POPE'S  MILITIA.     693 

And  on  each  of  these  occasions,  you  say,  the  scholar  has  a  right 
to  the  Papal  Blessing  ?  Who  is  empowered  to  give  it  ? 

If  it  be  given  publicly,  the  Local  Director  has  the  power ;  if 
privately,  the  confessor  of  the  scholar. 

But  the  form  of  the  Papal  Blessing  does  not  occur  in  every 
ritual.  Where  is  it  to  be  found  ? 

The  full  form  is  printed  at  the  end  of  Part  Second  of  the 
little  book  of  the  Apostleship  of  Study,  called  The  Children's 
Manual. 

Is  there  any  Diploma,  which  is  given  with  these  Decorations  ? 

A  Diploma  is  given  only  with  the  last  Decoration. 

What  is  the  reason  of  this  difference  ? 

The  last  Decoration  includes  very  singular  privileges,  differ- 
ent from  the  other  five. 

What  are  these  privileges  ? 

The  last  Decoration  entitles  the  scholar  to  the  Papal 
Blessing,  not  only  on  the  day  it  is  received,  but  at  the  hour  of 
death  also. 

And  who  has  power  to  give  that  ? 

The  terms  of  the  Papal  Rescript  confer  that  power  upon  the 
confessor. 

Has  this  last  Decoration  any  other  privilege  ? 

It  has  another,  still  more  remarkable ;  the  right  to  the  Papal 
Blessing  is  not  confined  to  the  Scholar  :  the  Father,  Mother,  Sisters, 
and  Brothers  of  the  Scholar  enjoy  it  as  well. 

Do  you  mean  that  they  have  a  right  to  the  Papal  Benediction, 
on  the  day  the  scholar  receives  this  Decoration,  and  at  the  hour  of 
their  deaths  also  ? 

That  is  the  privilege  granted  by  the  Pope. 

Where  is  the  Rescript  to  be  seen  ? 

Jt  is  printed  at  the  end  of  the  book  called  The  Children's 
Manual,  in  which  the  nature  of  the  Apostleship  of  Study  is  fully 
explained. 

Cannot  the  teachers  also  share  in  these  privileges  ? 

No,  they  cannot — that  is,  Pupil-teachers  can  share :  but  no 
others. 


ONE   PHRASE. 

By  Marie  Louise  Sandrock. 


NE  phrase  I  caught  of  all  he  spoke, 
One  phrase  that  in  my  heart  awoke 
The  slumb'riug  sinews  of  my  strength 
And  set  them  quivering  at  length. 


"  Strength  of  Enthusiasm," — the  phrase ! 
And  straightway  o'er  my  mind  the  haze 
Of  fancy  rose  and  showed  a  roll 
Of  golden  names  that  stirred  my  soul. 


Not  theirs  always  the  strength  of  arm 
That  ofttimes  lends  its  force  to  harm ; 
But  theirs  the  virile  strength  of  will 
That  can  o'erride  the  roughest  hill. 

Not  often  theirs  the  smiles  of  fate, 
But  mostly  hardships  first  and  late ; 
And  still,  through  all,  they  were  upheld 
By  strength  that  never  yet  was  quelled. 

The  best  gift  God  can  give  is  this, 
Which  all  may  have,  though  most  do  miss 
And  so  I  pray  Him  grant  to  me 
The  strength  that  phrase  sowed  faithfully. 


694 


THE  MANIPLE. 

'By  the  Secretary  of  a  Tabernacle  Society. 

THIS  vestment,  which  is  now  worn  by  every  priest  when  cele- 
brating  Mass,   as  well    as   by  deacon  and   subdeacon    at 
Solemn  High  Mass,  was  originally  a  napkin  worn  on  the 
left  arm  by  those  who  served,  or  a  handkerchief  to  wipe  away  the 
perspiration  from  the  face  and  to  dry  the  hands  so  that  the  sacred 
vestments  might  not  become  soiled.     It  was  of  linen  and  was 
known  by  many  names,  chief  of  which  were  the  Sudarium,  the 
Maniple  or  Manipulum,  and  the  Phanon,  the  latter  being  easily 
connected  from  the  modern  German 
word — Fahne — a  handkerchief. 

The  Maniple  was  used  in  the 
liturgy  as  in  ordinary  life,  and  was 
placed  on  the  arm  of  the  celebrant  of 
the  Mass  just  before  he  ascended  the 
altar  steps;  this  was  on  account  of 
the  ancient  form  of  Chasuble  which 
completely  enveloped  the  priest  and 
under  which  he  kept  his  hands  dur- 
ing the  Confiteor,  after  which  prayer 
it  was  gathered  up  at  the  sides  by 
the  deacon  or  server.  A  remem- 
brance of  this  is  preserved  when  a 
Bishop  celebrates,  when  the  Maniple 
is  adjusted  after  the  Confiteor  has 
been  said.1 

As  shown  in  ancient  paintings,  the  Maniple  was  a  long 
straight  band  of  linen  about  three  fingers  wide  and,  like  the  stole, 
was  of  uniform  length  from  end  to  end,  not  widening  as  at 
present. 

According  to  most  authorities  the  Maniple  served  the  pur- 
pose of  a  handkerchief  until  the  tenth  century.  About  that  time 

1  See  January  MESSENGER,  page  34. 

695 


MANIPLE — ANCIENT  FORM. 


696 


THE  MANIPLE. 


it  began  to  be  considered  as  distinctly  an  ecclesiastical  article,  and 
by  the  twelfth  century  was  numbered  among  the  liturgical  vest- 
ments conforming  in  color  and  material  to  the  Chasuble,  Dalmatic 
and  Stole. 

We  first  see  the  Maniple  mentioned  as  a  mark  of  honor  used 
in  certain  churches  ;  as  with  the  Dalmatic  the  privilege  of  wear- 
ing it  in  the  sacred  ceremonies  was  first  enjoyed  by  the  deacons  of 
the  Church  of  Rome,  and  was  afterwards  solicited  in  other  cities ; 
thus  we  find  John,  Archbishop  of  Ravenna, 
asking  this  favor  from  St.  Gregory  for  the 
deacons  of  his  church. 

Probably  before  this  time  the  wearing 
of  the  Maniple  on  the  arm  had  fallen  into 
disuse  among  the  laity,  and  therefore  became 
the  object  of  greater  ornamentation  for  use 
in  the  sacred  ceremonies.  We  read  that  in 
908  Adalbero,  Bishop  of  Augsburg,  offered 
a  Maniple  worked  with  gold  at  the  shrine  of 
St.  Gallus. 

After  the  days  of  persecution,  when  the 
Church  was  in  peace,  she  did  not  hesitate  to 
celebrate  her  worship  with  magnificence, 
believing  that  all  that  is  in  the  world  comes 
from  God  and  should  be  consecrated  to  His 
glory !  Gold  and  silver  belong  to  Me,  saith 
the  Lord.* 

In  the  ninth  century  the  Maniple  was 
DEACON  WITH  MANIPLE,    generally  worn  by  deacons   as    well   as   by 
priests,  but  it  was  towards  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury before  subdeacons  received  it  at  their  ordination,  to  bear  it  as 
an  honorable  badge  of  their  ministry  at  the  solemn  service  of 
High  Mass.     In  1100  a  Council  of  Poitiers  restricted  its  use  to 
subdeacons.     A  peculiar  privilege  is  that  granted  to  the  Carthu- 
sian nuns,  who,  at  the  solemn  moment  of  making  their  vows,  put 
on  a  Maniple  and  a  Stole,  and  are  allowed  to  sing  the  Epistle  in 

Solemn  High  Mass. 
*Aggeus,  ix. 


THE  MANIPLE. 


697 


MANIPLE— ROMAN. 


The  change  of  the  Maniple  from  its  early  simple  use  into  one 

of  the  liturgical  vestments  must  have  been  very  gradual ;  it  would 

be  impossible  to  fix  the  exact  time  of  its  transformation.     Cardinal 

Bona    quotes    from  Alcuin    and   from 

Amalarius,  writers  of  the  eighth  and 

ninth  centuries,  to  show  that  in  their 

time  the  Maniple  was  still   used  only 

as  a  handkerchief;  Ideo  portamus  ut 

eo  detergamus  sudorem,  says  Amalarius. 

On  the  other   hand   Mabillon  cites  a 

document    of    781     in    which    "  five 

Maniples"     are     enumerated     among 

the  church  vestments.     In  the  Basil- 
ica  of  St.    Ambrose   at   Milan  there 

are   four    figures    of   saints,  made  in 

835,   with    ornamental    Maniples    on 

their  left  arms,  much  like  the  Gothic  Maniples  of  a  much  later 

date. 

In  889,  Biculp,  Bishop  of  Soissons,  required  each  church  to 

have  "  at  least  two  girdles  and  as  many  clean  Maniples,"  which 

goes  to  show  that  the  Maniple  at  that  time  was  still  made  of 
linen.  In  the  tenth  century  Bishop  Rath- 
erius  forbade  any  one  to  say  Mass  without 
Amice,  Alb,  Stole,  Fanon,  and  Planeta ; 
Planeta  was  the  old  word  for  Chasuble,  as 
Fanon,  or  Phanon,  was  for  Maniple. 

As  late  as  1100  Ivo  of  Chartres  men- 
tions the  use  of  the  Maniple  for  wiping  the 
eyes ;  it  was  only  gradually  that  it  was 
made  of  stifFer  material.  The  prayer  in 
the  Missal  alludes  to  the  old  and  simple 
use : 

"Be  it  mine,  O  Lord,  to  bear  the 
Maniple  of  weeping  and  sorrow  that  I  may 

receive  with  joy  the    reward  of  toil."     The   words,    "weeping 

and  sorrow,"  recall  what  frequently  occurred  in  former  times 


MANIPLE— MODERN. 


698  THE  MANIPLE. 

during  the  sacred  ceremonies,  when  many  holy  men  wept,  some- 
times with  joy  at  being  allowed  to  assist  at  such  a  great  Sacrifice, 
sometimes  for  sorrow  at  their  unworthiness. 

The  Golden  Legend  tells  us  that  "Peter  bare  alway  a 
'Sudary'  to  weep  the  teerys  yt  ranne  from  his  eyen."  St. 
Arsenius  is  one  of  the  saints  particularly  mentioned  as  being  thus 
affected  when  saying  Mass. 

A  statute  of  the  Church  of  Liege  regulated  the  length  of  the 
Maniple  as  four  feet  long ;  at  present  it  varies  from  36  to  44 
inches  from  end  to  end.  Pugin  gives  40  inches  as  the  correct 
length.  The  Roman  Maniple  is  usually  36  inches  and  is  shaped 
exactly  like  the  Stole,  except  in  length.  It  is  of  material  to  cor- 
respond with  the  other  vestments  and  like  them  should  be  lined 
with  silk ;  sateen,  being  of  silk  finish,  is  an  accepted  substitute. 
Three  Maniples  are  necessary  for  a  complete 
set  of  vestments ;  there  should  be  a  cross  on 
either  end,  and  one  in  the  middle,  and  the  ends 
should  be  finished  with  fringe. 

Dr.  Rock,  in  the  Church  of  our  Fathers, 
says  that  in  some   parts   of  England   it  was 
customary  to  attach  little  bells  of  gold  and 
silver  to  the  ends  of  the  Maniple ;  this  seems 
to  have  been  done  with  all  the  church  vestments,  probably  in 
imitation  of  the  garments  of  Aaron,  the  High-priest  of  the  Old 
Law.' 

The  Maniple  is  drawn  together  about  six  inches  from  the 
centre  and  is  kept  in  place  on  the  arm  by  a  small  flat  piece  of  tape 
by  which  it  is  pinned  to  the  sleeve  of  the  alb,  or  by  a  ribbon  which 
is  tied  round  the  arm. 

In  the  Oriental  Churches  two  Maniples  are  worn,  one  on 
each  arm  ;  they  are  shaped  somewhat  like  the  large  loose  sleeves 
of  a  surplice  and  are  fastened  to  the  wrist  by  a  silken  string. 
The  rule  requires  that  they  be  fastened  tightly,  for  they  are 
intended  to  remind  the  wearer  of  the  cords  by  which  our  Lord 
was  bound  to  the  pillar.  The  Russian  priests  in  vesting  with  these 
a  Exodus,  xxviii. 


THE  READER.  690 

hand-pieces  or  Maniples  say,  when  putting  on  the  right-hand  one  : 
"  The  right  hand  of  the  Lord  hath  pre-eminence ;  the  right  hand 
of  the  Lord  bringeth  mighty  things  to  pass ;"  and  on  adjusting 
the  left-hand  one :  "Thy  hands  have  made  me  and  fashioned  me ;  oh ! 
give  me  understanding  that  I  may  learn  Thy  commandments." 
This  is  in  allusion  to  the  tradition  which  says  that  the  Jews 
first  nailed  our  Saviour's  right  hand  to  the  Cross,  and  then  the 
left, 

Liturgical  writers  see  in  the  Maniple  a  symbol  of  the  cords 
with  which  Christ  was  bound  ;  it  is  supposed  to  remind  the 
priest  of  the  trials  and  troubles  of  life,  to  symbolize  penance  and 


sorrow  ! 


The  Catechism  of  Perseverance  tells  us  that  we  should  be 
reminded  by  the  Maniple  that  we  are  condemned  to  work ;  that 
Heaven  suffers  violence ;  that  we  must  gain  by  the  sweat  of  our 
brow  the  bread  of  eternal  life ;  that  we  have  a  thousand  subjects 
over  which  to  weep  during  the  night  of  our  exile,  but  that  the  day 
of  eternity  will  soon  come  when  the  Lord  will  wipe  away  our 
tears.  Happy  day,  when,  walking  with  joy,  we  shall  present 
ourselves  to  the  Master  of  the  vineyard  as  industrious  laborers, 
bearing  in  our  hands  the  harvest  gathered  in  work  and  in  tears  ! 


THE   READER. 

* 

If  routine  makes  some  things  easy,  it  surely  makes  all  things 
dull.  What  a  boon  to  plodding  pupils  to  have  teachers  who  are 
ever  springing  upon  them  some  fresh  surprise,  if  it  be  no  more  than 
beginning  a  recitation  from  the  lower  end  of  the  line,  or  of  quick- 
ening some  slow  hour  by  making  the  class  conduct  its  own  exer- 
cises. The  school-room  turns  out  many  a  victim  of  routine,  men 
and  women,  who  never  dream  of  acting  for  themselves,  or  of 
striking  out  on  a  plan  of  life  of  their  own  choosing.  In  school- 
days they  were  taught  no  further  motive  than  to  fulfil  each  day's 
task  and  then  await  another's  ;  so  through  life  their  only  purpose 
is  to  do  as  others  do ;  if  not  worse,  certainly  not  better.  Why  not 


7OO  THE  READER. 

train  the  youngest  minds  to  work  with  an  end  in  view  always  ? 
Say  the  prayers  before  school  with  a  very  definite  intention,  name 
the  intention,  and  let  it  be  added  as  a  particular  intention  to  the 
general  intention  of  all  our  prayers,  works  and  sufferings  as  made 
in  the  Morning  Offering.  From  praying  daily  for  the  good  of 
fellow-pupils  or  of  the  entire  school,  or  better,  of  all  Catholic 
schools,  pupils  would  soon  acquire  a  habit  of  praying  all  through 
life  for  the  special  good  aims  of  those  with  whom  they  must  live 
and  work  and  suffer.  Such  prayer  would  insure  a  constant 
renewal  of  fervor :  new  aims  and  desires  would  daily  lend  a  new 
spirit  to  their  efforts,  and  the  dullness  of  routine  would  give  way 
to  the  zest  of  constant  novelty. 

*  * 

Those  who  were  witnesses  of  the  faith  and  piety  manifested 
by  the  pilgrims  at  the  Shrine  of  Our  Lady  of  Martyrs,  Auries- 
ville,  New  York,  during  what  may  be  called  the  "pilgrimage- 
week  "  last  month,  will  not  easily  forget  the  impression  made  upon 
them.  Several  thousand  persons,  notwithstanding  many  incon- 
veniences arising  from  want  of  suitable  accommodations,  overcame 
all  obstacles  and  received  Communion  in  the  Shrine  oratory,  not 
breaking  their  fast  till  noon  or  even  later.  Other  lands  are  not 
the  sole  possessors  of  practical  piety  and  devotion  ! 

*  *  * 

Opportunely  with  the  pilgrimages  to  Auriesville  comes  The 
Life  and  Times  of  Kateri  Tekakwitha,  the  Lily  of  the  Mohawks  by 
Miss  Ellen  H.  Walworth,  of  Albany,  N.  Y.  It  was  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Auriesville  that  this  heroic  Iroquois  maiden 
began  her  extraordinary  life  of  virtue  amid  barbarous  surround- 
ings. This  is  a  book  that  the  Header  heartily  commends  for 
its  own  true  worth.  It  is  biography,  history,  and  romance 
all  at  once,  and  yet  there  is  one  central  figure  in  the  whole 
book — the  demure  and  brown-cheeked  Indian  girl  whose  heart 
divine  grace  has  touched  and  is  transforming  into  a  saint.  Miss 
Walworth  knows  how  to  give  picturesque  descriptions  and  to 
be  interesting  even  when  stating  dull  historical  dates  and  facts. 
The  illustrations  will  greatly  help  the  reader  in  understanding  the 
text,  while  the  portrait  of  Kateri  which  forms  the  frontispiece  will 
fix  in  his  mind  an  image  of  the  "  Lily  of  the  Mohawks."  The 
Reader  is  grateful  to  the  author  for  this  beautiful  biography. 


THE  READER.  7O1 


*  *  *  * 


The  ceremonies  of  our  altars,  if  properly  conducted,  never 
tire  us,  and  never  fail  to  lift  our  hearts  above  mere  empty  forms. 
However,  owing  to  our  own  close  share  in  them,  they  grow  so 
familiar,  that  we  may  forget  how  in  substance  they  are  appointed 
and  instituted  by  God.  It  is  not  easy  to  keep  in  mind  that  every 
ceremony  in  our  Christian  liturgy  is  meant  to  keep  before  us 
Christ,  the  object  of  our  worship.  Though  it  be  commonly 
known  that  the  rites  of  the  Old  Law  prefigure,  just  as  those  of 
the  New  Law  commemorate  in  detail,  the  mysteries  of  our  Lord's 
life,  but  few  can  notice  by  themselves  how  a  ceremony  represents 
either  the  figure  or  the  reality.  Bishop  de  Goesbriand  has  pro- 
duced A  History  of  the  Worship  of  God,  in  which  from  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments  he  draws  a  picture  of  the  Israelite  before  the  Ark 
and  of  the  Christian  before  the  Altar.  His  own  reverent  spirit 
breathes  through  his  writing,  and  inspires  us  with  a  deep  love  for 
ceremony  and  Sacrament  and  for  the  Author  and  object  of  both. 
A  careful  collation  of  the  Bible  passages  which  best  interpret  the 
liturgies  of  both  Church  and  Synagogue  proves  no  little  zeal  on 
his  Lordship's  part,  affords  a  new  aid  to  reading  Scripture,  and 
sheds  a  new  light  on  the  meaning  and  force  of  our  altar  services. 

The  title  "  Mother  of  God  "  brings  glad  thoughts  into  every 
true  Christian  mind.  The  Angel's  astonished  look  when  gazing 
into  her  soul  he  saluted  her  as  "  full  of  grace  ";  the  humble  con- 
sciousness that  in  her  were  fulfilled  so  many  prophecies,  the  cer- 
tainty that  she  bore  the  Long-Expected  One ;  while  up  from  her 
heart  rose  the  prophetic  anthem :  And  behold  from  henceforth  all 
generations  shall  call  me  blessed.1  These  are  some  of  the  thoughts 
that  the  very  mention  of  the  title  suggests. 

The  prophecy  then  uttered  began  its  realization  in  the  meet- 
ing with  Elizabeth.  No  one  had  told  the  saintly  Elizabeth  of  the 
Virgin's  exaltation,  yet  she  saluted  her  :  Whence  is  this  to  me  that 
the  Mother  of  my  Lord  should  come  to  me?  And  in  the  early 
days  of  the  Church,  though  there  had  been  no  express  definition  of 
Council  or  Pope,  the  faithful  always  professed  a  belief  in  the 
divine  Maternity. 

1  St.  Luke,  i.  43. 


7O2  THE  READER. 

Nestorius,  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  was  among  the 
first  to  deny  openly  this  truth.  The  proud  spirit  that  actuated 
him  was  made  manifest  in  the  boast  to  the  Emperor  :  "  Purge 
the  earth,  sire,  of  heretics  for  me  and  I  will  in  return  bestow 
heaven  on  you."  When  the. Church  was  solemnly  celebrating  the 
mystery  of  the  Incarnation,  he  publicly  taught  that  Mary  was 
not  the  Mother  of  God.  A  Council  met  at  Ephesus,  condemned 
the  heresy,  anathematized  Nestorius,  and  in  all  Christendom 
was  heard  for  the  first  time  the  prayer  now  so  common :  "  Holy 
Mary,  Mother  of  God,  pray  for  us  sinners,  now  and  at  the  hour  of 
our  death." 

She  is  the  Mother  of  Christ,  thought  the  Council,  and  as 
Christ  is  God,  it  was  logically  inferred  she  was  the  Mother  of 
God.  She  is  not  the  Mother  of  a  Son  united  to  a  God,  or 
received  into  union  with  God,  but  she  is  the  Mother  of  the 
Word  made  flesh.  The  Word  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt 
amongst  us  I  * 

Nestorius  was  not  dismayed  by  the  condemnation  of  his 
errors,  but  strove  to  disseminate  'them  and  died  as  he  had  for 
many  years  lived,  in  defiant  heresy.  Happy  would  it  be  for  thou- 
sands of  his  followers  if  with  him  had  expired  the  evil  doctrine 
to  which  he  gave  birth.  After  a  lapse  of  hundreds  of  years  it  is 
safe  to  say  there  are  more  Nestorians  now  than  at  the  time  of  the 
Council  of  Ephesus.  Dr.  Brownson  knew  well  the  belief  of 
Protestants,  and  he  wrote :  "  We  are  acquainted  with  no  Protes- 
tants who  rise  above  Nestorianism."  And  in  our  own  day  when 
the  flood-gates  of  Rationalism  and  infidelity  have  been  opened  on 
Protestantism,  we  can  readily  understand  how  little  is  left  of 
their  belief  in  the  Incarnation  when  forty  years  ago  it  was  so  dis- 
regarded. 

It  is  to  the  Church  we  must  look  for  the  true  doctrine  of  the 
Incarnation  and  the  divine  Maternity.  Even  the  Wise  Men  were 
not  guided  by  their  own  knowledge  to  the  crib  of  Bethlehem,  but 
following  the  star  they  found  the  Child  with  Mary,  His  Mother.3 
Reason  alone  has  led  no  one  to  the  feet  of  Christ  and  His  Mother, 
but  the  Star  of  Bethlehem  still  shines  in  the  world,  and  they  who 
follow  it  learn  truths  that  are  hidden  from  those  who  wander 
unguided  in  the  darkness. 

lSt.  John,  i.  14.  8St.  Matthew,  ii.  11. 


GENERAL  INTENTION 

FOR  SEPTEMBER,    1891. 

Designated  by  His  Holiness,  Leo  XIII.,  with  his  special  blessing,  and  given  to  His 
Eminence  the  Cardinal  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda — the  Protector  of  the 
Leagrie  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  called  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer — for  recom- 
mendation to  the  prayers  of  the  Associates. 

PEACE  AMONG   CHRISTIAN   NATIONS. 

IT  has  been  remarked  that  the  Social  question  to-day  is  not 
entirely  a  matter  between  man  and  man.  Great  and  moment- 
ous though  the  labor  question  be  and  pressing  the  need  of 
some  adjustment  of  the  relations  of  the  different  classes  in  Society, 
this  should  not  blind  us  to  another  and  no  less  disquieting  problem, 
and  that  is,  how  to  adjust  the  relations  of  people  with  people,  how 
to  secure  the  peace  of  the  world.  On  how  slight  a  thread  the 
peace  of  Europe  hangs  was  made  evident  a  few  months  since 
when  the  visit  of  the  Dowager  Empress  of  Germany  to  Paris  was 
the  occasion  there  for  hostile  demonstrations  against  Germany. 
If  any  faith  may  be  placed  in  newspaper  reports,  the  young 
Emperor,  exasperated  by  the  insult  offered  his  mother,  signed  and 
then  issued  an  order  for  the  mobilization  of  the  German  army,  and 
only  a  providential  delay  in  the  execution  of  the  order  saved  all 
Europe  from  being  involved  in  a  bitter  and  disastrous  war. 

I. 

That  the  Associates  of  the  League  are  interested  in  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  peace  of  nations  hardly  needs  insisting  upon. 
War  is  always  a  terrible  visitation,  terrible  in  its  immediate  effects 
and  doubly  terrible  in  its  after  results.  Nor  is  it  altogether  the 
loss  of  life,  and  the  physical  sufferings  it  entails,  nor  the  families 
scattered  and  impoverished,  the  orphans  left  to  the  tender  mercies 
of  the  nation,  that  make  war  dreadful  to  contemplate.  Much 
more  is  it  to  be  feared  because  of  the  souls  that  through  it  are  lost 

703 


7O4  GENERAL  INTENTION. 

forever.  Life  in  barracks  or  on  the  field  has  little  in  it  to  lead 
men  to  be  solicitous  for  their  souls,  and  in  the  hour  of  battle,  when 
at  each  moment  not  one  but  many  souls  are  violently  hurried  into 
the  presence  of  their  Judge,  who  thinks  of  God  or  judgment? 

If  for  no  other  reason  then,  the  League  of  the  Sacred  Heart 
should  respond  to  the  wish  of  the  Holy  Father  and  pray  with 
more  than  ordinary  fervor  for  the  preservation  of  the  peace  of  the 
nations.  In  praying  thus  for  peace  we  are  obeying,  too,  the  wish 
of  the  Church  who,  in  her  solemn  litanies,  bids  us  pray  God  to 
deliver  us  from  the  three  great  scourges  with  which  He  chastens 
His  people  :  famine,  plague,  and  war.  From  famine,  from  plague, 
and  from  war,  deliver  us,  O  Lord. 

II. 

Now  it  may  be  asked  in  view  of  the  many  false  alarms  that 
have  been  raised  for  the  last  decade :  Is  there  after  all  any  immi- 
nent danger  of  war  breaking  out  anywhere  in  our  day  ?  And 
coming  nearer  home,  have  we  in  this  peaceful  land  of  ours  any 
special  reason  to  fear  a  repetition  of  the  horrors  with  which  God 
visited  us  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  and  which  still  live  in  the 
memories  of  so  many  ? 

The  answer  to  both  these  questions  is  not  difficult  to  give. 
War  and  peace  are  in  God's  hands.  And  the  one  He  permits  to 
come  upon  a  nation  in  chastisement  for  evil-doing.  If  you  despise 
My  laws,  and  contemn  My  judgments  so  as  not  to  do  those  things 
which  are  appointed  by  Me  and  to  make  void  My  covenant.  .  .  . 
I  will  quickly  visit  you  with  poverty  and  burning  heat  which  shall 
waste  your  eyes  and  consume  your  lives.  You  shall  sow  your  seed 
in  vain  which  shall  be  devoured  by  your  enemies.  I  will  set  My  face 
against  you  and  you  shall  fall  down  before  your  enemies  and  shall 
be  made  subject  to  them  that  hate  you.  .  .  .'  And  again  : 
They  have  cast  away  the  Lord  of  Hosts  and  have  blasphemed  the 
word  of  the  Holy  One  of  Israel.  Therefore  is  the  wrath  of  the  Lord 
kindled  against  His  people  and  He  hath  stretched  out  His  hand 
upon  them  and  struck  them.  .  .  .  And  He  will  lift  up  a  signal 

'Leviticus,  xxvi.  15, 16,  17. 


GENERAL  INTENTION.  7O5 

to  the  nations  afar  off  and  will  whistle  to  them  from  the  ends  of  the 
earth  and  behold  they  shall  come  with  speed  swiftly. 
Their  arrows  are  sharp  and  all  their  bows  are  bent.  The  hoofs  of 
their  horses  shall  be  like  the  flint  and  their  wheels  like  the  violence  of 
a  tempest.  .  .  .  And  they  shall  make  a  noise  against  them  that 
day,  like  the  roaring  of  the  sea :  we  shall  look  towards  the  land  and 
behold  darkness  of  tribulation,  and  the  light  is  darkened  with  the 
mist  thereof.* 

However  far  from  our  land  war  may  seem,  then,  our  sins  as  a 
people  may  bring  it  upon  us  at  any  time.  But  as  for  Europe, 
besides  the  wrath  of  God  which  has  so  long  been  hanging  over  the 
nations  of  the  Continent  for  their  continued  and  aggravated  infi- 
delities and  excesses,  the  actual  condition  of  affairs  seems  to 
make  it  impossible  to  delay  war  much  longer.  The  alternative  is 
a  general  disarmament  and  that  in  the  present  state  of  feeling  it  is 
idle  to  look  for. 

III. 

At  the  present  moment  there  are  actually  under  arms  in 
Europe  over  3,000,000  of  men.  And  this  host  can,  in  a  week  or 
so,  be  raised  to  16,000,000  men  fully  equipped  with  the  most 
perfect  instruments  of  destruction  human  ingenuity  can  devise. 
The  enormous  sums  needed  to  keep  the  peace-armies  in  an  efficient 
condition,  to  maintain  depots  of  military  supplies,  and  to  subsidize 
those  whose  business  it  is  to  exert  their  inventive  skill  in  perfect- 
ing the  material  of  war,  are  wrung  from  the  people  by  heavy 
taxes.  With  the  very  flower  of  the  nation  idling  away  the  best 
years  of  life  in  the  demoralizing  and  contaminating  surroundings 
of  the  barracks,  and  the  wealth  of  the  nation  flowing  unceasingly 
into  the  military  coffers,  and  only  a  small  portion  of  this  wealth 
going  back  to  the  people,  what  have  we  reasonably  to  expect? 
Widespread  immorality  seizing  on  the  classes  among  which 
the  family  life  has  been  most  free  from  social  disorders ;  great 
and  general  want  and  misery ;  sullen  discontent ;  a  strain  alike 
on  rulers  and  people  which  something  must  soon  come  to  relieve, 

2  Isaias,  v.  24,  30. 


7O6  GENERAL  INTENTION. 

and  as  far  as  human  prevision  can  go,  war  with  its  appeal  to  race- 
pride  and  race-feeling  is  the  only  resource  left  rulers  to  quell 
growing  discontent  and  to  extricate  themselves  from  the  difficul- 
ties in  which  the  politics  of  the  century  have  involved  them. 
War  then  in  the  near  future  must  be  counted  on  unless  God 
interfere.  And  God's  intervention  depends  on  the  return  of  the 
nations  to  Him. 

IV. 

Here  again  the  outlook  is  gloomy.  What  hope  is  there  of 
bringing  rulers  and  peoples  to  see  that  in  a  return  to  God  lies  their 
one  hope  of  safety  and  prosperity  ?  Elements  hostile  to  God  and 
religion  are  nearly  everywhere  in  the  ascendant.  The  hostility 
may  be  in  some  places  veiled,  but  the  underlying  principles  of 
modern  polity  are  un-Christian  to  say  the  least.  They  ignore  God 
and  what  is  due  Him,  where  they  do  not  openly  blaspheme. 
Only  a  scourge  from  God  or  a  merciful  outpouring  of  great  and 
signal  graces  can  bring  the  nations  to  their  senses.  To  avert  the  one 
and  to  bring  about  the  other  is  peculiarly  a  work  of  the  League 
of  the  Sacred  Heart,  because  it  is  an  apostolic  work  and  one  which 
depends  on  prayer  alone.  Let  us  then,  Associates  of  the 
League,  pray  with  great  fervor  this  month  for  the  peace  of 
nations  and  the  removal  of  the  causes  which  tend  to  disturb  the 
peace  of  the  world. 

OFFERING  FOR  THE  INTENTIONS  OF  THE  MONTH. 

O  Jesus,  through  the  Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary,  I  offer 
Thee  all  the  prayers,  work,  and  sufferings  of  this  day  for  all  the 
intentions  of  Thy  Divine  Heart,  in  union  with  the  Holy  Sacrifice 
of  the  Mass,  in  reparation  for  all  sin,  and  for  all  requests  pre- 
sented through  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer  :  and  in  particular  that 
through  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus,  the  fountain  of  all  graces  and 
blessings,  permanent  peace  may  be  established  among  all  Christian 
nations.  Amen. 


THOUGHTS   ABOUT  ST.  PETER. 
III. 

JETER'S  denial  was  one  of  the  sorest  of  the  mental 
distresses  of  our  Divine  Saviour.  It  was  a  very 
potent  factor  in  that  sum  total  of  anguish  which 
wrung  from  His  Sacred  Heart  the  plaintive  cry  : 
"My  soul  is  sorrowful  even  unto  death."1  And 
'  yet,  it  does  not  seem  to  have  lessened,  in  any 
degree,  His  merciful  designs  towards  Peter,  or  to  have  had  the 
least  influence  in  thwarting  the  project  of  conferring  upon  him 
that  special  dignity  and  power  to  which  reference  has  already  been 
made. 

The  reason  of  this  becomes  plain  enough  to  anyone  who 
reflects  upon  it.  First  of  all,  our  Blessed  Lord  knew  perfectly 
Peter's  character  and  saw  clearly,  at  the  time  of  the  great  promise, 
the  faults  he  was  to  commit  and  the  deep  guilt  of  the  denial. 
When,  therefore,  He  said  :  "  Thou  art  Peter  and  on  this  rock  I 
will  build  My  Church""  He  did  not  speak  as  men  speak,  who 
usually  make  the  fulfilment  of  an  important  voluntary  promise 
dependent  upon  the  behavior  of  the  one  to  whom  it  is  made.  Nor 
is  there  need  among  men  that  such  a  limiting  condition  be  always 
expressed :  it  is  an  unwritten  law  and  springs  from  the  common 
consent  of  mankind.  For  instance  :  I  will  make  you  my  Prime 
Minister,  says  a  monarch ;  or :  I  will  give  you  a  seat  in  my 
cabinet,  says  the  President-elect  of  a  republic,  to  some  man 
deemed  worthy  of  the  honor.  Now,  it  is  plain  enough  that, 
underlying  the  utterance  of  such  promises,  there  is  a  safeguard  or 
a  qualification  which  may  be  expressed  thus :  unless,  in  the  mean- 
time, your  entire  unworthiness  be  made  plain  to  the  world,  by 
evidence  which  cannot  be  set  aside.  This  is  because  men's 
knowledge  of  other  men's  character  and  doings  is,  at  best,  only 
guesswork.  They  see  what  appears,  and  they  know  that  it  is  a 
1  Matth.  xxvi.  38.  2  Matth.  xvi. 

707 


7O8  THOUGHTS  ABOUT  ST.  PETER. 

hazardous  enterprise  to  prophesy  withal  the  continuance  of  worthi- 
ness in  their  fellow-men.  With  Jesus  Christ,  however,  there  was 
no  guessing.  The  outward  seeming  and  the  inmost  recesses  of 
the  soul,  the  present  and  the  future  were  all  one  to  Him,  all 
plainly  spread  out  before  Him.  He,  therefore,  chose  Peter, 
knowing  well  all  the  disciple  was  to  do ;  and  He  was  not  taken 
by  surprise  when  painful  things  came  to  pass  in  the  order  of  time. 
People  sometimes  wonder  why  it  was  that  Peter  was  not  set  aside 
and  the  sublime  honor  and  power  of  the  chief  pastorship  given  to 
such  a  man  as  John,  or  Andrew,  or  Bartholomew,  or  Philip, 
against  whom  no  word  of  reproach  could  be  uttered  justly.  Well, 
reader,  it  is  quite  bad  enough  for  us  to  be  too  ready  to  advise  one 
another  without  venturing  to  point  out  how  the  Son  of  God  could 
have  chosen  a  better  Head  for  the  Church  which  He  founded. 

He  knew,  what  we  are  apt  to  forget,  that,  from  the  day  of 
Adam's  fall,  down  to  the  last  instant  of  time,  salvation  has  been, 
and  will  be,  attainable  through  the  merits  of  the  Redeemer. 
Faith  in  His  coming  was  the  beacon  light  which  guided  Patriarch, 
Prophet,  and  people  towards  the  eternal  port.  His  merits  pur- 
chased the  privilege  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  won  the 
sanctification  of  the  Baptist  and  were  the  source  from  which 
sprang  the  beautiful  and  manifold  virtues  of  St.  Joseph.  Hence, 
when  He  was  about  to  consummate  the  great  work  of  the  atone- 
ment and  to  pay  the  penalty  of  all  man's  misdeeds — "  by  one 
oblation  He  hath  perfected  forever  them  that  are  sanctified  "3 — there 
was  a  certain  fitness  or,  as  theologians  say,  a  congruity  in  His 
making  manifest  to  the  world  the  influence  and  the  power  of  His 
merits  upon  him  who  was  to  be  Head  of  His  Church  and  chief 
dispenser  of  His  mercies.  Before  the  envious  high  priest  and  the 
accusing  scribes  and  the  hissing,  mocking  rabble  Jesus  was  suffer- 
ing deep  humiliation ;  and  Peter,  among  the  throng  about  the 
fire,  was  swearing  most  vehemently,  and  protesting  loudly  that  he 
knew  Him  not.  "And  immediately,  as  he  was  yet  speaking,  the 
cock  crew.  And  the  Lord  turning,  looked  on  Peter.  And  Peter 
remembered  the  word  of  the  Lord,  as  He  had  said :  before  the  cock 

»Heb.  x.  14. 


THOUGHTS  ABOUT  ST.  PETER.  7O9 

crow  thou  shatt  deny  Me  thrice.  And  Peter  going  out,  wept 
bitterly.*  The  look  of  Jesus  was  the  beam  of  divine  grace  upon 
the  soul  of  the  fallen  man.  The  self-examen  and  the  tears  of  con- 
trition were  the  sinner's  cooperation  with  that  grace.  Other 
sinners  had  been  saved  from  their  sinfulness  by  faith  in  the  merits 
of  the  Redeemer  to  come.  This  sinner,  the  chosen  Head  of  the 
Church  of  the  New  dispensation,  the  appointed  guardian  of  the 
treasures  of  the  Redeemer's  merits,  was  raised  up  from  his  fallen 
state  by  belief  in  the  divinity  of  the  Redeemer  actually  present 
before  him ;  and  by  witnessing  the  painful  satisfaction  He  was 
then  actually  paying  for  all  the  sins  of  all  the  world.  Peter, 
then,  as  far  as  we  find  recorded  in  the  Evangelists,  was  the  first 
sinner  rescued  by  the  merits  of  Christ  whilst  His  dolorous  Passion 
was  in  process  of  consummation.  In  this  manner,  the  Church 
which  Jesus  purchased  and  purified  and  made  beautiful  "  without 
spot  or  wrinkle  "  showed  forth  the  traces  of  her  loveliness,  and  her 
attractiveness  to  sinners,  in  her  visible  Head.  What  courage  and 
what  unwavering  confidence  the  example  of  Peter  ought  to  give 
us,  when  we  are  urged  by  God's  grace  to  arise  from  the  sins  into 
which  frailty  or  passion  may  have  led  us  ! 

Does  it  not  seem  sad  that  the  other  fallen  disciple  had  not, 
also,  a  glorious  arising  from  his  awful  degradation.  He  had  been, 
like  Peter,  in  close  companionship  with  our  Lord  :  might  he  not, 
then,  like  Peter  obtain  entire  restoration  to  former  dignity  or 
friendship  ?  Well,  the  two  men  were  very  different  in  character. 
Peter  was  generous,  impulsive  :  Judas  was  avaricious  and  calcu- 
lating. Peter  blundered  and  put  himself  in  the  occasion  of  his 
great  sin  through  too  much  reliance  upon  his  own  open-hearted 
candor :  Judas  was  a  sleek,  active  hypocrite.  Peter  thought  he 
would  have  no  hesitation  about  dying  for  his  faith  ;  Judas  thought 
much  about  how  he  could  make  it  pay.  Peter  gloried  in  it : 
Judas  traded  in  it.  Hence,  when  the  moment  of  dire  need  had 
come,  Peter  remembered  the  word  of  the  Lord,  whereas  Judas  for- 
got it,  and  lost  hope.  The  spirit  of  greed  had  engrossed  both  the 
understanding  and  the  will.  It  is  ever  the  special  tendency  of 

4  St.  Luke,  xxii.  60,  etc. 


71O  THOUGHTS  ABOUT  ST.  PETER. 

avarice  to  blind  the  understanding  to  spiritual  things,  or  to  poison 
it  with  false  maxims.  And  though,  at  first,  the  desire  of  having 
belongs  to  the  will,  the  worst  influence  of  avarice  does  not  appear 
until  the  understanding  becomes  busily  engaged  in  beating  out 
ruinous  principles  to  rivet  the  will  in  its  perversity.  Obstinacy 
is  only  firmness.  Old  saws  of  earthly  wisdom  have  the  right  of 
way  and  can  easily  get  the  laugh  or  the  sneer  against  the  sweep- 
ing disinterestedness  of  the  supernatural.  "All  very  well,"  says 
your  modern  Shylock  masquerading  among  Christians,  "  to  preach 
detachment  and  poverty  of  spirit,  or  to  warn  one  against  the  dan- 
gers of  money,  but  /  tell  you,  it  is  nevertheless  a  very  convenient 
thing  to  have  in  the  house."  Undeniably.  But  this  fact  is 
pressed  into  service  to  reach  out  boldly  towards  conclusions  not 
warranted  by  the  premises.  Under  its  misleading  spell  men  sup- 
posed to  be  Christian  bid  defiance  to  the  laws  of  the  Christian 
Church. 

For  instance,  when  that  amalgamation  of  men,  sublimely 
wise  in  their  own  conceit  and  glorying  in  the  very  hidden  sources 
of  their  limited  benevolence,  preach  their  creed  of  mutual  benefit 
to  the  brother  and  material  condolence  with  his  widow,  on  his 
demise,  some  weak-kneed  Catholics  are  caught  by  the  specious 
pretence.  Their  faith  forbids  such  unholy  alliance  :  their  avarice 
or  mere  earthly  maxims  urge  to  it.  They  rail  against  intolerance, 
and  extol  benevolence  (?).  Ecclesiastical  authority  and  immediate 
temporal  advantage  are  put  in  the  scales,  and  they  deliberately 
bend  the  beam  towards  the  latter.  They  put  a  price  upon  their 
allegiance  to  Jesus  Christ  and  His  Church,  and  they  ignobly  bar- 
ter both,  when  what  they  regard  as  a  better  price  is  offered.  They 
follow  the  example  of  Judas,  and  it  is  very,  very  seldom  that 
such  men  repent. 

Peter,  by  the  sincerity  of  his  repentance,  regained  all  that  he 
had  lost.  His  dignity  was  not  impaired  and  the  merits  he  had 
won  by  his  love  and  generosity  of  spirit  came  to  life  again.  So 
will  it  be,  forever,  before  God,  in  regard  to  him  who  truly  repents 
and  keeps  well  about  him  the  safeguards  of  holiness  which  will 
save  him  from  relapse. 


THE  MONTHLY   COMMUNION   OF   CHILDREN. 

OUR  children  are  to  learn  hygiene.  While  quite  young 
nowadays  they  are  taught  all  about  bodily  culture,  and 
this  teaching  is  well  reduced  to  practice.  Can  young 
people  help  taking  concern,  even  at  their  early  age,  about  the  life 
in  them,  which  cannot  last  or  thrive  without  so  much  precaution  ? 
That  very  concern  may  defeat  the  laudable  purpose  of  books  and 
lessons  in  the  art  of  keeping  sound  the  body  and  its  powers. 
Some  delicate  frames  will  grow  more  sensitive  to  mere  passing 
ailments,  and  not  a  few  imaginations  will  grow  morbid.  Be  it  so  ; 
the  drawbacks  are  admitted :  but  the  benefits  to  the  health  of  the 
community  out-balance,  it  is  claimed,  the-  evils  of  this  early  teach- 
ing, and  so  our  children  must  learn  what  life  is,  and  how  to  make 
the  most  of  it. 

Now  the  special  advantage  of  beginning  to  learn  hygiene  in 
school  is  that  every  effort  to  know  and  apply  the  laws  of  health 
must  be  made  in  common.  In  this  way  all  the  force  of  example, 
of  common  interest,  and  of  mutual  encouragement  promotes  a 
respect  and  attachment  for  every  approved  means  of  bodily  life 
and  its  well-being. 

And  the  spiritual  life,  the  soul's  well-being,  and  its  chief 
means  the  Holy  Eucharist,  the  source  of  true  life  and  of  immor- 
tality, may  that  be  passed  over  in  silence,  or  merely  recommended 
in  catechetical  instructions,  and  the  time  of  its  reception  left 
entirely  to  the  pious  mood  or  convenience  of  growing  young  souls 
that  most  need  it  ? 

The  Blessed  Sacrament  is  the  life  of  the  soul.  The  mere 
thought  and  desire  of  it  are  support  to  the  soul.  The  prospect  of 
receiving  it,  and  of  finding  in  it  new  strength  to  work,  and  new 
endurance  to  suffer,  is  an  exercise  that  brings  into  play  in  the 
most  lively  way  the  young  faith  and  hope  and  love  of  the  little 
one  who  knows  whom  Christ  meant  when  He  said  :  Suffer  the  little 
ones  to  come  unto  Me.1 

lSt.  Mark,  x.  14. 

711 


712  MONTHLY  COMMUNION  OF  CHILDREN. 

And  then  the  air  of  purity  they  breathe,  even  when  standing 
in  the  presence  of  Him  Who  was  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary  !  And 
all  the  deep  spiritual  joy,  and  the  lofty  courage  they  must  bring 
back  "  like  young  lions  with  breath  of  fire,"  says  St.  Chrysostom, 
"  from  the  table  prepared  before  us  against  them  that  afflict  us."8 

All  these  and  the  countless  virtues  that  go  to  make  up  our 
spiritual  life  are  the  fruit  of  Holy  Communion,  and  are  received 
to  some  extent  every  time  we  approach  the  Holy  Table,  alone  or 
with  others.  But  every  time  we  join  with  others  in  that  most 
sacred  mystery,  our  own  dispositions,  made  more  fervent  by  the 
example  of  our  fellows,  enable  us  to  partake  of  these  fruits  more 
abundantly,  whilst  our  Lord,  Who  spreads  this  Holy  Table,  acts 
towards  us  with  all  the  lavishness  of  a  host  who  has  set  his  heart 
on  a  crowded  banquet  room. 

Let  children  therefore  receive  Holy  Communion  by  them- 
selves, and  as  often  as  they  may  be  deemed  worthy.  Nay,  they 
should  be  trained  to  approach  the  Holy  Table  from  time  to  time 
without  the  company  of  their  fellows,  so  as  to  overcome  the 
timidity  or  bashfulness  that  makes  them  hesitate  sometimes  in 
later  life  to  approach  the  altar  rail  in  presence  of  the  congrega- 
tion, simply  because  they  have  been  accustomed  to  depend  on  the 
school  or  sodality  ranks. 

By  no  means,  however,  let  them  miss  the  benefits  of  receiving 
Holy  Communion  in  common ;  and  let  them  share  these  benefits 
regularly,  every  month.  These  Communions  received  in  common 
impart  a  decided  stimulus  to  their  young  souls,  which  is  wanting 
when  they  receive  the  Blessed  Sacrament  alone.  It  must  confirm 
their  faith,  renew  their  hope,  and  strengthen  their  love  to  see 
others  approaching  the  Holy  Table  with  the  self-same  sentiments 
as  themselves.  Why  may  not  these  general  Communions  be  made 
to  impart  to  their  souls  a  glow  of  fervor  and  a  devout  enthusiasm, 
in  the  same  way  as  their  outdoor  exercise  and  sports  together 
bring  the  blood  to  their  cheeks  and  new  light  to  their  eyes  ? 

A  result  these  Holy  Communions  in  common,  made  regu- 
larly, must  have,  is  most  desirable,  and  hard  too,  if  not  impossible, 

2  Office  of  the  Holy  Sacrament. 


MONTHLY  COMMUNION  OF  CHILDREN.  .713 

to  secure  by  any  other  means.  Young  people  are  all  day-dreamers, 
and  it  is  worth  while  so  to  fill  their  opening  minds  with  a  whole- 
some store  of  holy  thought,  as  to  pre-occupy  their  waking 
dreams,  and  crowd  out  idle  vagaries  or  something  worse.  Now, 
most  commonly  their  imaginations  and  memories  revert  to  their 
companions,  and  from  thinking  of  the  persons  they  proceed  to 
dwell  on  the  events  in  which  they  have  been  associated,  and  then 
to  conjure  up  new  creations  in  which  they  might  figure  together. 
Let  them  go  to  Holy  Communion  together  frequently,  and  there 
is  no  restraining  their  minds  from  holy  thoughts  about  the  sacred 
mysteries  and  about  those  with  whom  they  have  shared  them. 
Dwelling  on  these  thoughts  must  necessarily  keep  them  closer  to 
Christ,  and  fill  them  with  so  great  a  respect  for  the  companions 
who  share  His  Body  and  Blood  with  themselves,  that  they  will 
shrink  in  their  presence  from  aught  that  might  drive  our  Lord 
or  His  gifts  from  their  midst. 

And  if  Christ  our  Lord  in  His  Tabernacle  put  on  new  array 
of  splendor,  and  enshrine  Himself  deep  amid  gay  flowers  and  can- 
dle lights,  why  may  not  the  child,  seeing  all  this  done  to  invite 
the  little  ones,  conceive,  at  least,  what  the  pure  St.  Agnes  spoke  of 
as  reality  in  her  regard,  that  Christ  desires  to  unite  Himself  and 
live  with  young  souls  as  spouse  with  spouse,  ready  to  put  his  pre- 
cious gems  on  their  right  hands  and  about  their  necks,  to  make 
their  cheeks  blush  with  His  Own  Blood,  and  to  fling  about  them 
the  royal  garment  of  His  virtues,  in  the  mystic  union  of 
His  Body  and  Blood,  Soul  and  Divinity,  with  their  chosen  young 
souls  ? 

And  if  they  think  or  imagine  these  things,  how  will  they 
keep  from  repeating  them,  and  repeating  them  what  more  signal 
praise  can  they  render  Him,  Who  once  appealed  with  triumph  to 
the  Psalm  :  Out  of  the  mouth  of  infants  and  of  sucklings  Ihou  hast 
perfected  praise.3  It  was  when  He  passed  them  by  and  they  cried 
like  their  elders  :  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David :  Blessed  is  He 
that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord."  How  much  louder  their 
Hosanna  and  more  heartfelt  their  blessing,  now  that  He  comes 
again  to  them  assembled  together  to  receive  Him  in  their  hearts  ! 

8  St.  Matthew,  xxi.  16.  4  St.  Matthew,  xxi.  15. 


APOSTLESHIP  II  UBBUfn    NOTICES 


RECENT  AGGREGATIONS. — To  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer, 
League  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  (July  12  to  August  12, 
1891). 

(Name  of  diocese  in  italics,  before  parish  or  community  aggregated.) 

Alton,  Illinois :  St.  Patrick's  Church,  Pana. 

Baltimore,  Maryland :  St.  Peter's  Church,  Waldorf. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio:  St.  Mary's  Convent  (Sisters  of  Mercy), 
Piqua. 

Cleveland,  Ohio:  Immaculate  Conception  Church,  Youngs- 
town. 

Dubuque,  Iowa:  Cathedral  of  St.  Raphael,  Dubuque. 

Helena,  Montana:  Ursuline  Convent  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
Miles  City. 

La  Crosse,  Wisconsin :  Our  Lady  of  Perpetual  Help,  Clay- 
field. 

Leavenworth,  Kansas :  Convent  of  St.  Scholastica  (Sisters  of 
St.  Benedict),  Atchison. 

Newark,  New  Jersey :  St.  Mary's  Church,  Plainfield. 

Peoria,  Illinois:  St.  John's  Church,  Bradford. 

Sioux  Falls,  South  Dakota :  St.  Martin's,  Huron. 

THE  SODALITY  OF  THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN. 

Diplomas  of  Affiliation,  received  from  the  Prima  Primario, 
have  been  transmitted  to  the  following : 

Columbus,  Ohio :  St.  Mary's  Church,  Martin's  Ferry. 
Erie,  Pennsylvania:  St.  Lawrence's  Church,  Houtzdale. 
Lincoln,  Nebraska :  Convent  of  the  Visitation,  Hastings. 
Mobile,  Alabama :  Assumption  B.  V.  M.  Church,  Selma. 

714 


APOSTLESHIP  NOTICES.  715 

New  Orleans,  Louisiana :  Sacred  Heart  Church,  and  College 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  New  Orleans. 

Ogdensburg,  New  York :  St.  Mary's  Church,  Ticonderoga. 
Omaha,  Nebraska :  Sacred  Heart  Church,  Omaha. 
Plttsburg,  Pennsylvania :  St.  John's  Church,  Altoona. 

THE  TREASURY  OF  THE  SACRED  HEART. 

Associates  should  be  zealous  for  the  Treasury  of  the  Sacred 
Heart.  The  subjoined  list  of  good  works  and  prayers  is  offered 
expressly  for  the  intentions  which  are  recommended  by  our  Amer- 
ican Associates. 

It  is  clear  that  the  greater  the  number  of  prayers,  the  more 
readily  will  the  requests  be  granted  by  Almighty  God.  Each 
Associate  can  say  some  prayer  or  do  some  little  work  without 
much  effort.  This  will  be  little  in  itself,  but  this  little  added  to 
the  prayers  and  works  of  the  other  Associates  will  multiply  into 
the  millions,  and  form  an  irresistible  appeal  to  the  Divine  Heart 
of  Jesus. 

Were  each  Associate,  then,  to  resolve  henceforward  not  to  let 
a  day  pass  without  offering  something  for  the  Treasury,  how  many 
more  thanksgivings  for  favors  obtained  would  we  not  have  to 
record  in  the  MESSENGER  ! 

Associates  can  gain  100  days'  Indulgence  for  each  action  offered  for  the 
Intentions  of  the  League. 

Offerings  for  the  Intentions  of  the  Sacred  Heart,   received   from  July  12  to 

August  12,  1891. 

No.  OF  TIMES.  No.  o»  TIMH. 

1.  Acts  of  Charity  .    .    .    .  615,158  11.  Masses  Heard    ....       190,452 

2.  Beads 402,457  12.  Mortifications    ....       182,928 

3.  Stations  of  the  Cross     .  57,312  13.  Works  of  Charity     .    .       143,024 

4.  Holy  Communions    .    .  66,498  14.  Works  of  Zeal  ....       111,452 

5.  Spiritual  Communions  .  262,677        15.  Prayers 5,221,226 

6.  Examens  of  Conscience  79,884  16.  Charitable  Conversation       65,104 

7.  Hours  of  Labor  ....  540,592  17.  Sufferings  or  Afflictions       38,975 

8.  Hours  of  Silence    .    .    .  96,182  18.  Self-Conquest     ....       127,350 

9.  Pious  Reading    ....  120,857  19.  Visits  to  B.  Sacrament      258,662 
10.  Masses  Celebrated     .    .  17,968  20.  Various  Good  Works   .   1,027,475 

Total 9,625,133 

The  above  returns  represent  three  hundred  and  thirty-three  Centres. 


ALL  YOU  THAT  LABOUMNDARE  BURDENED 


IN  THANKSGIVING   FOR  GRACES   OBTAINED. 

TOTAL  NUMBER  OF  THANKSGIVINGS  FOK  LAST  MONTH,  67,872. 

You  shall  ask  whatever  you  will,  and  it  shall  be  done  unto  you  (St.  John, 

xv.  7). 

NEWBURGH,  NEW  YORK,  JULY  12. — For  more  than  three 
years  I  suffered  constant  headaches.  I  tried  medical  aid  but  in 
vain.  Five  months  ago  I  asked  the  prayers  of  the  Holy  League 
and  now  I  am  perfectly  well. 

EL  PASO,  TEXAS,  JULY  14. — A  Promoter  returns  thanks 
for  the  cure  of  a  constant  pain  in  the  side.  The  favor  was 
obtained  by  wearing  the  League  Badge  constantly. 

WATERBURY,  CONN.,  JULY  19. — The  person  recommended 
to  the  prayers  of  the  League  has  received  the  Sacraments.  God 
bless  and  prosper  the  work  of  our  Associates  ! 

TOLEDO,  OHIO,  JULY  19. — I  asked  the  prayers  of  the 
League  for  the  restoration  to  health  of  the  father  of  a  family. 
He  had  had  severe  haemorrhages.  The  prayers  have  been 
answered.  He  is  now  able  to  attend  to  business  as  usual. 

ALEXANDRIA,  VA.,  JULY  20. — My  niece  was  suffering  from 
fever  and  seemed  to  be  in  immediate  danger  of  death.  I  placed 
the  League  Badge  on  her,  promising  if  she  recovered  to  give 
thanks  in  the  MESSENGER.  In  a  few  minutes  the  danger  passed 
away. 

,  OHIO,  JULY  23. — Most  sincere  thanks  to  the  Sacred 

716 


IN    THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES   OBTAINED.  717 

Heart  of  Jesus,  for  the  return  to  the  Church  of  my  brother-in-law, 
who  refused  to  have  his  children  brought  up  Catholics  and  caused 
my  sister  to  suffer  very  much,  by  not  permitting  her  to  attend  to 
her  religious  duties.  I  had  him  recommended  to  the  prayers  of 
the  Associates  since  the  month  of  February. 

PATERSON,  N.  J.,  JULY  24. — Sincere  thanks  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  of  Jesus  for  giving  back  perfect  health  to  a  person  who  had 
received  the  last  Sacraments  and  was  given  up  by  the  doctors. 
She  was  expected  to  die  at  any  moment  but  the  most  loving  Heart 
of  Jesus  listened  to  the  prayers  which  were  offered  for  her ;  not 
only  did  she  recover  from  severe  sickness  but  she  was  also  cured 
of  a  disease  from  which  she  had  suffered  for  nearly  thirty  years. 

ZALESKI,  OHIO,  JULY  28. — About  ten  months  ago  a  young 
man  was  very  anxious  to  obtain  a  certain  position.  There  were 
obstacles  in  the  way  which  seemed  to  render  all  efforts  hopeless. 
His  good  mother,  an  Associate  of  the  Holy  League,  month  after 
month  deposited  this  intention  in  the  box  at  the  Shrine  of  the 
Sacred  Heart.  She  now  returns  thanks.  The  favor  was  obtained 
a  month  ago. 

PHILADELPHIA,  JULY  29. — I  desire  in  fulfilment  of  my 
promise,  to  return  thanks  through  the  MESSENGER  for  an  almost 
miraculous  temporal  favor  obtained  on  the  Feast  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  also  for  the  cure  of  chronic  bronchitis  with  which  my 
mother  was  afflicted.  These  petitions  were  placed  in  the  inten- 
tion-box at  the  League  Shrine.  Also  for  the  conversion  of  a  man 
who  had  not  been  to  confession  for  forty  years.  He  was  recom- 
mended to  the  prayers  of  the  League  last  month  and  has  since 
that  time  received  Holy  Communion  twice. 

PAWTUCKET,  R.  I.,  JULY  30. — Heartfelt  thanks  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  for  the  reformation  of  a  drunkard.  He 
has  been  recommended  for  many  months  to  the  prayers  of  the 
Holy  League  and  at  last  the  merciful  Heart  of  our  dear  Lord 
has  responded  to  the  faithful  prayers  of  a  widowed  mother  and 
the  pleadings  of  a  loving  son. 

SEWICKLEY,  PA.,  JULY  30. — A  Promoter  of  the  League 
implored  the  Sacred  Heart  to  spare  her  family  when  nearly  every 


718  IN    THANKSGIVING  FOR.   GRACES   OBTAINED. 

home  in  the  parish  was  visited  by  the  influenza.  Her  prayer 
was  granted.  Two  persons  away  from  the  Sacraments  two  years 
have  returned  to  the  practice  of  their  religious  duties. 

HASTINGS,  NEBRASKA,  JULY  30. — For  several  months  I  have 
asked  that  an  operation  to  be  performed  on  my  head  would  be 
successful  and  that  its  results  might  not  prevent  my  being  on  duty 
during  the  coming  school-year.  Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  both 
favors  have  been  granted. 

CHICAGO,  JULY  31. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the 
conversion  of  a  man  who  had  not  approached  the  Sacraments  for 
over  twenty  years.  He  has  prepared  for  death  and  is  very  peni- 
tent. Thanks  also  for  a  reconciliation  and  help  in  business. 

,  MASSACHUSETTS,  JULY  31. — Some  weeks  ago  I  sent  a 

petition  to  the  League  asking  for  my  husband's  conversion.  He  had 
not  gone  to  his  duties  for  several  years.  I  felt  hopeful  from  read- 
ing in  the  MESSENGER  of  others  who  had  their  prayers  answered. 
A  few  days  ago  he  suddenly  decided  to  visit  the  old  country  and 
to  go  to  his  duties  before  starting.  I  now  send  my  thanksgiving 
hoping  it  may  help  to  encourage  others. 

CAPE  MAY  POINT,  N.  J.,  AUGUST  1. — I  wish  to  return 
thanks  for  a  home  obtained  by  a  family  which  had  been  asking  it 
since  May,  1890,  through  the  prayers  of  the  League.  Another 
person — not  a  Catholic — returns  thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for 
two  petitions  granted  after  a  novena  made  before  the  First  Friday 
of  July.  A  light  was  kept  burning  before  a  picture  of  the  Sacred 
Heart  and  special  prayers  were  said  each  night.  The  answer  was 
beyond  the  power  of  words  to  express. 

PORTER,  MINNESOTA,  AUGUST  2. — We  asked  for  good  crops 
and  a  settlement  in  life ;  we  made  a  novena  and  had  a  Mass  said 
in  honor  of  the  Sacred  Heart  for  these  intentions.  Our  prayers 
were  answered  within  two  weeks. 

PHILADELPHIA,  AUGUST  4. — We  return  thanks  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  of  Jesus  for  the  restoration  to  health  of  a  man  who  has 
been  suffering  from  cancer  for  nearly  a  year  and  a  half.  The 
physicians  gave  him  little  hope  of  relief. 

HOUSTON,  TEXAS,  AUGUST  4. — A  Promoter's  brother  returns 


IN   THANKSGIVING   FOR   GRACES  OBTAINED.  719 

thanks  for  work  obtained  by  means  of  a  recommendation  made  to 
the  League  last  month. 

CHICAGO,  AUGUST  5. — My  heart  is  so  full  of  gratitude  and 
joy  that  I  would  wish  to  ask  each  of  our  Associates  to  return 
thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  me.  My  sister,  an  active  member 
of  a  Protestant  sect,  living  in  apostasy  for  thirty-two  years,  was 
reconciled  to  God  on  her  death-bed  and  died  in  the  Holy  Catholic 
Faith.  Was  not  this  a  miracle  of  God's  mercy  ? 

LAS  CRUCES,  NEW  MEXICO,  AUGUST  5. — Special  thanks- 
giving is  made  for  the  recovery  of  one  of  ouf  pupils  who  was 
dangerously  ill,  with  little  hope  of  recovery.  I  placed  a  scapular 
of  the  Sacred  Heart  and  a  relic  from  Paray  Le  Monial  on  the  child 
as  soon  as  the  doctor  left,  and  on  his  return  a  few  hours  later,  he 
found  her  convalescent.  She  was  up  next  day  and  able  to  go 
home  with  her  mother.  She  is  now  well. 

Thanks  are  also  returned  for  the  recovery  of  a  young  lady 
who  was  insane  and  in  an  asylum.  She  is  now  well  again  and 
home  with  her  widowed  mother  whose  only  support  she  is. 

HYATTSVILLE,  KY.,  AUGUST  6. — I  wish  to  express  my 
heartfelt  thanks  for  a  very  great  temporal  favor  just  received 
through  the  prayers  of  the  League. 

CINCINNATI,  AUGUST  7. — My  mother  was  sick  for  eight 
months  with  cardiac  dropsy.  At  the  last  extremity  the  doctor 
recommended  an  operation  as  the  only  thing  to  save  her  life.  On 
July  15  it  was  performed  and  I  promised  the  Sacred  Heart  to 
publish  my  thanks  if  it  were  successful.  To-day  my  mother  is 
walking  about,  better  than  she  has  been  for  the  past  three  years, 
not  having  had  one  bit  of  fever  since  the  operation.  All  that  the 
doctors  can  and  will  say  is  that  it  was  a  very  rare  case  and  that 
they  are  surprised  at  their  (?)  success.  Thanks  also  for  a  very 
great  spiritual  favor  which  I  received  during  the  past  month. 

BOSTON,  AUGUST  9. — Last  month  I  sent  in  a  petition  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  asking  for  the  conversion  of  a  brother  who  was 
negligent  of  his  religious  duties,  promising  that  if  my  request  was 
granted  I  would  publish  my  thanks  in  the  MESSENGER.  A  few 
days  after  he  made  his  confession  and  received  Holy  Communion 
for  which  I  thank  the  dear  Heart  of  Jesus. 


72O  IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES  OBTAINED. 

TROY,  N.  Y.,  AUGUST  9. — An  Associate  returns  thanks  to 
the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  recovery  of  a  child  three  weeks  old  from 
an  attack  of  scarlet  fever.  The  physician  had  no  hope  of  his 
recovery.  We  placed  a  League  Badge  on  his  chest ;  he 
improved  rapidly  and  is  now  entirely  well. 

FORDHAM,  N.  Y.,  AUGUST  10. — Special  thanks  are  oifered  to 
the  Sacred  Heart  for  a  reconciliation  recommended  twice  in  the 
monthly  intentions. 

PHILADELPHIA,  AUGUST  10. — My  brother  has  been  a  reck- 
less young  man  for  the  past  seventeen  years.  During  that  time 
he  neglected  all  his  religious  duties.  We  had  Masses  said  for 
him  and  used  every  inducement  to  lead  him  to  a  better  way  of 
living  but  in  vain.  Our  mother  died.  This  seemed  to  give  a 
new  impetus  to  his  mad  career,  we  began  to  despair  of  effecting 
any  change.  We  placed  a  petition  in  the  box  for  the  First  Friday 
of  June.  Since  then  an  abscess  formed  on  his  neck  which  obliged 
him  to  go  to  a  hospital  for  treatment.  This  was  the  means  of 
divine  grace.  The  words  of  a  zealous  priest,  the  examples  and 
tender  care  of  the  good  Sisters  of  Charity ;  but,  above  all,  the 
prayers  of  the  League  brought  him  again  to  his  Christian  duties. 
His  conversion  gives  every  token  of  a  complete  change. 

MOBILE,  ALABAMA,  AUGUST  10. — A  Promoter  returns  thanks 
for  the  conversion  of  one  who  had  neglected  religious  duties  for. 
more  than  thirty  years. 

VARIOUS  CENTRES. — Thanksgiving  is  made  for  employment 
and  means  granted  many  persons. — For  success  in  business. — 
Restoration  to  health  in  cases  considered  hopeless. — Grace  to  over- 
come lifelong  temptations. — Perseverance  in  good  resolutions. — 
Gaining  a  lawsuit  recommended  during  four  years. — Vocation 
followed  after  nine  years  of  struggle  and  difficulty. — For  the  suc- 
cess of  several  Retreats. — For  an  instant  cessation  of  haemorrhages 
on  promising  to  publish  the  favor  in  the  MESSENGER.  For  very 
successful  examinations. — For  a  conversion  to  the  true  Faith. — 
For  a  home. — Means  to  pay  rent  and  retain  a  home.  Cure  of 
a  violent  headache. 


(Design  of  Janssens.) 


THE  MESSENGER 

OF   THE 

SACRED  HEART  OF  JESUS 

VOL.  VI  (xxvi).  OCTOBER,  1891.  No.  10 


BEAUTY'S   BEST. 

By  John  Acton. 

-•  Ci   ^     A 

ZjfcLWft    W; 

%fe» 

^ 

-.  EE,  Beauty's  best !"    The  poet  smoothed  a  rose 
With      his     smooth     palm,    nor     ever 

•\\ 

dreamed  he  erred  : — 
§5^  For  Beauty's   best  hath   home   in  Thee,  fair 

Word 

Made   saving   Flesh.     The  poet's  flow'r 
were  prose, 

Set  against  Thee,  Beloved,  and  its  scent 

Less  than  its  dust,  against  Thy  Sacred  Heart, 

Whose  odorous  balm  of  Love  can  soothe  the  smart 
Even  of  death.     .     .     .     O  poet !    be  content 

To  call  a  rose — just  that.      Or,  if   you  will 

(For  this  were  truth),  give  the  queen-flower's  name 

To  the  Queen  Mother  who,  past  Calv'ry's  shame, 
Saw  her  son  rise  her  King,  yet  meek  Son  still. 


Copyright,  1891,  by  Rev.  R.  S.  Dewey,  S.  J.    All  rights  reserved.]  721 


THE   THEBAID   OF  GALWAY. 
Ross  ERRILLY. 

ACK  in  the  early  sixties,  while  I  was  still  a  small 
boy,  the  little  town  of  Headford,  then  as 
now,  numbering  about  a  thousand  souls, 
had  no  other  church  than  its  unpaved 
market-place,  with  the  leaden  Connaught 
sky  for  roof.  On  Sundays  the  priest 
said  Mass  in  what  dim  memory  now 
pictures  as  a  kind  of  carriage-house, 
whose  wide  doors  opened  in  the  centre  of 
the  eastern  side  of  the  wall  bounding  the 
square.  The  congregation,  in  sunshine  or  in  rain,  and  much  more 
frequently  in  the  rain  than  in  sunshine,  knelt  or  stood  in  the 
square,  or  souglit  shelter,  as  many  as  could  do  so,  in  an  open  shed 
200  feet  away  from  the  rude  altar  and  opposite  to  it.  It  was  but 
a  slight  incentive  to  devotion,  you  will  say,  to  hear  Mass  under 
such  conditions  ;  and  yet  it  would  be  hard,  even  in  Ireland,  to  find 
a  more  devout  congregation  than  assembled  every  Sunday  and 
holyday  of  obligation  around  Father  Conway,  the  parish  priest. 
Perhaps  fewer  far  absented  themselves  from  Mass  under  those 
conditions — though  presence  at  it  entailed,  in  the  case  of  many,  a 
walk  of  three  or  four  Irish  miles  through  the  mud — than  could 
be  reckoned  up  in  a  like  number  of  souls  living  within  five  or  six 
squares  of  one  of  our  commodious  and  well-heated  city  churches. 
"Was  not  the  blessed  God  of  heaven  Himself  there  present  to 
see  them  and  to  listen  to  them  ?  And  why  should  they,  poor  sin- 
ners, begrudge  a  walk  of  an  hour  or  two  on  a  Sunday  to  give  Him 
their  heartfelt  thanks  for  the  blessings  of  life  and  health  and  food 
and  clothing  ?" 

Heartfelt,  indeed,  were  their  expressions  of  gratitude  in  their 
warm,  expressive,  native  tongue.  Not  thanks  alone  did  they  ren- 
der, but  a  thousand  thanks  to  God  for  the  rain  that  drenched  them 

722 


724  THE   THEBAID   OF  GALWAY. 

to  the  skin  through  frieze  coats  and  Connemara  cloaks.  Were 
they  not  ever  so  much  better  off  than  their  ancestors,  whose  hard- 
ships were  yet  narrated  around  the  turf  fire  on  the  long  wintry 
nights  ?  They  no  longer  had  to  assemble  by  stealth  and  on  rare 
occasions  to  satisfy  their  devotion,  or  to  run  the  risk  of  being  shot 
down  or  arrested  by  the  red-coats  for  complying  with  their  Easter 
duty.  There  were  no  five  pounds  now  set  on  the  head  of  their 
pastor.  On  the  contrary,  there  was  no  one  more  feared  and 
respected  by  Protestant,  or  more  loved  by  Catholic,  than  their  own 
dear  Father  Peter. 

Content  as  the  people  were  to  worship  under  such  serious 
disadvantages,  it  was  not  one  of  America's  smallest  benefactions 
to  Ireland  that  she  contributed,  during  the  height  of  the  Civil 
War,  the  $20,000  which  the  large  stone  church  of  St.  Mary's 
cost.  No  equal  sum  was  ever  better  invested  or  more  impera- 
tively needed.  On  week-days  Mass  was  said  in  the  priest's  house, 
or,  during  the  time  of  the  "  Stations,"  in  the  principal  house  of 
each  village,  which  every  one  attended,  and  at  which  all  commu- 
nicated. A  man  or  woman  who  omitted  Easter  Communion  was 
unknown. 

On  the  feast  of  All  Souls,  November  2,  Mass  was  appropri- 
ately said  amid  the  dead  of  the  parish  in  the  "Abbey  of  Ross,"  as 
the  ruins  of  the  monastic  buildings  of  Ross  Errilly  are  commonly 
called.  On  November  2,  1862,  we  were  informed  on  assembling 
for  school,  that  we  were  expected  to  hear  Mass  at  the  Abbey  of 
Ross  for  the  repose  of  our  deceased  relatives.  To  hear  Mass  on  a 
week-day  was  a  privilege  not  often  enjoyed  by  us.  That,  together 
with  release  from  the  class-room  for  a  few  hours,  impelled  us  to 
fall  into  line  gladly  and  march  to  the  Abbey,  distant  from  Head- 
ford  a  little  over  a  mile.  With  a  solemnity  and  decorum  born  of 
faith,  not  the  result  of  stern  discipline,  we  walked  in  comparative 
silence  for  the  space  of  half  an  hour,  until  we  reached  our  destina- 
tion. I  believe  not  a  word  above  a  whisper  could  be  heard  from 
any  of  the  two  hundred  children  present  on  that  day.  Were  we 
not  going  to  hear  Mass  ?  and  for  the  dead  ?  and  in  a  graveyard  ? 
The  sacred  mysteries  of  the  Christian  religion,  celebrated  among 


THE   THEBA1D   OF  GALWAY.  725 

the  bones  of  martyrs  and  confessors  and  hidden  saints,  had  a 
solemnity  for  us — reared  in  an  atmosphere  of  Catholic  faith  and 
piety,  and  accustomed  to  the  reverential  mention  of  God's  holy 
name  in  praise,  in  thanks,  in  salutations,  in  farewells  and  in  prom- 
ises long  before  the  dawn  of  reason  taught  us  its  meaning — which 
one  brought  up  amid  different  surroundings  will  find  it  difficult 
to  realize.  Catholics  we  were  to  the  core,  every  one  of  us  in  the 
school,  so  Catholic  that  not  one  of  us  knew  what  it  was  to  have  a 
Protestant  playmate ;  perhaps  not  a  dozen  of  our  number  had 
ever  spoken  to  a  Protestant,  young  or  old.  I  certainly  never  had. 
Our  feelings  of  reverence,  or,  perhaps,  meditation  as  to  how  we 
could  best  communicate  to  our  parents  the  unwonted  news  of  our 
having  spent  the  morning  at  Mass  instead  of  reciting  lessons, 
may  have  prevented  us  from  noticing  the  scenes  around  us. 
And  yet  the  view  could  well  repay  the  little  fatigue  we  underwent. 
On  leaving  the  town  and  facing  the  northwest,  there  were 
visible  on  our  right  the  Castle  and  Church  of  Moyne,  both  in  ruins 
since  the  days  of  Cromwell,  and  bounding  the  horizon  thirty  miles 
away,  the  Ox  and  Nephin  Mountains.  More  in  front  lay  the  high- 
lands of  Mayo,  empurpled  by  the  distance,  with  the  cone  of 
Cruagh  Patrick  standing  sentinel  by  the  sea.  Next  came  the 
peaks  of  eastern  Connemara,  sending  out  a  low  range  of  mountains 
to  skirt  the  shores  of  Lough  Corrib  on  our  left.  This  lake,  with 
its  placid  bosom  dotted  by  countless  small  islands,  would  burst 
into  view  from  any  eminence  along  our  path.  In  our*  immediate 
vicinity  the  country  was  rich  and  well  tilled,  though  not  in  such 
a  way  as  to  arrest  the  attention  of  a  schoolboy.  What  would 
have  arrested  the  attention  of  any  one,  even  in  green  Erin,  was 
the  burst  of  richest  green  pasturage  which  met  our  gaze  to  the 
right,  after  we  had  covered  a  mile  and  a  quarter  of  ground. 
Even  if  the  stately  pile  of  ruins  were  not  in  sight,  the  verdure 
would  have  told  us  that  a  monastic  ruin  was  nigh.  Surely  the 
monks  of  old  must  have  been  good  husbandmen,  since  after  the 
lapse  of  centuries  the  effect  of  their  superior  tillage  is  perceptible 
even  to  the  casual  observer.  And  yet  literature  is  full  of  flings 
at  the  laziness  of  the  monks  ! 


THE   THEBAID  OF  GALWAY.  727 

Looking  towards  the  north  there  arose  before  us,  on  a  slight 
elevation,  gable  after  gable,  of  church  and  cloister,  library  and 
residence,  shrouded  in  a  rich  growth  of  ivy  and  surmounted  by  a 
tower  in  perfect  preservation,  the  ruins  of  Ross  Errilly.  Ruins 
they  were,  though  to  our  imagination  it  required  but  little  time 
and.  little  skill  to  slip  rafter  and  collar-beam  into  their  clearly 
marked  places,  to  cover  over  with  slate  or  the  more  ancient  stone 
slabs,  to  fit  frames  and  glass  between  the  perfect  mullions,  in  order 
to  have  once  more  an  abode  suitable  for  a  colony  of  contemplatives. 
One  cause  that  may  have  operated  to  preserve  these  buildings 
in  a  more  perfect  state  than  falls  to  the  lot  of  most  others 
in  Ireland,  is  the  legend  yet  current  in  the  neighborhood  : 

"  Once  upon  a  time,  a  Protestant  near  by  wished  to  erect  a 
new  house,  and,  to  save  the  trouble  of  quarrying  material,  thought 
of  helping  himself  to  the  stones  from  the  walls  of  the  'Abbey.' 
He  loaded  up  one  cart  and  was  about  to  start  on  his  way  home, 
when  he  found  that  his  horse  could  not  pull.  On  examination  he 
perceived  that  the  harness  had  become  loosened  from  the  cart,  a 
defect  which  was  soon  remedied.  He  whipped  up  his  horse,  but 
again  there  was  a  balk.  Another  mishap  was  discovered  and, 
after  some  delay,  set  to  rights.  When  he  endeavored  a  third 
time  to  proceed,  he  encountered  a  more  serious  impediment. 
Entering  into  himself,  he  concluded  that  God  was  punishing  him 
for  desecrating  the  resting-place  of  the  dead,  and  so  he  judged  it 
better  to  seek  his  building-material  elsewhere." 

As  a  retreat  for  prayer  and  contemplation  the  site  of  the 
monastery  was  well  chosen.  For  in  the  absence  of  noisy  factories 
and  modern  modes  of  locomotion,  there  was  naught  to  disturb  the 
solitude  of  the  place,  save  the  cry  of  the  moor-hen,  the  curlew, 
the  lapwing  and  plover,  and  the  baying  of  the  distant  dog. 
Situated  on  an  elevated  portion  of  a  tongue  of  land,  jutting  out 
into  a  moor,  it  was  all  but  surrounded  by  an  uninhabitable  tract. 
Below  it,  on  the  north,  and  within  bow-shot,  flowed,  or  rather 
lingered,  Owen  duv,  Black  river,  before  losing  its  murky  identity 
in  the  lighter  waters  of  Lough  Corrib,  three  miles  away.  This 
stream,  judging  from  its  present  productiveness,  must  have  always 


728  THE   THEBAID  OF  GALWAY. 

supplied  the  friars  with  a  goodly  stock  of  pike  and  trout  and  sal- 
mon for  their  Friday  and  fast-day  bill  of  fare.  The  neighbor- 
hood, too,  must  have  been  deemed  an  important  one,  as  the  oppo- 
site and  northern  bank  of  the  stream  was  defended  in  the  last  six 
miles  of  its  course  by  four  strong  castles,  still  in  almost  perfect 
preservation.  On  account  of  its  isolated  position  a  former  visitor 
and  superior  used  to  compare  Ross  Errilly  to  the  Thebaid. 

To  this  he  loved  to  retire,  when  wearied  by  the  cares  of 
government  and  distracted  by  contact  with  the  turmoil  of  the 
world,  in  order  to  refresh  his  soul  by  communion  with  God  and 
His  peaceful  servants,  as  men  of  old  left  the  broils  of  Alexandria 
and  sought  a  retreat  among  the  solitaries  of  Egyptian  Thebes. 

Just  540  years  ago  the  monastery  was  erected  by  some  chief- 
tain, possibly  of  the  de  Burgo  family,  and  given  up  to  the  Fran- 
ciscan friars,  to  pray  for  the  founder,  his  relatives  and  his 
subjects.  Later  on  various  additions  were  made  by  other  bene- 
factors. In  1572,  a  wide  causeway  of  200  paces  in  length  was 
constructed  by  the  Provincial  of  the  Irish  Franciscans,  Father 
Ferrall  MacEgan,  to  connect  the  enclosure  with  the  Headford 
and  Cong  turnpike.  Its  remains  are  still  clearly  discernible. 

The  first  illustration  shows  the  ruins  as  they  appear  from 
the  south :  only  the  church  and  its  additions  can  be  seen.  The 
cloister,  chapter-house,  dormitory,  refectory,  library,  kitchen,  etc., 
are  hidden  from  view.  The  church,  128  feet  long  and  20 \ 
feet  wide,  runs  from  east  to  west.  The  tower,  70  feet  high,  rises 
on  pointed  arches  and  separates  nave  and  chancel.  The  gable,  on 
the  extreme  right  of  the  picture,  faces  the  east  and  contains  a 
large  four-lighted  Gothic  window,  the  top  of  which  is  just  visible 
above  the  south  wall.  The  chimney  rising  beyond  the  church 
walls  belongs  to  what  is  called  "  Burke  Castle,"  the  residence  of 
the  superior  of  the  Franciscans,  when  he  chose  to  make  Ross  Errilly 
his  abode.  The  small  building  near  this  is  a  mortuary  chapel, 
and  contains  a  large  ash-tree  hidden  by  the  wall.  The  next  two 
gables  belong  to  side  chapels,  later  additions  to  the  church,  and 
intended,  probably,  as  burial  places  for  some  noble  families  of  the 
province.  To  the  left  of  the  picture  rises  the  western  end  of  the 


73O  THE   THEBAID  OF  GALWAY. 

church,  in  which  is  the  entrance.  In  the  foreground  is  the  artist's 
jaunting-car,  awaiting,  beneath  a  tree,  the  completion  of  his  work 
for  the  readers  of  the  MESSENGER. 

Passing  into  the  interior  by  the  entrance  just  mentioned,  we 
have  before  us  in  the  second  engraving  the  lower  portion  of 
the  tower  through  which  we  can  just  see  a  modern  tomb  occu- 
pying the  place  of  the  main  altar  beneath  the  eastern  window. 
To  the  left,  recessed  into  the  northern  wall,  but  not  visible  in 
the  picture,  is  the  tomb  of  the  founder.  Here  it  was,  if  mem- 
ory serves  me  right,  that  we  heard  Mass  on  the  occasion  of 
my  first  visit.  To  the  right  are  the  side  chapels  whose  ivied 
gables,  broken  by  Gothic  windows,  are  a  prominent  feature  in 
the  first  picture.  The  third  view  gives  these  chapels  more  in 
detail.  On  the  right,  as  we  still  stand  within  the  body  of  the 
church,  is  seen  the  window  of  the  western  chapel,  through  which 
the  clustering  ivy  breaks  and  clings  tenaciously  to  the  stone- 
like  mortar.  Between  the  arches  we  can  catch  a  glimpse  of  the 
window  of  the  eastern  chapel.  The  deeply-moulded  arches 
between  the  chapels,  and  those  separating  the  latter  from  the 
church,  with  mortar  still  adhering  in  some  places,  and  in  others 
now  removed,  after  centuries  of  exposure  to  wind  and  weather,  are 
open  to  view.  The  little  mortuary  chapel  adjoins  exteriorly  the 
ivied  corner  seen  across  the  tomb  in  the  foreground. 

On  the  floors  of  these  chapels  and  in  the  body  of  the  church, 
huddled  together  in  groups,  or  scattered  singly,  according  as  we 
could  find  a  dry  spot  from  which  the  temporary  altar  was  visible, 
we  knelt  down  to  hear  Mass,  and  join  the  Universal  Church  in 
the  supplications  for  the  faithful  departed.  There  were  not  lack- 
ing incentives  to  fervor  in  our  prayers.  The  celebrant,  vested  in 
black,  reading  in  low  and  solemn  tones  the  appeals  of  the  Spouse 
of  Christ  in  behalf  of  her  deceased  children ;  the  bones  of  these 
children  beneath  us,  around  us,  in  some  cases  above  us,  cried  out 
to  us  in  the  words  of  the  Prophet :  Have  pity  on  me :  have  pity 
on  me,  at  least  you,  my  friends. 

It  was  something  peculiar  to  Ross  that  only  the  interior  of 
the  church  and  chapels  was  used  as  a  place  of  burial.  Hence  the 


THE   THEBAID   OF  GALWAY.  731 

bodies  could  not  be  laid  side  by  side,  but  one  above  the  other.  In 
course  of  time  the  graves  became  full  of  bones,  so  as  to  make  any 
further  burials  in  the  same  graves  impossible.  Whenever,  there- 
fore, a  funeral  took  place,  after  the  filling  up  of  the  family  grave, 
the  bones  of  previous  occupants  had  to  be  first  removed  and 
placed  on  one  side,  or  in  a  corner  of  the  church,  or  even  outside 
the  door.  This  explains  the  presence  of  the  heaps  of  skulls  and 
bones  which  lay  around  us.  Our  pastor,  whose  care  embraced  the 
living  and  the  dead,  got  permission  from  the  landlord  to  dig  a  large 
grave  at  the  western  end  of  the  church,  put  in  hundreds  of  the  bones, 
and  on  this  morning  said  Mass  for  the  souls  of  those  just  recon- 
signed  to  the  earth.  Many,  very  many  more  remained ;  but  at 
length,  I  think,  he  succeeded  in  removing  the  scandal  of  seeing 
human  bones  liable  to  be  trodden  on  by  passers-by,  or  covered 
with  mould  and  moss  in  a  corner  of  the  church. 

Fervent  were  our  prayers  in  that  sacred  place,  hallowed  by 
the  lives  and  virtues  of  sons  of  seraphic  St.  Francis,  though  we 
understood  not  then  the  debt  we  owed  those  whose  bones  lay 
below  and  about  us.  "  To  hell  or  Connaught "  was  the  brutal 
sentence  of  Cromwell,  and  our  ancestors,  preferring  the  latter 
alternative,  escaped  the  former,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  and  transmitted 
to  us  the  true  faith,  God's  first  gift  to  fallen  man.  The  sacrifice 
which  they  made  of  their  goods,  and  often  of  life  itself,  is  an 
eloquent  testimony  of  the  value  which  they  set  on  the  things  of 
God,  a  lesson  which  shall  never,  I  hope,  be  lost  on  their  descend- 
ants. 

When  Mass  was  finished  we  were  permitted  to  amuse  our- 
selves in  examining  the  ruins,  or  in  playing  hide-and-seek  among 
the  mazes  of  the  monastery.  It  was  a  dangerous  game,  as  one  of 
us  found  out;  for  he  was  lost,  and  was  unable  to  make  his  way 
out,  so  he  sat  quietly  down  to  await  the  next  burial.  Fortunately, 
he  was  missed  from  the  party.  A  search  was  made,  and  the  little 
fellow  was  discovered  lying  in  a  corner,  with  despair  in  his  heart 
and  tears  in  his  eyes. 

No  part  of  the  interior  or  monastic  buildings  made  a  more 
lasting  impression  on  the  mind  than  the  view  presented  in  the 


THE   THEBAID   OF  GALIVAY.  733 

fourth  picture,  the  Cloister  of  Ross  Abbey.  It  seems  but  as  yes- 
terday since  I  was  chased,  or  chased  others,  through  its  symmet- 
rical arches,  since  with  others  I  tried  to  fill  with  my  knee  the 
round  cavity  made  in  the  large  stone  in  the  third  arch  by  a  holy 
friar  at  his  prayers.  Go  where  you  would,  up  or  down,  in  or 
out,  east  or  west,  you  were  sure,  after  a  few  turns,  to  find 
yourself  once  more  in  sight  of  its  massive  and  well-carved 
stones. 

Many  were  the  legends  which  the  older  boys  had  to  tell 
about  the  Abbey,  its  occupants  and  its  ruin.  Chief  among  them 
was  the  story  of  the  bell  torn  from  the  tower  by  the  soldiers  and 
cast  into  the  river  hard  by,  and  how  every  seven  years  its  silvery 
notes  are  heard  calling  the  friars  to  prayer.  They  no  longer 
respond  to  its  call  on  earth,  to  bring  blessings  on  their  benefactors  ; 
but  certain  it  is  that  they  respond  to  other  and  higher  calls  to 
pray  for  those  who  gather  about  the  spot  which  they  have  sancti- 
fied by  their  lives.  And  their  prayers  before  the  throne  of  God  are 
surely  heard.  For  though  rich  in  the  goods  of  this  world  we  may  not 
be,  of  what  avail  are  such  riches  beyond  the  grave  ?  Yet  in  God's 
own  riches  sent  down  from  heaven,  the  treasures  of  faith  and 
hope  and  charity,  those  who  were  reared  amid  the  influences  and 
traditions  of  Ross  Errilly,  the  Thebaid  of  Galway,  are  singularly 
blessed. 

These  riches  they  have  carried  away  with  them  from  its 
hallowed  ruins  and  have  developed  and  displayed  in  many  a  clime 
from  Boston  of  New  England  to  Invercargill  of  New  Zealand. 
God  grant  that  they  may  transmit  to  their  sons  the  virtues  they 
have  inherited  from  their  sires !  May  they  impress  upon  the 
minds  of  their  children  while  yet  young  and  docile  that  not  pride 
and  pomp  and  power,  riches  and  fashion  constitute  true  greatness ; 
but  that  he  or  she  is  truly  great  and  good,  who,  keeping  the  heart 
detached  from  the  world,  its  goods  and  its  vanities,  strives  to 
approach,  in  sympathy  and  in  fact,  the  Ideal  of  all  greatness  and 
goodness,  Who  said  to  His  followers  :  Learn  of  Me  because  I  am 
meek  and  humble  of  HEARI. 


DONA   FELIPPA.1 

AN  INCIDENT  IN  THE  CAREER  OF  COLUMBUS. 

By  Francis  T.  Furey. 

I.     DREAMING. 

ITTING  close  by  the  ocean's  shore,  Christopher 
Columbus  looked  out  over  the  rising  waves. 
With  its  last  rays  the  setting  sun  was  gilding  the 
church  towers  and  bastions  of  Lisbon  and  the 
emblazoned  masts  of  the  ships  anchored  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Tagus.  The  far-off  bustle  of  the  town  and  of  the 
harbor,  the  concordant  hum  of  the  sea  and  the  murmur  of  the 
dying  breeze,  were  mingled  with  the  airy  sounds  of  a  multitude  of 
birds  that,  soaring  aloft  and  circulating  in  immense  flocks,  seemed 
desirous  of  reaching  the  region  of  the  clouds,  so  that  they  could 
the  longer  enjoy  the  pleasure  of  gazing  at  the  sun. 

Christopher  Columbus'  young  wife,  Dona  Felippa  de  Pere- 
strello,  and  their  son  Diego  were  disporting  themselves  along  the 
beach,  gathering  rose-colored  sea-weed  and  pearl-lined  shells. 
The  wife  and  mother,  seeing  that  the  day  was  fast  waning, 
approached  her  husband  and  thus  timidly  accosted  him  : 

"  My  dear,  Diego  is  becoming  drowsy ;  is  it  not  time  to 
return  home?" 

"  I  think  it  is,"  he  replied. 

He  arose  and  started  off,  his  head  bowed  and  his  mind 
absorbed  in  thought. 

Felippa  followed,  holding  her  son  by  the  hand.  Ere  long 
the  child's  pace  became  slower,  and  turning  to  his  mother  he  held 
up  his  tiny  arms  and  thus  addressed  her  : 

"  Mamma,  carry  me  !" 

She  picked  him  up ;  but  Diego  was  three  years  old  and  his 
mother  was  quite  delicate ;  and,  while  she  thus  walked  along  under 

1  Adapted  from  Madame  Julie  O.  Lavergne. 

734 


DONA    FELIPPA.  735 

difficulties,  her  husband,  who  had  gradually  hastened  his  speed, 
was  soon  out  of  sight,  the  road  they  were  following  being  a  wind- 
ing and  shaded  one. 

In  the  throng  of  people  who  had  taken  advantage  of  this  fine 
evening  to  walk  out  into  the  country  was  a  peasant  woman  of 
large  build,  good  constitution  and  handsome  countenance. 

On  seeing  Dona  Felippa  she  exclaimed  :  "Ah !  is  it  you, 
alone,  without  your  maid,  and  carrying  that  big  boy  ?  Give  him 
to  me  at  once ;  he  is  too  heavy  for  you.  Shame  on  you,  my 
little  man,  for  thus  tiring  your  mamma !" 

"  He  is  asleep,"  said  the  mother.  "  My  husband,  as  usual, 
forgot  himself  at  sight  of  the  ocean ;  but  you  have  come  just  in 
time,  Antonia ;  I  feel  quite  weary." 

She  surrendered  Diego  to  the  woman,  and  Antonia  exclaimed 
as  she  folded  in  her  arms  the  future  viceroy  of  the  Indies : 

"  How  pretty  he  is  !  He  looks  like  the  Infant  Jesus  carried 
by  the  St.  Christopher  of  our  parish.  Let  us  away,  madam  ;  take 
my  arm  and  hurry  along ;  the  night  is  coming  on.  But  where  is 
Sir  Columbus  ?" 

"  He  has  gone  ahead,"  replied  Felippa ;  "  he  is  often  thus 
absent-minded." 

"  Every  one  who  knows  him  knows  that,"  said  Antonia ; 
"  all  these  sailors  while  on  land  are  like  fish  out  of  water.  You 
wouldn't  catch  me  marrying  a  sea-faring  man  !  Commend  me  to 
a  gardener  like  my  Bartholomew.  He  hardly  ever  leaves  our 
garden,  and  whenever  we  try  to  get  him  out  of  it  he  seems  to  feel 
as  if  we  were  tearing  him  up  by  the  roots." 

Scarcely  had  Dona  Felippa  and  Antonia  resumed  their 
journey  when  they  saw  Christopher  Columbus  retrace  his  steps 
almost  at  a  canter. 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  my  dear,"  he  said  to  his  wife;  "it 
seems  I  walked  too  fast  for  you.  Give  me  my  son,  Antonia,"  he 
said,  turning  to  the  gardener's  wife. 

"  No,  indeed,  sir,"  she  answered ;  "  your  house  is  on  my  way. 
I  am  going  to  carry  the  child  to  its  grandmother.  Take  Dona 
Felippa's  arm,  for  the  poor  lady  needs  your  assistance." 


736  DONA    FELIPPA. 

And  hastening  her  pace,  she  walked  ahead.  Columbus 
offered  his  arm  to  his  young  wife,  and  they  went  on  for  some 
time  in  silence. 

Chistopher  Columbus,  then  about  thirty-eight  years  old,  had 
already  seen  much  of  the  sea.  His  tall  and  commanding  stature, 
his  expressive,  noble  and  serious  countenance,  inspired  respect ; 
and  this  son  of  a  poor  Genoese  artisan,  this  mariner  returned 
to  civic  life  and,  earning  his  livelihood  by  making  geograph- 
ical charts,  bore  over  his  whole  person  the  stamp  of  the  old-time 
nobility  of  his  family  and  the  indelible  mark  of  genius.  And  so, 
poor  though  he  was,  he  had  won  the  hand  of  a  daughter  of  the 
nobility,  not  very  rich,  indeed,  but  so  beautiful  and  so  amiable 
that  she  might  well  aspire  to  a  more  advantageous  marriage. 

Felippa  de  Perestrello,  then  about  twenty  years  old,  was 
small  and  pleasing.  Her  long  black  hair  would  have  easily  envel- 
oped her  whole  person,  and  her  pale  countenance  was  rarely 
illumined  with  a  smile.  She  was  passionately  fond  of  her  hus- 
band, and  satisfied  to  be  with  him  under  her  mother's  humble  roof, 
her  only  wish  being  to  see  him  appreciate  this  humble  happiness. 
But  his  unceasing  reveries  and  distractions,  the  hours  that  he 
spent  alone  in  his  study,  engaged  in  labors  that  she  did  not  under- 
stand, made  Felippa  sad.  Having  no  intellectual  sympathy  with 
her  husband,  she  was  racked  with  jealousy  of  the  subject  of  his 
reflections.  She  had  a  vague  feeling  that,  whilst  living  in  a  most 
affectionate  union  with  him,  his  thoughts  were  often  removed  to 
an  immeasurable  distance  from  hers. 

"  My  dear,"  she  said  to  him  while  they  walked  on,  "  what 
were  you  thinking  of  this  afternoon  OH  the  seashore  ?" 

"  Of  distant  countries,"  said  Columbus,  "  of  great  plans,  my 
dear  Felippa,  that  I  will  tell  you  of  later  on." 

"  I  hope  at  least,"  she  rejoined,  "  that  you  are  not  thinking 
of  Porto  Santo,  that  miserable  island  of  which  I  have  grown  so 
tired,  where  I  came  so  near  dying — where  my  father  lost  all  he 
had.  Think  of  every  other  country  in  the  world,  if  you  will, 
but  not  of  that.  And  only  think  of  them,  I  entreat  you,  but  not 
of  visiting  them.  Providence  has,  as  it  were,  led  you  hither  by 


DONA    FELIPPA.  737 

the  hand.  We  are  happy  and  contented.  Spend  the  rest  of  your 
life  at  Lisbon." 

"What,  Felippa?  Live  here  always?  It  were  rather 
tedious.  I  would  like  to  visit  my  native  land,  and  bring  you 
with  me.  You  will  see  Genoa  the  Proud,  Felippa,  the  city  of 
marble  palaces,  of  terraces  covered  with  orange  and  palm  trees, 
and  that  Mediterranean  which  no  tide  disturbs  and  whose  azure 
waves  caress  flower-clad  shores.  My  old  father  would  be  delighted 
to  see  you  and  to  bless  our  child." 

"Ah  !"  said  Felippa  sadly,  "  it  is  not  the  way  to  Italy  that  I 
see  you  trace  on  your  large  maps,  when  your  compass  is  extended 
over  the  ocean.  You  are  always  looking  towards  the  setting 
sun.  Most  certainly  you  are  concealing  from  me  some  terrible 
mystery." 

They  had  now  entered  the  city  gate  and,  having  traversed 
several  crooked  and  hilly  streets,  they  arrived  at  the  old  Moorish 
house  in  which  they  dwelt,  and  which  was  situated  in  the  upper 
part  of  the  city,  at  about  five  minutes'  walk  from  the  church  dedi- 
cated under  the  name  of  our  Blessed  Saviour.  It  was  now  night. 
Bright  stars  in  the  heavens  and  lighted  lamps  before  the  Madonnas 
on  the  squares  guided  the  footsteps  of  the  belated  travellers. 
Those  of  the  inhabitants  who  had  returned  home  were  enjoying 
the  fresh  air  on  the  terraces,  or  supper  inside  their  dwellings. 
The  curfew-knell  had  been  tolled  from  the  towers  of  the  many 
convents  and  churches  of  the  city ;  and  some  notes  from  the  gui- 
tar, as  well  as  some  indistinct  songs,  the  last  reports  from  a  city 
about  to  recline  in  the  arms  of  Morpheus,  were  mingled  ,with 
the  distinct  murmur  of  river  and  of  sea. 

Dona  Maria  Dolores  de  Perestrello,  seated  in  a  spacious 
arched  chamber  on  the  ground  floor,  was  working  with  her  spindle 
and  distaff  while  waiting  for  her  children.  The  light  of  a  lamp 
showed  her  noble  and  melancholy  countenance,  and  her  widow's 
raiment  gave  her  almost  the  appearance  of  a  nun.  A  black 
hound,  quite  handsome,  though  very  old,  lay  at  Dona  Maria's 
feet,  and,  hanging  on  the  wall,  the  weapons  and  escutcheon  of  the 
late  Dom  Bartholomew  de  Perestrello  testified  to  the  character  of 


738  DONA    FELIPPA. 

the  former  masters  of  the  house.  A  young  servant-girl  was  setting 
the  table  on  which  she  had  just  placed  the  salads,  eggs  and  fruits 
that  were  to  make  the  evening  meal. 

"Dona  Felippa  is  rather  late,"  said  Dona  Maria.  "Is  there 
any  fresh  water  on  hand,  Nina  ?" 

"It  is  on  the  ice,  your  ladyship,  and  the  grapes  and  figs  were 
gathered  this  morning.  His  lordship  will  be  satisfied.  He  is 
certainly  coming.  See  how  Nero  wags  his  tail.  I  am  going  to' 
open  the  door." 

Nero  had  got  up,  and  was  already  on  his  way  to  meet  his 
master  and  mistress.  No  sooner  had  he  met  and  caressed  them 
than  he  returned  and  lay  down  at  Dona  Maria's  feet.  When 
Columbus  and  Felippa  came  in  they  hastened  to  kiss  the 
mother's  hand. 

"Dear  mother,"  said  Felippa,  "where,  prithee,  is  Diego?" 

"In  bed,  darling.  Antonia  brought  him  to  me  so  sound 
asleep,  that  we  undressed  him  without  his  getting  awake.  But 
where  have  you  been,  my  children,  that  you  are  so  late  returning 
home?" 

"  Is  it  necessary  to  ask  ?"  said  Felippa.  "  To  the  seashore, 
of  course.  My  husband  is  happy  only  when  the  waves  are  wash- 
ing his  feet." 

"Such,  Felippa,  was  your  father's  disposition.  But,  child- 
ren, it  is  time  for  supper." 

They  recited  the  Benedicite  and  sat  down  at  table. 
Columbus  made  several  attempts  to  take  part  in  the  conversation, 
but  his  thoughts  were  so  pre-engaged  that  his  remarks  were  always 
out  of  place.  At  last  he  lapsed  into  a  profound  reverie,  and, 
holding  his  glass  of  water  in  his  hand,  maintained  the  attitude  of 
a  listener.  His  two  companions  looked  at  him  in  silence,  and 
Nina  felt  such  an  irresistible  temptation  to  laugh  that  she  fled  to 
the  kitchen. 

Suddenly  Columbus  said  :  "  I  would  ...  oh,  God  !  I 
would 

"What?"  asked  Felippa. 

"  Oh  !  that  I  had  money  !"  exclaimed  Columbus,  "  mountains 


DONA    FELIPPA.  739 

of  gold,  the  whole  of  Ophir,  that  I  might  redeem  Your  Sepulchre, 
O  Lord  Jesus  !  And  well  You  know  it  is  not  for  my  own  sake  I 
want  it." 

"  Money  !"  exclaimed  Dona  Maria.  "A  Spaniard  would  not 
speak  thus,  my  lord.  It  is  with  the  sword  that  the  conquest  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre  must  be  made." 

"  Yes,  mother.  But  to  arm  the  knights,  to  freight  their  vessels, 
money  is  indispensable ;  and  I  know  where  I  must  go  in  order  to 
get  this  money." 

"Alas !"  said  Dona  Maria,  "  where  is  the  use  of  going  afar 
off  in  search  of  it?  It  may  be  had  anywhere  by  those  who  know 
how  to  work  for  it.  The  virgin  soil,  the  parchment  sheet,  the 
pliant  wax,  the  lint  on  my  distaff  will  produce  it,  if  worked  by 
skilful  and  industrious  hands.  Do  not  then  keep  ever  dreaming, 
my  son,  and  now  retire  to  rest  so  as  to  be  fit  for  work  to-morrow. 
The  curfew  has  long  since  been  rung.  Let  us  say  our  prayers. 
Nina,  come  hither." 

Masters  and  servants  prayed  together ;  the  matron  of  the 
family  blessed  her  children,  and  ere  long  the  house  was  still  with 
the  silence  of  sleep. 

As  soon  as  he  found  Dona  Felippa  deep  in  slumber,  Colum- 
bus again  donned  his  clothes,  and  without  making  the  least 
noise  went  out  on  the  upper  balcony  and  looked  into  the  heavens. 

It  was  a  calm,  moonless  night.  The  stars  shone  in  full 
splendor.  Columbus  long  studied  their  course  towards  the  west. 
Their  appearance  and  the  deep  azure  of  the  heavens  so  charmed 
his  senses  that  he  thought  he  heard  the  celestial  choir  sing  in  the 
infinite  space  where  God  has  scattered  suns  like  sands  on  the  sea- 
shore. Then  Christopher  Columbus'  eyes  became  fixed  on  the 
motionless  star  that  marks  the  pole,  and  from  his  lips  he  let  this 
prayer  escape : 

"  Queen  of  heaven,  protect  and  guide  me  !  Grant  that  I  may 
see  my  native  country,  that  I  may  give  it  glory,  power  and  wealth, 
redeem  Sion  from  captivity,  place  Italy  in  the  front  rank  among 
the  nations,  carry  the  cross  of  Christ  to  that  unknown  world  whose 
inhabitants,  seated  in  the  shadow  of  death,  have  for  such  long 


74O  DONA    FELlPP/t. 

ages  been  expecting  the  light  of  the  Gospel.     Star  of  ocean,  guide 
me  to  the  new  world  !" 

He  prayed  long,  and,  when  the  early  dawn  was  dimming  the 
stars,  Columbus  returned  into  the  house,  and  the  rising  sun  found 
him  working  on  a  map  of  the  world  that  he  was  making  for  the 
reigning  king  of  Portugal,  Alfonso  V. 

II.     AWAKENING. 

When  the  bells  rang  for  seven  o'clock  Mass,  Dona  Maria 
Dolores,  Dona  Felippa  and  Christopher  Columbus  betook  them- 
selves to  the  church  of  our  Blessed  Saviour,  as  was  their  custom. 
They  observed  that  there  were  more  persons  than  usual  about  the 
portal.  A  few  idlers  and  about  a  score  of  children  were  staring 
at  a  white-bearded  man  who  was  superintending  the  erection  of  a 
scaffold  in  front  of  the  colossal  statue  of  St.  Christopher,  standing 
at  the  right  of  the  entrance.  Columbus,  recognizing  the  man, 
thus  accosted  him  : 

"Sir  Girolamo,"  he  asked,  "has  any  accident  befallen  the 
statue  of  my  patron  Saint?" 

"None  whatever,  sir;  but  it  needs  to  be  painted  and  gilt 
anew.  The  sea  air  soon  destroys  the  colors,  and  this  is  the  third 
time  during  my  life  that  I  have  been  obliged  to  have  this  work  done. 
From  father  to  son  we  take  care  of  this  statue,  which  was  erected 
in  1195  by  my  grandfather's  grandfather's  great-grandfather,  by 
order  of  King  Alfonso  I.  If  you  want  to  get  a  close  view  of 
St.  Christopher,  the  scaffolding  will  be  finished  in  a  quarter  of  an 
hour." 

"  Thank  you,  sir  :  I  will  come  back." 

After  Mass,  Columbus  escorted  his  wife  and  his  mother-in-law 
to  their  door.  Then,  addressing  them,  he  said  : 

"  With  your  permission,  ladies,  I  will  go  and  see  Sir  Giro- 
lamo at  work." 

The  scaffolding  was  finished  and  the  painter  was  at  his  task. 
Columbus  ascended  near  him  to  examine  the  colossal  head  of  St. 
Christopher's  statue. 

"A  masterpiece,  is  it  not,  sir  ?"  said  the  aged  artist,  removing 


DONA    FELIPPA.  741 

with  a  dry  brush  the  dust  that  had  collected  in  the  statue's  stone 
beard. 

"  Yes,  indeed,  it  is  a  beautiful  St.  Christopher ;  but  tell  me, 
sir,  what  this  is  that  the  Infant  Jesus  is  holding  in  his  hand  ?" 

"  That  globe  ?  You  know  it  better  than  I  do,  Sir  Columbus. 
That  globe  is  the  world." 

"And  why  represent  it  thus,  Sir  Girolamo,  since  many 
learned  men  still  hold  that  the  earth  is  flat  and  surrounded  by  a 
dark  and  endless  sea  ?" 

"  I  am  not  a  learned  man,  Sir  Columbus ;  but  I  know  that 
from  father  to  son,  for  over  three  centuries,  we  have  been  thus 
representing  St.  Christopher.  He  is  supposed  to  say  to  the  Child 
he  is  carrying :  '  You  are  as  heavy  as  the  world,  my  little 
fellow/  and  the  Child  replies :-  ( Do  not  wonder  if  it  be  so, 
Christopher,  for  you  are  carrying  Him  Who  has  made  the  world.' 
Now,  those  who  cannot  read  may  understand — we  put  the  world  in 
the  hand  of  the  Infant  Jesus." 

"Ah,  indeed  !  but  why  in  the  shape  of  a  globe  ?" 

"  Well !  what  form  would  you  give  it,  sir  ?  It  has  ever 
been  thus  represented.  In  certain  paintings  I  have  seen  this  globe 
assigned  to  God  as  an  attribute  of  creation,  and  to  Charlemagne 
as  a  mark  of  imperial  power.  The  learned  will  have  a  fine  time 
in  proving  to  us  that  the  earth  is  flat  when  they  shall  have 
explained  to  us  why  the  magnetized  needle  always  points  toward 
the  north.  Do  not  speak  to  me  of  the  learned,  Sir  Columbus; 
they  neither  create  nor  foretell  anything.  Artists  are  much  better 
inspired  than  they.  Do  you  not  think  so?" 

"I  will  bear  in  mind  what  you  say,  sir,  especially  as  my 
views  are  entirely  favorable  to  the  artists.  Yes,  the  earth  is 
round.  Its  known  lands  occupy  one  of  its  hemispheres,  but  as 
for  the  other  hemisphere,  the  other  half,  is  it  credible  that  God 
has  covered  it  only  with  an  immense  sea  ?  Do  you  think  that  it 
contains  no  inhabited  lands  and  that  the  stars  shine  on  nothing 
there  but  waves  ?" 

The  old  painter  reflected  for  a  moment.  "  Perhaps  not,"  he 
said.  "  But  do  you  not  see,  Sir  Columbus,  that  man  is  the  master- 


742  DONA    FELIPPA. 

piece  of  creation,  and  that  what  is  most  beautiful  in  man  is  his 
head  ?  Now  the  countenance,  through  which. intelligence  is  made 
manifest,  is  only  one-half  of  it.  And  it  would  not  be  at  all 
astonishing  to  see  one  hemisphere  covered  by  the  ocean,  just  as  we 
see  a  fine  crop  of  hair  grow  on  the  side  of  the  head  opposite  to 
that  from  which  the  eyes  shine." 

On  returning  home  Dona  Felippa  complained  to  her  mother. 
"See,"  she  said,  "  how  my  husband  leaves  me  to  go  and  chat  with 
Girolamo  and  look  at  that  great  St.  Christopher  that  he  has  seen  a 
thousand  times.  And  yet  he  knows  that  I  am  happy  only  when 
T  have  him  by  my  side." 

"Darling,"  said  Dolores,  "it  is  not  necessary  for  you  to  be 
happy  in  order  to  work  out  your  salvation ;  but  you  cannot  do  so 
unless  you  please  your  husband.  Columbus  is  a  holy  man,  and 
he  loves  you ;  but  you  must  not  imagine  that  he  should  have  a 
woman's  heart,  for  to  her  affection  is  natural.  His  intellect  is 
far  superior  to  yours;  he  has  plans  and  dreams  that  occupy  him 
day  and  night.  If  these  concerns  draw  him  aside  from  his  duties, 
you  have  reason  to  complain.  But  he  lives  as  a  good  Christian 
should  live,  industrious  and  charitable  to  his  neighbor.  Thank 
God,  and  remember  that  woman  was  created  to  be  man's  help- 
mate, and  not  his  idol.  Think  of  our  Queen,  our  Mother  Mary. 
Our  Divine  Lord,  her  son,  left  her  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  His 
people.  She  waited  outside  of  Simeon's  house,  lost  in  the  crowd, 
happy  when  she  could  see  Jesus  from  afar  off.  She  uttered  no 
word  of  complaint  and,  standing  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross,  consum- 
mated her  sacrifice.  Every  man  has  a  mission  to  perform  in  this 
world.  Your  husband,  my  child,  has  his.  You  will  know  it 
later  on.  Yours  is  to  follow  him,  but  never  to  utter  a  word  of 
complaint." 

"Yes,"  said  Felippa,  "this,  mother,  is  the  way  you  have 
ever  acted  ;  I  know  it.  My  father  was  ruined  by  going  on  voy- 
ages of  discovery,  embarking  in  imprudent  undertakings ;  and  you 
made  no  effort  to  keep  him  at  home?" 

"  So,  so,  darling  ;  I  tried.  While  young,  we  are  ever  tempted 
to  revolt  against  our  destiny.  But  I  soon  found  out  that  I  was 


DON/1    FELIPPA.  743 

struggling  in  vain.  A  quiet  and  uneventful  life  would  have  made 
your  father  unhappy.  To  die  of  weariness  is  falling  a  victim  to 
too  mean  a  weapon." 

"  Grandma,  mamma/'  cried  Diego,  running  towards  them,  all 
radiant  with  joy,  "  come  and  see  the  beautiful  flowers  that  Antonia 
has  brought  me ;  and  see  !  she  has  given  a  fish,  and  a  great  big 
one,  all  to  my  own  self!" 

"Did  you  thank  her,  Diego?"  said  Dona  Felippa. 

" Oh  !  yes,  ma'am;  and  he  embraced  me,  the  dear  little  angel ! 
If  I  only  had  half  a  dozen  children  like  him,  wouldn't  I  be  happy? 
But  I,  poor  creature  that  I  am,  am  the  only  barren  plant  in  our 
garden !" 

When  Columbus  returned  he  found  his  work-table  adorned 
and  scented  with  freshly-gathered  orange-blossoms  and  roses.  He 
was  passionately  fond  of  perfumes ;  and  so  he  thanked  Dona 
Felippa  for  having  so  graciously  decorated  his  desk.  She  thus 
addressed  him  : 

"  My  dear,  if  you  also  want  to  give  me  pleasure,  tell  me,  I 
entreat  you,  what  you  had  to  say  to  that  old  man  Girolamo  on  his 
scaffolding." 

Columbus  told  her  candidly.  She  listened  to  him  without  a 
single  interruption,  as  was  her  wont,  and  when  he  had  finished  she 
began  to  question  him.  Quite  pleased  at  seeing  how  serious  and 
attentive  she  was,  Columbus,  removing  the  flowers,  explained  to 
her  the  map  of  the  world  that  he  had  drawn,  told  her  of  his  voy- 
ages and  his  hopes  ;  and  for  the  first  time  Felippa  realized,  in  the 
look  of  her  husband's  eyes  and  in  the  ardor  of  his  words,  the 
ideal  that  he  was  following,  the  world  foreshadowed  by  his 
genius.  Her  hands  clasped  together,  she  listened  to  him  admir- 
ingly. 

"  My  dear,"  she  said  to  him  when  he  had  finished,  "  I  will 
pray  to  God,  asking  Him,  if  He  has  not  created  this  land  that  you 
wish  to  discover,  that  He  will  make  it  rise  out  of  the  waves  for 
love  of  you !" 

The  winter  was  spent  peacefully.  At  the  time  of  the  equi- 
noctial tides,  Columbus  returned  one  day  from  the  royal  palace, 


744  DONA    FELIPPA. 

carrying  in  his  hand  a  large  reed  of  a  kind  unknown  in  Por- 
tugal. 

"  See,  dear  mother,"  he  said  to  Dona  Maria,  "  the  king  haa 
made  me  a  present  of  this  reed,  which  was  washed  up  by  the  sea 
on  the  shore  of  the  Azores.  It  did  not  seem  to  have  been  very 
long  in  the  water,  and,  you  know,  for  a  month  past  the  wind  has 
been  blowing  violently  from  the  west.  This  reed  must  have  come 
a  good  part  of  the  way  around  the  world,  and  from  Greater 
India." 

"  Or  rather  from  the  African  coast,"  interposed  Dona  Maria. 
"  Sometimes,  my  son,  the  ocean-currents  overcome  the  force  of  the 
wind.  Pedro  Correa  once  told  me  that  he  saw  on  the  beach 
in  the  Azores  a  piece  of  delicately  carved  wood,  and  that  the 
west  wind  had  carried  it  thither.  But  that  proves  nothing ;  for 
that  piece  of  wood  had  probably  belonged  to  a  vessel  lost  on  the 
high  seas." 

"True,"  said  Columbus.  "But,  mother,  pray  let  me  have 
Dom  Perestrello's  notes  and  journal." 

"Alas !  my  son,  I  will  do  so,  whatever  it  may  cost  me." 

"  Dearest  mother,  you  may  depend  on  it  that  I  will  be  as 
careful  of  them  as  I  would  be  of  precious  relics." 

"  I  know  it,  my  son ;  but  I  will  have  to  touch  them,  I — 
and  I  have  never  yet  since  his  death  been  able  to  summon  up  the 
courage  to  do  so." 

She  went  to  her  room,  knelt  before  her  crucifix,  and,  rising 
after  having  said  a  fervent  prayer,  took  one  of  the  keys  hanging 
by  her  side  and  opened  her  marriage-chest.  Her  wedding  gar- 
ments and  those  of  her  husband,  carefully  wrapped  and  perfumed, 
were  therein  packed,  as  well  as  parchments  held  together  by  a 
black  ribbon,  and,  attached  thereto  by  a  silk  string  and  a  seal  with 
a  coat-of-arms,  the  journal  of  Dom  Bartholomew  Moguis  de 
Perestrello's  voyages. 

These  light  articles,  this  baggage  that  a  child  might  easily 
carry,  and  that  the  flames  would  destroy  in  a  few  minutes,  were 
the  only  tangible  traces  of  twenty-five  years'  labors,  cares  and 
Christian  affections — feast-days,  hours  of  anguish,  embarkings, 


DOHA    FELIPPA.  745 

returns,  shattered  hopes,  parting  farewells,  passed  rapidly  through 
the  widow's  mind.  It  seemed  to  her  as  if  all  the  sorrows  of  her 
life  were  revived,  and  it  was  poor  Maria's  turn  to  be  overwhelmed 
by  them.  She  hesitated  for  a  moment,  prompted  to  close  the  box 
again.  Then  she  said  in  an  undertone : 

"  No  ;  I  must  keep  my  promise.  Who  knows  ?  Columbus 
is  seized  with  the  passion  for  voyaging ;  perhaps,  on  reading  these 
pages,  he  will  understand  what  my  husband  and  I  have  gained  by 
a  wandering  life  and  ambitious  projects, — how  we  were  brought 
to  grief  and  ruin ;  perhaps  he  will  decide  to  remain  at  home,  as 
Felippa  so  much  desires  him  to  do.  Here  they  can  be  so  happy  !" 

And,  taking  the  bundle  of  yellow  papers,  she  bore  it  in 
silence  to  her  son-in-law. 

III.     THE  LAND  BEYOND  SEAS. 

Some  time  afterwards  Christopher  Columbus  received  a  letter 
from  Florence,  one  that  he  had  been  anxiously  expecting.  It  was 
a  reply  from  Paolo  Toscanelli,  Dr.  Paul,  as  he  was  called,  a 
famous  scholar  whose  opinion  was  law  among  all  those  who 
dabbled  in  cosmography.  Toscanelli,  to  whom  Columbus  had 
communicated  his  project  of  going  in  search  of  a  western  continent, 
far  from  regarding  his  scheme  as  chimerical,  encouraged  him  to 
•carry  it  out  to  the  end.  From  that  time  on  Columbus  was  bent 
on  going  to  Italy,  for  the  purpose  of  inducing  the  Senate  of  Genoa 
to  furnish  him  with  the  vessels  he  needed.  But  Dona  Felippa's 
health  prevented  him  from  carrying  out  his  plan,  and  he  could  not 
make  up  his  mind  to  leave  her  behind.  For  some  time  past  she 
had  been  languid  and  low-spirited ;  yet  the  physicians  could  not 
find  that  she  was  suffering  from  any  particular  disease. 

"  These  doctors  know  nothing,"  said  Antonia.  "  It  is  a  dis- 
ease to  have  no  appetite,  or  strength,  or  spirits,  and  to  melt  away 
like  wax,  and  certainly  there  should  be  a  remedy  for  that." 

The  good  soul  was  at  her  wits'  end  to  devise  some  means  of 
amusing  Dona  Felippa.  Every  day  she  would  bring  her  the 
finest  fruits  in  her  garden;  and  as  on  her  way  she  met  many 
persons  of  her  acquaintance,  she  gathered  up  all  the  news  of  the 


746  DONA    FELIPPA. 

town,  and  when  she  came  related  it  to  the  young  sufferer,  recom- 
pensed in  happiness  when  she  got  a  smile  or  -an  exclamation  of 
surprise  from  Dona  Felippa.  Ordinarily  Antonia's  stories  were 
of  quite  a  lively  character,  and  little  Diego  took  pleasure  in  them  ; 
but  one  morning  the  gardener's  wife  came  with  reddened  eyes  and 
pale  cheeks. 

"  Oh  !  God  forgive  me,  Antonia  !"  said  Nina.  "  Has  your 
husband  beaten  you  ?" 

"He  is  not  so  base,"  replied  Antonia,  "but  I  have  seen 
Inigo  Nunez's  widow  and  little  children,  and  the  sight  melted  my 
heart."  And  with  the  haste  and  unconscious  cruelty  characteristic 
of  some  good  people  in  spreading  bad  news,  she  at  once  told  Dona 
Felippa  of  Nunez's  death. 

"Ah !  what  a  misfortune !"  she  said ;  "  such  a  fine  young 
man,  so  good,  so  handsome,  so  loved  by  his  wife  and  mother  I 
And  the  father  of  four  pretty  cherubs  of  children  !  He  was 
returning  from  Madeira,  his  vessel  bearing  a  rich  cargo,  contented,, 
happy  as  a  king.  His  bark  was  in  sight  of  land ;  his  mother, 
his  little  children,  his  friends  were  running  to  meet  him,  and  see- 
ing him,  called  to  him.  He  jumped  into  a  boat  to  reach  shore  the 
sooner,  but  a  wave  caught  his  craft,  and  he  fell  into  the  sea;  then 
a  sailor  threw  him  an  oar,  but  its  blade  struck  him  on  the  head, 
and  he  disappeared.  Ah  !  what  martyrs  these  seamen's  wives  are  I 
Never,  madam,  let  your  husband  go  to  sea  again  !  But  what  is 
the  matter  with  you  ?" 

Felippa,  pale  as  death,  had  arisen,  and  was  walking  towards 
her  husband's  cabinet ;  but  she  stumbled  and  fell  in  a  faint.  Nina 
ran  to  her,  and  whilst  aiding  her  mistress  did  not  fail  to  grumble 
thus  against  Antonia : 

"  How  foolish  you  are,"  she  said  to  her,  "  to  tell  such  things 
to  her  ladyship  !  Do  you  not  know  that  her  husband  is  going  to 
set  sail  in  a  week  ?" 

"  Why  should  she  not  be  told  ?"  exclaimed  the  gardener'* 
wife.  "A  fig  for  your  mysteries  !" 

"And  a  fig  for  your  tongue  !"  replied  Nina.  "But  see,  my 
lady  is  opening  her  eyes.  God  be  praised  !  Go  for  the  doctor,  I 
beg  of  you,  Antonia." 


DON/1    FELIPPA.  747 

"  Yes,  without  delay,"  said  Antonia.  "Ah  !  I  will  never 
again  be  so  ready  with  my  tongue.  God  help  me  !"  she  exclaimed 
as  she  hastened  away. 

When  Columbus  and  Dona  Maria  returned  from  Mass  they 
found  the  physician  engaged  in  bleeding  Dona  Felippa,  who  was 
delirious  and  crying  like  a  child,  saying  : 

"Mamma,  mamma,  I  don't  want  him  to  leave !" 

In  a  few  days  she  was  at  the  point  of  death.  At  her  mother's 
solicitation  she  received  the  last  Sacraments  with  great  composure 
and  resignation.  The  excitement  of  the  fever  was  followed  by  a 
decided  reaction.  When  evening  came  she  begged  to  be  placed  in 
an  arm-chair,  near  a  high  window,  from  which  she  could  see  the 
ocean  and  the  last  rays  of  the  setting  sun.  She  asked  her  mother 
to  adjust  her  hair  and  put  on  the  lace  veil  she  had  worn  on  her 
marriage  day.  A  large  shawl  of  African  make  covered  her 
shoulders  and  extended  down  to  her  knees. 

"  Mother,"  she  said,  "  forgive  me  !  I  would  like  to  be  alone 
with  my  husband  for  a  moment." 

Dona  Maria  led  out  Diego,  and  the  woman  aiding  in  taking 
care  of  the  patient  followed. 

"  Grandma,"  said  the  little  child  to  her,  "  mamma  is  not 
going  to  die  ?" 

"  Beg  of  God  that  He  may  cure  her,  my  child,"  said  the  poor 
grandmother;  and  the  long-pent-up  tears  flowed  bitterly. 

Christopher  Columbus,  pale  and  distracted,  knelt  beside 
Felippa.  She  looked  at  him  in  silence  for  a  moment,  and  then 
reached  out  her  hand. 

"My  dear,"  she  said,  "you  have  made  me  happy,  and  I 
thank  you.  Yet  I  go  from  this  world  without  a  regret,  for  it 
would  grieve  me  too  much  to  have  to  part  with  you  in  life,  and  I 
could  not  follow  whither  you  think  of  going.  I  have  confidence 
in  God's  mercy,  and  the  shortcomings  of  my  brief  existence  will 
be  effaced  by  the  merits  of  Jesus  crucified.  If  hereafter  you 
think  of  giving  Diego  a  second  mother,  do  not  think  of  doing  so 
without  consulting  mine.  And  in  the  meantime  she  will  take  care 
of  your  child.  I  know  you  will  forget  me." 


748  DONA    FELIPPA. 

"  No,  never  !"  exclaimed  Columbus  weeping.  "  Never  will 
I  forget  you,  Felippa — you,  my  first  love,  you,  my  boy's  mother  !" 

"  Very  good,"  she  resumed  with  an  effort,  "  if  you  cannot 
forget  me,  at  least  think  of  me  only  with  pleasure,  as  of  a  friend 
who  awaits  you  in  the  land  beyond  the  sea.  You  once  spoke  to 
me  of  sovereignty,  of  a  crown.  'I  want  to  make  my  Dona 
Felippa  vice-regentess  of  the  West  Indies/  you  said.  The  crown 
promised  to  me  in  heaven  is  the  only  one  that  I  will  wear.  But 
in  comparison  with  it,  those  of  earth  are  as  nothing.  Farewell, 
Columbus.  Now  free,  you  are  going  to  pursue  your  way,  to  dis- 
cover a  world.  I  know  that  you  will  succeed.  A  distant  and 
accurate  insight  into  things  is  given  to  the  dying.  I  will  not 
forget  you.  God  has  granted  me  the  favor  of  being  near  you 
when  your  eyes  first  behold  the  land  that  is  promised  you,  that 
awaits  you  there  beyond  !"  And  with  her  dying  hand  she  pointed 
to  the  waves  and  the  western  horizon. 

These  were  her  last  words.  At  two  o'clock  in  the  morning 
she  calmly  breathed  her  last,  and  her  father's  tomb,  in  the 
church  of  our  Blessed  Saviour,  received  Dona  Felippa's  frail 
remains. 

A  few  weeks  later  Christopher  Columbus  left  Portugal  and 
began  those  painful  journeys,  those  fruitless  efforts  that  were  to  fill 
up  fifteen  years  of  his  life,  until  Ferdinand  of  Aragon  and  Isabella 
of  Castille  sent  him  forth  to  find  a  world. 

IV.     FELIPPA'S  PROMISE. 

On  Thursday,  October  11,  1492,  Columbus'  three  caravels, 
the  Pinta,  the  Nina,  and  the  Santa  Maria,  scudding  before  a  strong 
breeze,  pushed  rapidly  towards  the  west ;  but  the  men  on  board, 
having  seen  only  sky  and  water  for  two  months  past,  had  their 
store  of  patience  and  of  courage  exhausted.  That  very  day  a 
mutiny  broke  out.  The  Pinta  and  the  Nina  came  up  along- 
side the  Admiral's  vessel,  and  Columbus  had  to  face  alone  the 
three  united  crews  of  furious  men,  who  demanded  in  loud  tones 
that  they  should  be  permitted  to  return  to  Spain.  The  revolt 
lasted  all  day,  and  every  means  was  taken  to  intimidate  Christq- 


DOHA    FELIPPA.  749 

pher  Columbus ;   but  insults,  entreaties,  menaces,  drawn  blades, 
tears  and  wrath  had  no  effect  on  him. 

"  You  may  kill  me,"  he  said,  "  but  you  cannot  make  me 
retrace  my  course." 

The  evening  came.  "  Let  each  man  return  to  his  post,"  said 
Columbus.  "Set  to  praying.  This  very  night  we  will  reach 
sight  of  land.  Go." 

These  men,  conquered  by  his  constancy,  obeyed.  Ere  long 
the  sailors  were  again  at  their  work  in  silence.  The  moon  rose 
resplendent.  This  tropical  night  was  bright  as  is  day  in  the  far 
North.  A  strong  current  carried  the  vessels  towards  the  west. 
The  Pinta,  a  swift  craft,  ploughed  ahead.  At  midnight  the 
Admiral  ordered  sails  down.  The  phosphorescent  sea  rivaled  the 
starry  heavens  in  splendor. 

Christopher  Columbus,  standing  in  front,  was  engaged  in 
prayer.  The  day  that  would  soon  dawn  was  the  anniversary  of 
Felippa's  death.  It  was  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  that 
she  died,  sixteen  years  before.  He  remembered  her  last  promise. 

"  Felippa,"  he  said  in  an  undertone,  "  think  of  me  in  that 
heavenly  country  whose  shore  your  bark  has  so  long  since  reached  \ 
Pray  that  I  may  reach  the  shore  of  the  New  World." 

It  was  two  o'clock.  Suddenly  he  became  conscious  of  a 
delicious  perfume  and  saw  glide  in  front  of  him  a  large  butterfly 
as  white  as  snow.  Its  wings  glistened  like  satin  in  the  moon- 
light. The  airy  messenger  flew  around  jauntily  in  front  of 
Christopher  Columbus,  then,  taking  its  flight  towards  the  west, 
disappeared.  At  the  same  instant  a  light  flashed  on  board  of  the 
Pinta,  and  the  report  of  a  cannon-shot  was  heard. 

"  Land  !  land  !"  the  sailors  exclaimed. 

Columbus  fell  on  his  knees  and  intoned  the  Te  Deum. 

At  sunrise  he  planted  Christ's  standard  on  the  shore  of  the 
New  World,  which  he  took  possession  of  in  the  name  of  their 
Catholic  Majesties,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella. 

And  to  this  newly-discovered  land  Christopher  Columbus 
gave  the  name  of  San  Salvador,  in  honor  of  Jesus  Christ  and  in 
memory  of  the  church  in  which  Dona  Felippa  lay  buried. 


THOUGHTS   ABOUT  ST.  PETER. 
IV. 

iETER'S  complete  conversion  was  the  first  visible 
triumph  won  by  the  Redeemer's  merits  during 
the  time  of  His  Sacred  Passion.  And  the  con- 
quest was  made  all  the  more  plainly  visible  by 
the  conduct  of  the  sorrow-stricken  man,  when 
the  merciful  look  of  Jesus  had  brought  him  to 
himself  by  awakening  him  to  a  consciousness  of  his  guilt.  And 
Peter,  says  the  Evangelist,  going  out  wept  bitterly,1  moved  to  the 
very  depth  of  his  soul  by  that  spirit  of  compunction  which  abode 
with  him  forevermore  through  life.  "  He  sinned  once  and 
bewailed  it  always."1 

Now,  over  and  above  the  seasonableness  of  this  conversion,  to 
which  allusion  was  made  in  the  MESSENGER  for  September,  we 
must  remember  that  it  was  the  fulfilment  of  a  prophecy  and  the 
result  of  an  efficacious  prayer.  For,  on  that  blessed  night  when 
our  Lord  had  instituted  the  most  holy  Sacrament  of  the  Eucharist, 
and  was  speaking  to  His  Disciples  of  the  Kingdom  over  which  He 
was  to  establish  them  as  rulers,  He  said,  in  very  pathetic  strain  : 
Simon,  Simon,  behold  satan  hath  desired  to  have  you,  that  he  may 
sift  you  as  wheat !  But  I  have  prayed  for  TREE  that  THY  faith 
fail  not;  and  THOU  being  once  converted,  confirm  thy  brethren.* 
The  obvious  meaning  of  these  words,  in  the  language  used  by  St. 
Luke,  namely  the  Greek,  is  such  as  to  furnish  conclusive  evidence 
of  Peter's  great  commission  to  teach  and  to  confirm  the  others  in 
all  that  belongs  to  faith.  The  Latin  text  gives  plain  testimony  to 
the  same  effect.  But  in  the  English,  the  meaning  is  not  brought 
out  so  unmistakably,  because  of  the  ready  interchange  of  you  and 
thou,  when  addressing  one  person.  Wherefore,  in  the  English 
version,  the  text  can  mean  that  all  the  words  were  addressed  to 

>St.  Luke,  xxii.  62.  *St.  Augustine.  *St.  Luke,  xxii.  31. 

750 


THOUGHTS  ABOUT  ST.  PETER.  751 

Peter  alone :  although  none  but  a  very  undiecerning  reader 
could  fail  to  be  impressed  by  the  sudden  transition  from  the 
plural  to  the  singular.  Anyhow,  it  is  a  comfort  to  know  that  a 
sound  argument  cannot  be  built  upon  an  ambiguity  of  the  English 
Testament ;  so  long  as  we  have  the  original  text  stating  the 
matter  plainly  and  beyond  the  possibility  of  being  misunderstood 
by  an  intelligent  reader  or  an  honest  critic.  This  it  does  most 
forcibly  in  the  present  case. 

Addressing  all  the  Apostles  through  Peter,  the  Lord  tells 
them  of  the  eagerness  with  which  the  evil  one  was  striving  to 
crush  them  and  render  them  unfit  for  the  work  of  mercy  and  love 
marked  out  for  them.  All  of  them  were  to  be  sorely  tried  and 
assailed  by  the  manifold  and  ever-changing  strategy  of  the  enemy ; 
but  for  one  of  them  the  Master  Himself  asked  the  gift  of  unfail- 
ing faith,  so  that  he  might  become  the  mainstay  of  the  others. 
This  he  was  to  do  by  authoritative  declaration  of  God's  truth  and 
God's  law,  whenever  a  need  for  such  declaration  should  arise.  It 
is  precisely  what  we  state,  in  language  somewhat  more  technical, 
when  we  say  that  Peter  was  made  an  infallible  teacher  in  faith 
and  morals — infallible  interpreter  of  God's  truth  and  expounder 
of  God's  law.  And  all  this,  not  because  of  his  own  merits  or 
intelligence  or  steadfastness  of  purpose — for  in  all  these  he  was 
inferior  to  many  of  the  others — but  because  Jesus  chose  him  and 
established  him  and  prayed  efficaciously  for  him.  He  was  even 
to  fall  into  sin,  but  he  was  to  arise  again  and,  once  converted,  to 
confirm  the  brethren. 

Besides  the  sublime  endowment  of  official  infallibility  con- 
ferred upon  Peter,  he  received  also  solemn  confirmation  in  the 
office  of  Supreme  Pastor.  The  promises  which  had  been  made  to 
him — I  will  give  to  thee,  etc.;  On  this  rock  I  will  build,  etc. — were 
fulfilled.  Nor  is  there  a  single  word  said  by  our  Blessed  Lord  to 
imply  that  He  even  remembered  the  sin  for  which  the  repentant 
Disciple  wept  so  bitterly.  True,  commentators  see  in  the  triple 
question:  Simon,  lovest  thou  Me?  an  allusion  to  the  three  denials 
in  the  house  of  the  high-priest.  But,  if  there  be  such  allusion,  it 
is  safe  to  say  that  a  grave  admonition  never  wore  a  gentler  guise. 


752  THOUGHTS  ABOUT  ST.  PETER. 

Not  only  to  Peter,  but  also  to  the  rest  of  the  Disciples,  it  must 
have  seemed  a  splendid  showing  forth  of  the  infinite  tenderness  of 
divine  mercy  !  The  Rock  had  not  been  cleft :  the  Master  of  the 
household  was  not  to  be  deprived  of  his  keys.  The  commission  of 
the  Chief  Pastor  was  ratified  by  the  charge  to  feed  both  lambs  and 
sheep — that  is,  the  whole  flock  of  the  Good  Shepherd. 

In  that  text  of  St.  Matthew  where  indef 'edibility  is  promised 
as  a  portion  of  the  Church's  dowry,  Peter  is  declared  to  be  the 
Rock  upon  which  she  is  to  be  built.  And  he  is  assured  that  the 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  itS  Now,  it  seems  to  me  that 
if  I  were  called  upon,  in  this  nineteenth  century,  to  read  the  Nevr 
Testament  "  without  note  or  comment,"  I  should  be  sorely  puzzled 
to  know  what  is  meant  by  the  assurance  that  gates,  however  vigor- 
ously they  may  attack,  shall  never  win  the  victory.  What  strange 
phantasms  should  flit  across  my  imagination  of  high  gates  rushing 
onward  in  deadly  assault !  And  the  Gates  of  Hell  ?  Are  they 
horizontal  or  perpendicular  ?  Is  their  onslaught  to  be  like  a  nine- 
teenth-century torpedo-boat  or  monitor,  keeping  low  down  towards 
the  surface  and  striking  at  the  foundation  ?  Or  must  they  stand 
erect  like  lofty  towers,  and,  falling  down,  batter  the  edifice  from 
above  ?  How  could  I  answer  these  questions  if  I  were  doomed 
to  work  out  the  solution  by  my  own  unaided  perusal  ? 

"But,"  queries  an  advocate  of  private  judgment,  "is  it  not 
as  easy  for  you  to  understand  as  it  was  for  an  unlettered  man  like 
St.  Peter,  when  he  heard  the  words  first  uttered  ?"  Not  altogether. 
First  because  there  have  been  eighteen  hundred  years  of 
changes  in  the  customs  of  mankind.  Secondly,  because  in  St. 
Peter's  day,  and  in  the  common  language  of  the  people,  the 
picture  presented  to  the  imagination  by  the  word  gates  offered 
no  difficulty  whatever.  The  truth  conveyed  by  it  was  easily  and 
clearly  understood.  For  in  the  olden  time  it  was  the  custom  to 
have  walls  encircling  a  city  ;  and  in  these  walls  the  gates  of  egress 
or  ingress  were  very  prominent  features  of  their  architecture. 
They  were  sometimes  highly  ornamented,  and  not  unfrequently 
flanked  by  towers.  Through  them  the  armies  marched  forth  to  sub- 
4  St.  Matthew,  xvi.  18. 


THOUGHTS  ABOUT  ST.  PETER.  753 

due  the  enemy  ;  unto  them,  also,  was  brought  the  merchandise  from 
afar.  In  this  way  the  gates  became  the  "  grand  stand "  for  the 
march-past  of  the  warriors  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  chief  market- 
places for  the  exhibition  and  purchase  of  wares.  And,  as  army 
movements  and  aims  are  of  interest  to  all  true  patriots,  the  wise  men, 
the  statesmen,  the  men  with  large  interests  at  stake  were  accus- 
tomed to  assemble  at  the  gates  to  hold  counsel  about  the  projects 
which  were  hatched  and  the  enterprises  which  were  undertaken. 
And  again,  as  mercantile  barter  can  scarcely  be  carried  on  without 
disputes  arising  from  the  collision  of  interests,  it  grew  to  be  a  cus- 
tom to  have  judges  present  at  the  gates  to  arbitrate  and  decide  in 
matters  wherein  the  rights  of  purveyor  and  purchaser  might  clash. 
Thus,  we  have  in  the  gates  the  central  point  of  the  city's  or  the 
nation's  strength,  welfare,  commerce,  justice  and  judgment. 

In  old  Homer's  lay  we  find  the  beautiful  Helen  described 
when  she  went  forth  to  witness  the  combat  between  Menelaus  and 
Paris.  She  passed  through  the  Scsean  Gate  where  "  the  elders  of 
the  people  "  had  assembled.  And  he  tells,  in  rhythmic  numbers, 
of  the  comments  passed  upon  her  by  "  the  nobles  of  the  Trojan 
race  who  in  the  tower  sat."  5  Elders  and  nobles,  lords  and  com- 
mons, senators  and  representatives  were  there !  Was  not  the 
custom  prevailing  at  Troy  very  like  a  carrying-out  of  the  ordi- 
nance we  find  in  Deuteronomy :  Ihou  shall  appoint  judges  and 
magistrates  in  all  thy  GA  TES  ? 6  It  was  there  they  were  wont  to 
assemble ;  and,  in  regard  to  the  culprit,  it  was  enacted :  They 
shall  take  him  and  bring  him  to  the  ancients  of  his  city  and  to  the 
GATE  of  judgment.'1  Furthermore,  when  in  Holy  Writ  the  virtues 
of  the  valiant  woman  are  so  admirably  itemized,  it  is  plainly 
stated  how  her  reflected  spendor  shall  shine  forth  to  the  great 
advantage  of  her  husband.  And  how  is  the  gleam  of  that  glory 
to  be  recognized?  Her  husband  is  honorable  in  the  GATES, 
when  he  sitteth  among  the  senators  of  the  land.6  Thus  it  becomes 
apparent  that  the  Gates  represented  the  power,  the  plans,  the 
policy,  the  strategy,  the  whole  strength  of  a  city  or  of  a  kingdom. 
Hence,  when  our  Lord  says  :  The  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail 

5  Book  iii.  145.         6  xvi.  18.         7  Ibid.,  xxi.  19.         8  Proverbs,  xxxi.  31. 


754  THOUGHTS  ABOUT  ST.  PETER. 

against  it,  He  means  that  neither  by  open  violence  nor  by  hidden 
ambush — not  by  heresy  or  schism  or  treason — not  by  wiles  or 
treachery — not  by  any  aid  or  resource  to  which  the  powers  of  hell 
may  resort,  shall  they  be  able  to  destroy  that  Church  built  upon 
Peter  which  He,  the  Lord  Himself,  has  made  indestructible. 

Here  it  might  very  reasonably  be  asked  why  it  is  that,  in  our 
modern  times,  we  have  no  vestige  left  of  the  great  importance  and 
the  wide  significance  of  the  word  Gates,  as  we  have  been  consider- 
ing it  ?  Here,  also,  it  may  be  answered  that,  by  special  provi- 
dence, we  have  just  what  we  need  for  full  illustration  of  our 
argument.  The  enactments  of  the  "  Sublime  Porte "  are  the 
decisions  of  the  Ottoman  Empire.  The  Porte  means  the  Gate ; 
and  the  gravest  decisions  of  Islamism,  the  policy  of  the  Grand 
Turk,  the  State  papers  of  Constantinople,  when  sealed  with  the 
great  seal  and  promulgated  to  the  other  powers  as  the  ultimatum 
of  the  Sublime  Porte,  may  be  read,  by  one  who  understands  the 
meaning  of  the  words,  as  simply  stating  :  "  Thus  we  have  decided 
in  our  Gates."  Not  that  the  Musselmans  have  kept  up  a  distinc- 
tion from  other  nations  in  regard  to  their  Legislature  or  Execu- 
tive, but  merely  that  the  name  Porte,  or  Gate,  has  been  by  special 
providence  preserved  to  prove  that  it  means  the  whole  strength  of 
an  empire  or  kingdom,  however  it  may  be  applied. 

Dear  old  St.  Peter  !  I  must  part  with  you  now.  I  have 
not  spared  your  shortcomings  nor  exaggerated  your  glorious 
endowments.  You  stand,  next  to  the  Holy  Family,  as  the  central 
figure  of  the  New  Dispensation,  the  authorized  spokesman  and 
Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ,  since  He  ascended  from  earth  to  heaven. 
In  you  our  Lord  seems  to  have  chosen  to  give  a  portrait  of  a  good 
natural  temperament,  a  genuine  human  character,  undergoing 
supernatural  training.  There  were,  it  is  true,  some  mishaps 
during  the  process ;  but  every  fault  or  failing  seems  to  have 
sprung  rather  from  an  excess  of  natural  good-heartedness  than 
from  a  want  of  it.  The  divine,  at  last,  conquered  the  human,  not 
by  destroying,  but  by  perfecting  it.  From  the  happy  abode 
whither  the  love  of  Jesus  has  brought  you,  look  upon  us  sinful 
members  of  your  flock,  O  great  St.  Peter ;  and  pray  for  us. 


MISSION  SANTA  CLARA. 


ONE  MISSION'S   HISTORY. 

MISSION  SANTA  CLARA,  CAL.,  FOUNDED  JANUARY  12,  1777. 
By  George  O'Connell,  SJ. 

ROM  the  story  of  one  of  the  California  Missions 
the  history  of  all  can  be  broadly  portrayed.  The 
character  of  the  Indians,  the  methods  pursued  by 
the  Fathers,  the  glory  of  their  prosperity  and  the 
shame  and  ruin  effected  by  secularization,  are  the 
same  in  every  instance.  Let  us  tell  briefly  to-day 
the  story  of  the  Mission  Santa  Clara,  the  eighth  to  be  founded  in 
Upper  California,  and  the  one  perhaps  where  the  traditions  are  best 
preserved.  Its  founder  was  Father  Thomas  de  la  Pefia.  He 
set  up  his  cross  on  the  banks  of  the  Guadalupe  on  the  12th  of 
January,  1777. 

I. 

The  great  Father  Junipero  Serra  had  taken  up  the  chain  of 
the  California  Missions  where  the  Jesuits  had  been  compelled  to 
abandon  it  at  the  time  of  their  sudden  and  cruel  suppression  by 
the  Spanish  monarch.  Salvatierra,  the  Jesuit,  had  begun  his  work 
near  Cape  San  Lucas  in  Lower  California,  and  had  pushed  his  line 
of  missions  all  the  way  up  the  forbidding  peninsula,  till,  when  he 
died,  he  had  founded  thirteen,  and  had  about  entered  into  the 
present  State  of  California,  or  Alta  California,  as  it  was  then 


755 


756  ONE  MISSION'S  HISTORY. 

styled.  He  found  a  worthy  successor  in  Junipero  Serra,  who 
strung  out  the  missions  from  San  Diego,  in  the  entrance  south  to 
Sonoma,  up  beyond  San  Francisco.  The  Mission  Santa  Clara 
he  did  not  found  in  person,  but  entrusted  to  Father  de  la  Pefla. 

Father  Thomas  de  la  Pefla  came  down  to  survey  the  valley 
in  company  with  the  Comandante  Rivera  of  Moncada.  He  espe- 
cially desired  a  location  where  his  water-supply  would  be  unfailing, 
and  where  he  would  be  easiest  of  access  by  the  neighboring  tribes. 
This  he  found  on  the  banks  of  a  small  tributary  from  the  west  of 
the  Guadalupe  River.  This  site  must  have  been  within  the 
limits  of  the  celebrated  Laurelwood  Ranch  of  Mr.  Peter  Donahue, 
where  a  deserted  barn  now  stands.  The  old  Kiefer  Road  once  ran 
down  past  the  place,  and  crossed  the  Guadalupe  by  means  of  the 
well-known  but  now  obliterated  Spanish  Bridge.  This  road,  or 
its  first  rude  predecessor,  brought  the  redman  to  the  Mission. 

The  savages  called  the  place  Thamien.  The  name  was  pre- 
served in  the  title  of  the  Mission — Santa  Clara  de  Thamien. 
The  place  was,  however,  more  commonly  known  as  Socoistika,  or 
the  Laurel  Irees,  a  name  which  it  well  deserves  to  the  present  day. 
The  ancient  Indian  chief,  Marcello,  the  last  of  his  race  to  die,  and 
a  man  who  was  present  at  the  first  foundation,  used  to  speak  of  it  as 
Tshaitka.  The  nearest  Indian  tribes  were  the  Socoisukas,  the 
Thamiens  and  the  Gergecensens,  while  the  Olhones  (or  Costanes, 
i.e.,  Coast  Indians,  as  the  Spaniards  used  to  call  them)  often  came 
in  from  the  coast  beyond  the  Santa  Cruz  Mountains  on  the  west. 
In  habits  and  intelligence,  they  were  like  the  Digger  Indians  of 
to-day.  As  many  as  twenty-three  dialects  were  spoken  amongst 
them,  and  what  they  did  speak  might  rather  be  called  a  gibberish 
than  a  language.  Dana  called  it  the  nearest  approach  to  a  down- 
right slobber  that  he  could  imagine. 

They  were  above  the  medium  height,  and  were  powerfully 
built.  Their  color  was  a  dark  black,  their  faces  flat,  their  lips 
thick,  and  their  hair  long  and  straight.  Rings  and  other  ear-orna- 
ments were  in  great  vogue  amongst  them,  and  the  women  loved  to 
tattoo  their  faces  and  arms,  and  the  men  to  bedaub  themselves 
from  head  to  foot  with  streaks  of  red  paint  in  outlandish  patterns. 


758  ONE  MISSION'S  HISTORY. 

Their  huts  in  summer  were  only  a  rough  heap  of  bushes,  but  in 
winter  these  were  sometimes  thirty  feet  in  diameter.  Their  food 
consisted  chiefly  of  acorns,  berries,  roots,  insects  and  snakes,  but, 
being  dextrous  in  the  use  of  their  bows  and  arrows,  they  often 
feasted  on  deer,  rabbits,  hares  and  birds,  and  with  nets  and  spears 
caught  trout  and  salmon  in  the  streams. 

Their  religious  notions  were  meagre,  but  exhibited  the  never- 
failing  belief  in  a  Supreme  Being.  They  adored  the  sun,  and 
believed  in  an  evil  as  well  as  a  good  spirit  which  they  should  pro- 
pitiate. When  any  one  died,  the  body  was  decked  out  with 
flowers,  feathers  and  beads.  It  was  then  laid  upon  a  pyre  of 
wood,  with  a  bow  and  arrows  beside  it,  and  was  burned  amid  great 
shoutings,  while  the  friends  of  the  deceased  wished  the  spirit  a 
happy  journey  toward  the  setting  sun.  They  cherished  a  tradition 
that  their  forefathers  had  come  down  from  the  North.  This  would 
link  them  with  the  Asiatics  who  migrated  to  America  across  the 
Aleutian  Islands.  The  office  of  chief  usually  descended  from 
father  to  son.  Slavery  was  hardly  known  amongst  them,  but 
polygamy  was  the  common  practice.  Stealing  and  other  gross 
vices  were  ordinary  and  habitual.  Their  proneness  to  these  vices 
was  largely  the  cause  of  their  utter  extinction  after  they  had  once 
mingled  with  the  dissolute  white  settlers,  a  story  which  history  is 
repeating  to-day  in  many  of  the  lovely  islands  of  the  Pacific. 

n. 

When  Father  de  la  Pefia  had  decided  to  locate  the  mission  at 
Socoi'stika,  or  the  Laurel  Trees,  he  returned  with  Moncada  to  San 
Francisco,  whence  that  officer  set  out  for  Monterey  to  send  up  the 
few  white  settlers  and  the  handful  of  soldiers  who  always  accom- 
panied the  missionary  founder.  The  latter  were  by  no  means 
unneeded,  for  more  than  one  Franciscan  had  watered  his  California 
Mission  with  his  heart's  blood.  Nine  soldiers  and  a  settler  with 
his  family  soon  arrived,  and  under  the  military  command  of  Don 
Jos6  Moraga,  the  vice-governor,  and  the  spiritual  direction  of 
Father  de  la  Pefia,  they  proceeded  to  lay  the  foundations  of  Santa 
Clara.  This  they  did  on  the  12th  of  January,  1777 — a  day 
deservedly  called  the  valley's  birthday. 


ONE  MISSION'S  HISTORY. 


759 


Father  de  la  Pefia's  first  care  was  to  erect  the  Mission  Cross. 
It  was  cut  from  a  redwood  tree,  and  was  blessed  and  solemnly  set 
up  in  what  was  to  be  the  centre  of  the  Mission.  It  is  the  same 
ancient  relic  that  stands  to-day  in  front  of  the  Mission  Church.  It 


has  been  tenderly  covered  with  light  pine,  except  for  a  section  at 
the  base,  to  preserve  it  from  the  gradual  ravages  of  time ;  and  a 
garden-plot  has  been  laid  out  around  it. 


76O  ONE  MISSION'S  HIS1ORY. 

Eight  days  later,  Father  Jos6  Antonio  de  Murguia  was  sent 
from  Monterey  to  join  Father  de  la  Pena,  and  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  two,  the  church  and  settlement  soon  sprang  into  being. 
They  marked  off  a  square  of  seventy  rods,  on  the  four  sides  of 
which  respectively  they  built  the  church  and  the  pastoral  resi- 
dence, the  office  and  work-shops,  the  guard-house  and  barracks, 
and  the  store-house.  The  church  was  in  keeping  with  the  wilder- 
ness it  came  to  redeem.  It  was  made  of  timber  hewn  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  was  plastered  with  adobe  clay  and  roofed  with 
earth.  The  first  child  baptized  in  the  Mission  was  a  little  girl, 
whom  of  course  the  Fathers  felt  bound  to  call  Clara. 

Fathers  de  la  Pefia  and  Murguia  had  hardly  begun  their 
labors  at  Socoistika  when  a  scourge  broke  out  among  the  children. 
It  was  a  propitious  time  for  the  missionaries,  and  they  were  inde- 
fatigable .in  hurrying  hither  and  thither  through  the  valley.  They 
were  thus  enabled  to  baptize  dozens  of  little  ones  at  the  moment 
of  death,  and  the  little  ones  did  not  forget  them  at  the  throne  of 
God.  The  hearts  of  the  parents  were  touched  by  the  unwearied 
kindness  of  the  Fathers,  and  their  reverence  for  them  was  vastly 
increased  by  the  number  of  cures  they  were  able  to  effect.  Con- 
versions followed  quickly  and  within  eight  years  these  two 
unaided  Franciscans  had  reclaimed  no  less  than  seven  hundred 
brutal  savages,  transforming  them  into  civilized  and  intelligent 
Christians,  living  in  adobe  houses  and  pursuing  either  the  trades 
or  the  lives  of  cattle-raisers  and  farmers. 

The  records  of  the  baptisms  are  still  religiously  preserved  at 
Santa  Clara  College.  They  are  the  earliest  written  records  of  the 
valley.  Father  de  la  Pefia  wrote  with  a  delicate  hand,  in 
small  fine  characters,  but  with  the  most  scrupulpus  legibility ; 
while  Father  Murguia  dashed  off  his  words  with  a  large,  bold 
sweep,  such  as  we  might  expect  from  one  who  spent  his  days  in 
the  open  field  at  the  plough  with  the  Indian,  or  at  the  carpenter's 
table,  or  the  shoemaker's  bench.  Many  an  entry  has  also  been 
made  in  the  register  by  the  venerable  Junipero  Serra,  who  visited 
the  mission  several  times  in  his  capacity  of  president.  His  letters 
are  small  but  not  cramped  and  are  always  dark  and  legible. 


ONE  MISSION'S  HISTORY. 


761 


The  Indians  were  soon  induced  to  dwell  in  adobe  houses 
clustering  near  the  Mission  church,  and  were  nearly  always  under 
the  eyes  of  the  missionaries.  Every  one  arose  at  sunrise  and  went 
to  the  church  for  Mass  and  morning  prayers,  after  which  they 
breakfasted.  Their  diet  was  enviably  healthy.  Beef,  mutton, 
venison  and  all  sorts  of  vegetables  were  constantly  on  the  table, 
besides  wheaten  cakes  and  puddings  and  a  nourishing  porridge 


THE  MISSION  CROSS,  SANTA  CLAKA. 

called  pinole.  After  breakfast,  they  went  to  work,  either  in  the 
fields  or  in  the  shops,  till  about  twelve  o'clock,  when  the  Angelus 
bell  called  them  to  prayer  and  dinner.  Recreation  and  the  siesta 
followed  dinner  till  two  o'clock,  when  they  returned  to  their 
labors,  which  were  concluded  at  the  sound  of  the  evening  Angelus, 
at  six  o'clock.  Next  came  evening  devotions,  family  prayers  and 
the  rosary.  Supper  Avas  then  served,  and  games  and  athletic 
sports  closed  the  day. 


ONE  MISSION'S  HISTORY. 


The  young  unmarried  women  lived  in  a  separate  building, 
under  the  care  of  virtuous  matrons,  where  they  were  shielded  from 
danger  and  taught  all  the  useful  employments  of  domestic  life 
until  they  reached  a  marriageable  age,  when  it  was  not  hard  to  find 
them  suitable  husbands.  They  were  especially  expert  in  making 
clothes  of  wool,  cotton  and  flax.  Their  hall,  which  was  called 
el  monjero,  had  no  doors  or  windows  facing  on  the  public  road,  a 
necessary  precaution  against  intrusion  by  the  naturally  vicious  sav- 
ages. The  young  women  were  known  as  las  monjas,  or  the  nuns, 
but  with  nothing  of  our  strictly  religious  meaning  attaching  to  the 
term. 

The  dress  of  the  ordinary  Indians  consisted  of  a  linen  shirt, 
a  pair  of  trousers  and  a  woolen  blanket,  but  the  alcaldes,  or  over- 
seers, were  dressed  in  cloth  like  the  white  men.  The  women  were 
supplied  every  year  with  two  chemises,  a  gown  and  a  blanket. 
The  mission-supplies  came  in  launches  down  the  bay  from  San 
Francisco  to  Alviso,  whence  they  were  carried  overland  to  the 
Mission  on  horseback,  and  were  usually  paid  for  in  hides,  tallow, 
furs,  corn  and  cloth.  After  a  good  sale  in  return  of  the  mission 
products,  the  Fathers  made  liberal  distributions  to  their  neophytes 
of  wearing-apparel,  handkerchiefs,  tobacco,  glass  trinkets  and 
musical  instruments.  On  the  latter  the  Indians  soon  became  sur- 
prisingly accurate  players,  and  always  accompanied  the  church 
services. 

Within  fifty-six  years,  the  Fathers  had  baptized  some  8500 
neophytes  and  performed  2500  marriage  ceremonies. 

III. 

Great  variety  of  incident  is  not  to  be  expected  in  the  chron- 
icles of  such  a  mission.  The  first  important  event  was  the 
destruction  of  the  settlement  at  Socoistika.  In  January  and 
February,  1779,  it  was  twice  flooded  by  the  turbulent  Guadalupe. 
Several  of  the  houses  were  overthrown,  and  in  1781  the  Fathers 
were  compelled  to  change  their  location. 

The  spot  they  now  selected  was  called  Gerguensun,  or  the 
Valley  of  the  Oaks,  by  the  natives,  while  old  Marcello  called  it 


*T«r*  <  *.   ->-^  y  i\f/&^*^  EF  *\m*)t  ff  d*1**    -Wfw  ^    #•       4rv2*fy'^^ 

?^^/.  ^rM^^>A>'>  ^13^**  i&^S^^  ^ 

ft"  >^  '&*$&.«#  *°***^t  -MH^   vy**  ^?^ 


FAC-SIMILE  OF  HANDWRITIKG  OF  FATHERS  MURGUIA  AND  SERRA. 


764  ONE  MISSION'S  HISTORY. 

Tshatcapschi.  It  is  within  the  limits  of  the  present  town  of  Santa 
Clara,  not  far  west  from  the  Broad  Gauge  station,  in  the  field 
south  of  the  junction  of  the  Narrow  Gauge  road  and  Franklin 
Street.  Like  its  predecessor  at  Socoistika,  not  a  vestige  of  it  now 
remains.  Its  adobe  walls  have  long  since  fallen  and  been  mingled 
with  the  plowed  earth  of  a  grain-field.  Father  Murguia  was  its 
architect  and  builder,  and  laid  its  corner-stone  on  November  19th, 
1781.  It  was  finished  and  dedicated  on  May  15th,  1784,  but 
just  four  days  previously  the  loving  architect  died  of  a  burning 
fever  and  was  laid  at  rest  in  its  sanctuary.  Father  Diego  Noboa 
succeeded  Father  Murguia,  and  followed  loyally  in  his  footsteps, 
deserving  equally  the  deepest  respect  and  veneration  of  the 
historian. 

The  Mission  Cross  was  duly  removed  with  the  Mission  from 
Socoistika  to  Gerguensun.  In  the  latter  place,  a  pretty  story  was 
related  of  it  by  Marcello.  One  year,  he  said,  the  people  suffered 
from  a  dreadful  drought.  They  were  almost  in  despair  for  want  of 
water,  when  the  Fathers  gathered  them  round  the  Cross,  to  make 
a  novena  there  for  their  special  intention.  On  the  ninth  day  a 
copious  spring  of  delicious  water  burst  from  the  ground  not  far 
away.  There  are  now  several  springs  of  water  near  by,  with  any 
of  which  the  miracle  might  be  associated. 

In  1794,  Father  de  la  Pefla's  physical  condition  was  so  weak 
that  his  superiors  were  compelled  to  recall  him  to  Mexico.  Here 
his  health  rapidly  improved  and  he  did  great  work  for  souls  till 
he  died,  February  9th,  1806.  Father  Noboa  left  Santa  Clara  at 
the  same  time  as  Father  de  la  Pefla.  They  were  succeeded  by 
Fathers  Jos6  Magin  and  Manuel  Fernandez,  the  latter,  however, 
remaining  only  one  year  and  being  replaced  by  Father  Jos6 
Viader. 

Fathers  Magin  and  Viader  labored  together  at  the  Mission 
Santa  Clara  for  thirty-five  years.  Under  their  management  it 
reached  the  height  of  its  prosperity  and  began  its  downfall.  It 
was  under  their  direction  that  the  famous  Alameda  was  planted 
from  the  Mission  Santa  Clara  to  the  Pueblo  San  Jos6.  It  con- 
sisted of  a  double  line  of  magnificent  willow-trees  stretching  with 


ONE  MISSION'S  HISTORY.  765 

beautiful  windings  for  about  three  miles,  and  affording  impene- 
trable shade  in  the  hottest  days  of  summer.  All  the  great 
religious  and  civic  processions  were  wont  to  pass  down  its  full 
length.  Father  Magin  employed  two  hundred  Indians  in  plant- 
ing, watering  and  protecting  the  young  trees,  and  for  the  whole 
distance  he  had  them  dig  a  ditch  to  irrigate  the  trees  from  the 
Guadalupe.  Within  the  last  ten  years  the  venerable  willows  have 
been  destroyed  to  make  way  for  a  street-car  road,  and  the  walk 
from  town  to  town  is  now  like  a  tramp  across  the  Sahara,  dry, 
sunny  and  devoid  of  beauty. 

The  church  which  Father  Murguia  had  erected  at  Gerguen- 
sun  was  doomed  to  destruction.  Its  walls  were  seriously  cracked 
by  an  earthquake  in  1812,  and  in  1818  they  were  ruined  beyond 
redemption.  The  third  or  present  site  was  decided  upon,  and  the 
new  church  was  opened  in  1820.  It  was  two  hundred  feet  long, 
forty-two  feet  wide  and  thirty  feet  high,  with  adobe  walls  six  feet 
thick,  and  boasted  of  a  belfry-steeple  sixty  feet  in  height.  The 
overseer  of  the  building  was  old  Marcello.  In  1841,  the  adobe 
steeple  was  replaced  by  one  of  wood,  with  a  clock  and  a  gallery  to 
adorn  it.  The  clock  had  four  faces  in  those  days  and  afterwards 
did  service  as  the  college  clock,  till  but  a  few  months  ago,  when 
it  was  replaced  by  the  present  one.  The  two  old  bells  were 
religiously  re-hung  in  one  of  the  two  new  towers  which  were 
subsequently  built  for  the  church.  Those  of  the  roof  were  lashed 
together  with  raw-hide  thongs  and  covered  with  the  familiar  red 
tiles.  Outside,  the  church  was  brilliant  with  coloring  and  bore 
the  pictures  of  Saints  Clare,  Francis  of  Assisi,  and  Antony  of 
Padua. 

By  1862,  the  ravages  of  time  were  so  great  that  the  present 
fronting  had  to  be  built  for  the  church  ;  and  in  1885  the  old  adobe 
walls  had  to  be  removed  as  unsafe,  thus  broadening  the  church  by 
twelve  feet.  At  the  same  time,  the  dingy  little  windows  had  to 
be  enlarged  and  the  roof  raised,  but  in  every  other  respect  all  the 
old  characteristics  have  been  carefully  preserved.  The  visitor 
still  gazes  upon  the  same  quaint  reredos  and  altar  that  came  from 
Mexico  in  1802,  the  same  sanctuary  ceiling  that  was  painted  full 


766 


ONE  MISSION'S  HISTORY. 


of  saints  and  angels  by  the  Indians  under  Father  Viader's  direc- 
tion, the  same  mural  decorations,  the  same  pulpit  that  Father 
Magin  so  often  filled,  and  the  same  great  Mexican  crucifix  which 
is  said  to  have  once  stretched  forth  its  arms  to  embrace  him. 

Father  Magin  reposes  side  by  side  with  Father  Peter  de  Vos, 
one  of  his  Jesuit  successors.  Father  John  Nobili,  the  first  of  the 
Jesuits  to  take  possession  of  the  church  when  its  mission  days 


INTERIOR  OF  MISSION  CHURCH,  SANTA  CLARA,  IN  1891. 

(Old  Mexican  reredos,  altar,  pulpit,  crucifix,  and  Indian  frescoes  still  intact.) 

were  over,  in  1851,  lies   buried,  likewise  without  a  tombstone,  at 
a  similar  place  on  the  Epistle  side. 

IV. 

Father  Magin  went  down  to  his  grave  feeling  that  his  work 
was  to  be  ruined.  The  first  plan  of  secularization,  by  which  all 
the  missions  in  California  were  to  be  taken  from  the  missionaries 
and  turned  over  to  Government  administrators,  was  published  by 


ONE  MISSION'S  HISTORY. 


767 


Governor  Echeandia  in  1828.  Father  Magin  saw  that  the  scheme 
was  one  of  robbery,  and  that  his  poor  neophytes  could  never 
survive  the  blow.  Time  proved  his  foresight.  Ten  years  saw 
the  missions  utterly  destroyed.  Twenty  years  saw  the  Indians 
exterminated. 

Father  Magin — Magin  Catala  is  how  he  used  to  write  his 
name,  the  surname  being  derived  from  his  native  province  of 
Catalonia  in  Spain — died  November  20th,  1830.  So  great  was 
the  repute  of  his  sanctity,  that  in  1884  Archbishop  Alemany 
opened  an  ecclesiastical  court  at  Santa  Clara  College  to  inquire 
into  his  virtues  and  miracles,  with  a  view  to  his  canonization. 
The  inquiry  lasted  for  two  months  and  many  prophecies  and  other 
miracles  seemed  to  be  well  attested,  and  the  Archbishop  was 
encouraged  by  the  auditors  of  the  Rota  to  continue  his  inquiries ; 
but  a  number  of  obstacles  have  since  prevented  it,  and  the  cause 
may  now  be  said  to  be  practically  abandoned. 

Father  Viader  left  the  Mission  in  1833,  and  died  not  long 
afterwards,  probably  of  a  broken  heart,  in  Spain.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Father  Garcia  Diego,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Monterey, 
and  Father  Jos6  Bernardino  Perez,  his  secretary,  who  remained 
with  him  about  two  years,  when  he  returned  to  Mexico  and  after- 
wards became  Guardian  of  the  College  of  Zacatecas.  Father 
Rafael  Moreno  succeeded  him.  Meantime,  the  work  of  seculariza- 
tion had  been  going  on  ruthlessly  throughout  the  State.  Some  of 
the  missionaries  were  ordered  out  of  the  country,  others  were  per- 
secuted till  they  died  of  their  misery,  and  all  were  hampered  till 
they  could  do  nothing  for  their  neophytes.  The  latter  became 
discontented  and  vicious,  and  fled  in  hundreds  to  the  mountains. 
At  Santa  Clara  the  order  of  secularization  was  published  in 
December,  1836.  Father  Moreno  died  three  years  later,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Father  Jesus  Maria  del  Mercado.  By  1840,  the  once 
glorious  Mission  had  sunk  so  low  that  there  was  no  product  but 
that  of  hides,  and  all  industries  were  suspended.  Two-thirds  of 
the  cattle  and  sheep,  apparently  all  other  available  property  of 
any  value,  had  disappeared.  Only  one  hundred  and  thirty  neo- 
phytes remained. 


768  READING  FOR   THE  SOUL'S   COMFORT. 

The  last  of  the  Franciscans  at  Santa  Clara  was  Father  Jos6 
Maria  del  Real,  who  succeeded  Father  Mercado  in  1844.  In  his 
time,  under  Governor  Pio  Pico,  the  last  details  of  the  extinction 
of  the  missions  were  given  in  a  decree  of  September  10,  1845. 
In  July,  1846,  Commodore  Sloat  at  Monterey  raised  the  American 
flag  over  California.  General  Kearney  shortly  afterwards,  as 
military  Governor,  gave  orders  that  the  missions  should  remain 
controlled  by  the  priests  in  charge  until  proper  judicial  tribunals 
should  be  established.  With  all  the  mismanagement  and  fraud  of 
a  dozen  kinds  which  the  decree  of  secularization  had  fostered, 
little  was  left  of  the  once  boundless  domain  of  the  Mission  Santa 
Clara.  It  consisted  of  hardly  two-thirds  of  the  property  now 
held  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers  at  Santa  Clara  College. 

In  1851,  Archbishop  Alemany  requested  Father  John  Nobili, 
a  Jesuit  missionary  from  Oregon,  to  open  a  college  on  the  ruins  of 
the  Mission.  Father  Real  accordingly  turned  over  to  him  the 
few  adobe  ruins  and  tumbledown  sheds,  the  orchard,  and  the 
sadly-neglected  church,  and  retired  to  Mexico.  With  his  depart- 
ure, the  beautiful  and  mournful  story  of  the  Mission  Santa  Clara 
was  ended. 


READING  FOR  THE  SOUL'S  COMFORT. 

Tty  the  Rev.  Thomas  Hughes,  S.J, 

I. 

r  I  \HE   devout  Thomas  d  Kempis,  speaking  in   a   meditative 

mood  to  God,  says  :  "  Thou  hast  given  me,  in  my  infirmity, 

Thy  Sacred  Body  for  the  refection  of  my  mind  and  body, 

and  Thou  hast  placed  a  lamp  to  guide  my  feet,  Thy  Word.    These 

may  be  called  two  tables,  placed  on  the  right  and  left  in  the  sacred 

treasury  of  the  holy  Church." 

Each  of  these  tables  is  just  as  necessary  as  the  other,  but  in 
different  ways.     That  which  offers  the  food  of  the  divine  word 


READING   FOR   THE  SOUL'S  COMFORT.  769 

enables  us  to  approach  the  other,  which  exhibits  the  Holy 
Eucharist.  We  should  never  approach  the  sacred  table  of  the 
altar,  did  we  not  first  understand  and  accept  God's  word  that  He 
it  is  Who  is  there,  and  that  we  must  eat  of  Him,  in  order  to  live. 
In  their  efficacy,  then,  both  .tables  must  be  frequented.  We  draw 
near  to  Him,  and  are  enlightened  ;  and,  when  our  eyes  are  opened, 
we  draw  nearer  still,  and  our  hearts  are  fed.  The  nourishment  of 
the  intelligence  is  the  radiance  of  the  Word  of  God ;  the  health 
and  life  of  our  hearts  within  is  the  unction  which  distils  from  the 
charity  of  God,  incarnate  in  the  Holy  Eucharist. 

The  Word,  which  Thomas  a  Kempis  speaks  of,  is  that 
revealed  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  it  is  manifold  indeed.  What- 
ever light  of  intelligence  can  possibly  be  needed  by  man  in  the 
course  of  his  many  wanderings  here  below,  in  his  darkness  and  his 
griefs,  in  his  brightness  and  his  joys,  in  the  midst  of  solitude  as 
well  as  in  the  throng  of  the  multitude,  is  all  conveyed  in  the  man- 
ifold speech,  phrase  and  instruction  of  Psalmist,  Prophet  and  Apos- 
tle, who  break  up  and  distribute,  in  their  own  manner,  the  multi- 
form wisdom  of  God.  They  do,  every  one  of  them,  what  Christ 
our  Lord  came  expressly  to  accomplish  Himself,  Who,  being  in 
the  bosom  of  the  Father,  came  to  narrate  in  speech  and  parable, 
in  word  and  action,  in  form  and  movement  so  divine,  what  He 
had  heard  from  the  Father,  and  had  come  to  share  with  men. 
He  gave  us  a  right  to  understand  the  message  which  he  brought. 
It  was  not  His  intention  that,  whether  in  the  spoken  word,  or  in 
the  written  word,  so  much  eloquence,  which  is  altogether  divine, 
should  be  expended  in  vain.  He  would  not  have  any  path  left 
deserted  in  that  garden  of  chaste  delights,  which,  like  a  skil- 
ful gardener,  He  has  been  laying  out  from  the  beginning,  in  those 
Holy  Scriptures  which  He  Himself  has  dictated  from  the  first. 
No  refreshing  retreat  of  spiritual  love  should  be  left  unfrequented, 
no  flower  or  fruit  be  left  to  bloom  and  mature,  as  in  the  desert 
air.  St.  John  Chrysostom,  pleading  for  spiritual  light,  uses  this 
very  ground  on  which  to  rest  his  confidence :  he  says,  "  Thou 
wouldst  not,  O  Lord,  have  so  many  pages  of  awful  mysteries 
written  in  vain  !" 


77O  READING  FOR   THE  SOUL'S   COMFORT. 

As  to  any  other  book  written  by  man,  the  more  it  favors  the 
features  and  the  words  of  these  revealed  pages,  the  greater  will 
be  its  force  and  power,  its  penetration  to  search  the  inner  feelings, 
and  to  touch  the  heart.  The  profound  thought  and  direct  style, 
which  pierce  deep  into  the  abyss  of  the  heart,  are  luminous  with 
pure  light,  according  as  they  resemble  this  model  so  high  and  effi- 
cacious— God's  own  Word  to  men,  which,  as  St.  Paul  says,  is 
more  piercing  than  any  two-edged  sword,  reaching  to  the  bones 
and  the  marrow,  penetrating  unto  the  division  of  the  soul  and  the 
spirit. 

A  marked  illustration  of  this  is  the  fact  that  the  Imitation  of 
Christ,  which  is  the  most  widely  circulated  of  all  moral  books  in 
the  world,  is  one  which  has  done  little  more  than  weave  together 
a  tissue  of  phrases  and  thoughts  from  Holy  Scripture.  The 
inspired  thought  is  either  directly  quoted,  or  is  felt  to  be  under- 
lying the  devout  writer's  own  expression.  His  mind,  like  that  of 
a  truly  cloistered  soul,  was  entirely  imbued  with  God's  word  ; 
and  he  wrote  whereof  he  knew,  because  his  heart  was  full  of  it. 
The  same  we  see  in  a  higher  model,  the  canticle  of  the  Magnificat, 
composed  by  the  Blessed  Virgin.  It  was  itself  inspired,  yet  it 
was  her  own  thought;  and  that,  we  observe,  was  prompted 
throughout  by  other  phrases  and  words  in  the  Old  Testament. 
It  shows  us  where  she  had  formed  her  ways  of  thinking,  and  her 
very  style. 

This  exhibits  to  us  the  secret  spring  and  meaning  of  all 
spiritual  reading,  which  is  to  support  the  life  of  the  soul.  It 
must  be  the  conversation  of  God  with  man.  Whenever  His  word 
is  delivered  to  us,  whether  as  spoken  or  as  written,  it  is  God 
Himself  Who  is  talking  to  man.  And,  when  He  speaks,  it  is 
worth  our  while  listening  to  Him.  We  do  well  to  draw  nearer  to 
His  feet,  that  we  may  hear  the  better.  It  is  very  good  for  us ; 
since  His  speech  is  like  Himself,  all  good. 

One  of  the  first  effects  of  it  is  a  degree  of  understanding  in 
the  soul,  loosening  its  tongue,  and  suggesting  what  to  answer. 
This  is  the  exercise  called  prayer.  It  springs  wholly  from 
enlightenment ;  and,  when  it  comes  into  play,  it  exerts  over  the 


READING  FOR    THE  SOUL'S   COMFORT.  771 

omnipotence  of  God  a  power  not  limited  by  the  Divine  Goodness  : 
You  shall  ask  whatever  you  will,  and  it  shall  be  done  unto  you.1 
Whoever  asks  as  he  ought,  abiding  in  Christ,  and  with  Christ's 
words  abiding  in  him,  receives  all  that  he  asks  for ;  he  can  com- 
mand what  he  wants,  since  God's  Providence  has  placed  itself  at 
his  disposal.  Prayer  on  the  part  of  the  faithful  soul  disposes  and 
arranges  things  in  the  very  way  God  most  desires.  He  has 
indeed  many  ways  of  fulfilling  His  general  designs  over  the 
world ;  for  an  infinite  wisdom  places  an  infinity  of  resources  at 
the  disposal  of  His  governing  Providence.  But  when  the  prefer- 
ence of  a  soul  rises  before  Him,  as  expressed  in  prayer,  it  deter- 
mines one  out  of  the  many  ways,  which  otherwise  it  would  suit 
Himself  perfectly  well  to  follow.  It  makes  this  way  more 
pleasing  to  Him  than  any  other.  And,  instead  of  passing  on,  He 
stays  with  you,  because  you  have  asked  Him.  Ask,  and  His 
Heart  yields. 

Now  this  prayer  is  all  suggested  and  supported  by  the  vigor 
of  spiritual  enlightenment  or  the  spirit  of  faith.  The  life  of 
prayer  depends  upon  the  knowledge  of  God's  ways,  which  we 
should  learn  while  we  are  on  earth.  No  doubt,  this  knowledge 
comes  first  by  hearing.  But,  as  preachers  and  spiritual  instructors 
are  not  always  by  us,  whereas  books  are,  the  springs  of  written 
instruction  remain  alone  accessible,  when  others  are  practically 
closed.  Even  in  times  far  gone  by,  when  books  were  not  so  easily 
had,  the  Apostles  referred  to  the  reading  of  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
as  the  source  of  consolation,  strength  and  light.  St.  Paul  expressly 
appeals  to  the  consolation  of  the  Scriptures.  The  Apostles,  replen- 
ished as  they  were  with  every  divine  gift,  needed  comfort  for  them- 
selves, as  they  bestowed  it  on  others.  They  were  not  always  on  the 
heights  of  contemplation.  Or,  if  they  were,  they  received  there 
nothing  save  what  God  chose  to  impart.  Often  enough,  that  left 
their  care  and  solicitude  and  anxiety,  and  their  need  of  prudence, 
foresight,  labor,  patience,  just  as  before.  And  the  Saints  of  all 
times  have  come  down  from  the  loftiest  raptures  only  to  find  their 
trials  and  distress,  their  need  of  longanimity  and  infinite  forbear- 

1  St.  John,  xv.  7. 


772 


APPEAL    TO   THE  HEART  OF  MARY. 


ance,  just  where  they  had  left  them  on  entering  into  prayer.  For 
so  it  is  that  God  wishes  to  be  honored  by  men.  He  has  given 
them  this  occupation,  in  the  days  of  their  pilgrimage  short  and 
evil.  And  to  the  consolation  of  the  Scriptures  they  had  recourse 
habitually ;  just  as  continually  we  must  have  recourse  to  God  for 
our  daily  bread,  which  is  given  every  day. 


APPEAL  TO  THE   HEART  OF  MARY. 
By  J.  F.   Fitzgerald. 


[OTHER,  take  back  the  dreaded  words;1 

It  can  not  be 
That  thou  canst  ever  plead  in  vain ; 

Oh,  hear  e'en  me; 
The  world  is  full  of  sin  and  woe, 

Sweet  Mother  mine, 
And  thou  alone  canst  stem  the  tide 

Of  wrath  divine. 

Then,  Mother,  lift  thy  pure  sweet  hands, 

And  for  us  pray, 
That  He  will  touch  the  hearts  so  steeped 

In  sin  to-day, 
That  ere  another  sun  shalt  set, 

They'll  softer  grow, 
And,  bathed  in  His  own  Precious  Blood, 

Be  white  as  snow. 

1  In  one  of  the  Apparitions  of  Pellevoisin,  our  Blessed  Mother,  in  speaking 
of  the  punishments  we  have  reason  to  dread  on  account  of  the  sins  and  infidel- 
ities of  mankind,  said  :  "  I  can  no  longer  stay  my  Son's  arm." 


A  LOVER  OF  THE  EUCHARIST.  773 

Oh,  Mother,  stand  as  once  thou  didst, 

On  Calvary's  height, 
And  offer  up  the  Blood  that  flowed 

In  thy  dear  sight; 
Each  dying  gasp,  each  sacred  tear, 

That  blessed  prayer, 
"Father,  forgive"; — thou,  martyred  soul, 

Wert  thou  not  there? 

Then  at  His  sacred,  bleeding  feet, 

With  sorrow's  dart 
Broken — transpierced — Oh,  Mother,  lay 

Thine  own  pure  heart; 
In  silent,  prayerful  pleading,  stand 

The  Cross  anear, 
And  martyred  Mother,  canst  thou  think 

He  will  not  hear? 


A   LOVER   OF  THE  EUCHARIST. 

MOTHER  MARIA  TERESA,  FOUNDRESS  OF  THE  CONGREGATION 
OF  ADORATION  AND  REPARATION. 


HEODELINA  DUBOUCHE,  now  far  better 
known  by  her  name  in  religion,  Mother  Maria 
Teresa,  was  born  at  Montauban  on  May  2,  1809. 
Her  parents,  without  being  infidels,  says  the  Abb6 
Hulst,  her  biographer,  professed  practical  indif- 
ference to  all  religion.  Her  father  diverted  from 
the  faith  by  the  prejudices  of  the  last  century ;  her  mother 
engrossed  in  worldly  affairs  and  contemning  every  kind  of  relig- 
ious practice ;  a  brother  who  died  young  after  a  life  of  dissipation 
— such  were  her  early  surroundings ;  but  Providence  showed  its 
divine  power  by  causing  a  lily  to  blossom  among  thorns,  and 
sanctity  to  germinate  amidst  indifference  and  impiety. 


774  A  LOVER   OF  THE  EUCHARIST. 

From  her  earliest  years  Th6odelinda  showed  the  qualities  and 
defects  of  her  Southern  nature,  her  father  being  from  the  South  of 
France  and  her  mother  of  Italian  descent.  Had  their  little 
daughter  been  brought  up  in  a  Christian  manner,  she  would  have 
been  extremely  pious  from  her  childhood.  She  possessed  a  lively 
disposition,  a  quick  but  reflective  mind,  ardent  feelings  and  rare 
artistic  talent.  Before  the  age  of  five  years  she  began  to  admire 
everything  in  nature  and  to  take  pleasure  in  thinking  of  Him 
Who  had  created  them.  Always  recollected  in  church  without 
knowing  why,  her  mother  laughingly  called  her  "the  little 
devotee." 

But  her  good  dispositions  were  not  cultivated.  She  heard 
God  spoken  of  with  coldness  or  indifference,  and  no  one  strove  to 
inspire  her  with  love  for  Him.  Her  parents  went  to  church  but 
rarely  and  for  appearance'  sake.  For  the  same  reason  and  to 
please  the  village  cur6,  they  erected  in  their  garden  each  year  a 
repository  for  the  procession  on  Corpus  Christi. 

Theodelinda  relates  that  her  mother,  ever  ready  for  amuse- 
ment, took  pleasure  in  dressing  her  as  an  angel,  to  scatter  flowers 
on  the  altar  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  and  she  never  doubted  that 
the  God  of  the  Eucharist  had  favorably  received  this  simple 
homage  of  His  future  spouse,  and  shed  on  her  soul  at  that  time 
the  first  graces  of  her  vocation.  Towards  the  end  of  her  life  she 
writes  to  her  confessor :  "  I  still  remember  what  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  said  to  my  heart  when  I  visited  the  repository  pre- 
pared in  my  mother's  garden." 

Before  she  had  reached  the  age  of  seven  years,  her  baby  con- 
science understood  that  her  parents  were  not  walking  in  the  right 
path,  that  nevertheless  it  was  her  bounden  duty  to  respect  them, 
and  that  she  should  devote  herself  to  them  out  of  love  for  that 
God  Whom  they  did  not  serve.  Her  family  considered  her  a 
little  wonder,  but  they  Idved,  esteemed  and  laughed  at  her. 
From  this  profane  circle  God  called  her,  and  imprinted  on  her 
soul  that  first  mark  of  faith  and  love  that  was  never  to  be  effaced. 

Her  piety  was  not  in  any  way  sentimental.  She  was 
animated  with  the  feeling  of  duty  and  a  firm  resolution  to  die 


A  LOVER   OF  THE  EUCHARIST.  775 

rather  than  offend  God  mortally.  Thus,  without  any  exterior 
assistance,  that  perfect  charity  infused  by  baptism  developed  itself 
in  the  heart  of  the  child. 

Certain  faults  appeared  in  her  character,  and  her  education 
did  not  tend  to  correct  them.  She  compared  herself  with  those 
who  surrounded  her,  and,  feeling  her  own  superiority,  she  became 
difficult  to  manage.  When  her  impertinent  repartees  had  evoked 
bodily  punishment,  remembering  the  maxim  she  had  so  frequently 
seen  when  learning  to  read — kiss  the  hand  which  chastises  you — she 
never  failed  after  correction  to  kiss  her  mother's  hand. 

When  about  ten  years  of  age,  she  was  sent  to  school  at 
Orleans  as  a  boarder,  but  she  could  only  remain  there  a  short  time 
owing  to  her  independent  character.  She  had  taken  for  her 
emblem  an  open  cage,  with  the  motto,  "  Liberty  makes  me  faith- 
ful." Nevertheless,  these  few  months  of  captivity  worked  an 
important  change  in  her  character.  Until  then  she  had  but  few 
religious  instincts  ;  she  then  received  religious  instruction,  and  her 
soul  eagerly  imbibed  celestial  truths. 

Whilst  still  young  she  made  her  first  Communion,  but  alone 
and  under  circumstances  little  calculated  to  develop  her  natural 
piety.  Imagine  a  child  between  ten  and  eleven  years  of  age  con- 
demned to  a  retreat  of  three  days  without  religious  exercises, 
sermons,  pious  books,  the  direction  of  her  confessor,  or  help  of  any 
kind.  God  doubtless  permitted  this  strange  conduct  on  the  part 
of  her  superiors,  to  show  that  He  alone  wished  to  be  her  Master. 

Those  three  days  of  seclusion  and  silence  were  spent  by 
Theodelinda  in  serious  meditation.  She  considered  her  difficult 
position  with  respect  to  her  family ;  the  distance  which  separated 
her  from  them  in  religious  matters,  and  the  future  struggle  she 
would  have  to  make.  She  felt  that  a  powerful  tie  bound  her 
forever  to  the  Catholic  Faith,  and  that  the  only  means  of  corre- 
sponding to  this  light  was  courageously  to  embrace  virtue — such 
as  she  understood  it — and  to  isolate  herself,  by  a  life  of  occupa- 
tion, from  the  worldly  and  frivolous  circle  around  her. 

She  left  school  immediately  after  making  her  first  Communion 
and  began  at  once,  with  a  courage  beyond  her  years,  to  put  in 


776  A  LOYER  OF  THE  EUCHARIST. 

practice  the  plan  she  had  laid  down  for  herself.  With  very  little 
spiritual  direction  this  young  soul  might  have  -been  made  a  great 
saint ;  but  so  far  from  that,  she  was  continually  warned  against 
religious  influences.  Her  mother  frequently  told  her  that  devo- 
tion leads  to  madness,  and  she  was  troubled  at  seeing  her  go  to 
church  so  often,  and  separating  herself  from  society.  Seeing  her 
child  shutting  herself  up  all  day  with  her  pencil  and  books,  she 
consoled  herself,  however,  with  the  thought  that  Theodelinda 
would  grow  up  a  clever  and  superior  woman ;  so  the  mother's 
frivolity  took  pleasure  in  the  daughter's  seriousness. 

The  maturity  of  the  child  was  truly  singular.  Study,  nature 
and  art  alone  attracted  her.  History  inflamed  her  heart  with 
passionate  admiration  for  great  actions.  "Jeanne  d'Arc,"  she 
says,  "  Jeanne  Hachette,  all  illustrious  women  were  my  heroines. 
I  studied  their  lives  as  I  should  have  done  the  lives  of  the 
Saints." 

Although  Th<k>delinda  remained  faithful  to  the  resolutions 
which  were  to  separate  her  from  her  worldly  relations,  still  it  was 
difficult  for  her  not  to  imbibe  some  of  the  prejudices  instilled  into 
her.  She  only  knew  one  person  who  practised  his  religious  duties. 
This  was  one  of  her  father's  clerks,  whom  she  secretly  admired, 
because  he  alone  had  courage  to  go  to  Mass  on  Sunday.  Thus, 
alone  and  unassisted  she  might  gradually  have  lost  her  faith,  but 
grace  was  struggling  in  her  soul  against  family  influence.  Love 
preserved  her  faith. 

She  says  she  triumphed  over  all  the  assaults  made  on  her 
convictions  by  the  thought  that  Christianity  demands  all,  and  that 
it  is  more  exacting  than  the  noblest  philosophy.  From  that  time 
she  began  to  take  notice  of  the  sensible  favors  by  which  God 
wished  to  gain  her  whole  heart  to  Himself. 

"  When  I  was  fourteen  years  old,"  she  says,  "  whilst  preparing 
one  day  for  confession,  I  felt  a  kind  of  ecstacy,  which  did  not  last 
long,  but  I  was  so  transported  with  love  that  I  thought  I  was 
going  mad."  Then,  her  reasoning  nature  gaining  the  upper  hand, 
she  became  afraid  of  this  grace.  "  Really,"  she  thought  to  her- 
self, "  my  mother  was  right ;  one  does  indeed  lose  her  head  when 
too  devout." 


A  LOVER   OF  THE  EUCHARIST.  777 

Her  confessor,  of  whom  she  had  felt  some  mistrust,  dying 
about  this  time,  she  took  another,  whose  direction  rendered  her 
still  more  reserved.  He  wished  to  give  her  a  rule  of  life,  and 
forbade  her  amusements  in  which  she  saw  no  sin,  and  in  which 
she  joined  simply  in  order  not  to  irritate  her  mother  by  a  refusal. 
Her  conscience  told  her  she  was  in  the  right ;  she  was  indignant 
at  the  thought  of  restraint,  changed  her  confessor  and  became  more 
distrustful  than  ever. 

She  was  then  sixteen  years  of  age.  Study  and  the  love  of 
her  parents  had  until  then  occupied  her  life.  Her  brother's 
death,  which  caused  the  family  great  sorrow,  developed  her  sensi- 
bility in  a  singular  manner.  She  began  to  feel  an  extraordinary 
desire  to  love  God.  Whilst  still  a  child,  shortly  after  her  first 
Communion,  she  continually  sought  to  inflict  suffering  upon  herself. 

"  To  surmount  a  difficulty,"  she  says,  "  I  would  have  perse- 
vered to  my  last  breath  ;  and  my  mother  used  to  say  of  me  that 
I  only  liked  to  do  what  gave  me  pain  and  trouble." 

Her  intellectual  tastes  continued  to  develop  themselves. 
Her  love  of  the  arts,  especially  of  painting,  continued  to  increase. 
In  order  to  make  progress  in  it,  she  obtained  her  mother's  permis- 
sion to  work  at  the  museum,  and  she  there  passed  whole  days. 
On  her  return,  when  she  did  not  go  into  society  to  please  her 
mother,  she  would  shut  herself  up  with  her  books. 

II. 

We  quote  from  Th6odelinda's  own  record  of  her  life,  written 
in  1852  in  obedience  to  the  command  of  her  confessor,  the 
following  account  of  how  God  took  possession  of  her  heart : 

"  At  the  age  of  twenty-two  my  life  underwent  a  change.  I 
was  called  upon  to  accompany  my  father,  who  then  filled  an  offi- 
cial position  in  the  North,1  and  who  wished  me  to  accompany  him. 
My  mother  would  not  change  her  residence,  so  I  had  to  separate 
from  her.  I  found  myself  alone  and  independent  in  the  midst  of 
the  world,  where  I  was  too  well  received  for  my  vanity  not  to  be 
excited. 

1  Mezteres.  M.  Dubouche"  was  named  treasurer  of  the  Department  of 
Ardennes  on  Jan.  1st,  1831.  Th^odelinda  joined  him  during  that  ylaar. 


778  A  LOYER.   OF  THE  EUCHARIST. 

"  The  prefect's  wife  and  daughter  were  fortunately  good 
Catholics,  and  as  they  were  likewise  women  of  talent  and  sense,  I 
began  to  feel  an  ardent  affection  for  them.  .  .  .  Their  posi- 
tion obliging  them  to  keep  open  house,  I  no  longer  ceased  to 
frequent  fetes,  dinners,  concerts,  and  balls.  Seeing  me  adopted  as 
one  of  the  family,  every  one  paid  me  attention  and  flattered  me, 
whilst  the  men  did  all  in  their  power  to  make  themselves  agree- 
able to  me.  All  this  pleased  me  very  much.  I  became  less 
prudent,  iless  serious ;  I  spent  more  time  over  my  toilet.  A 
young  man  thought  he  had  made  an  impression  upon  me. 
His  attentions  flattered  my  imagination,  but  did  not  touch  my 
heart. 

"  When  I  was  again  alone,  I  was  troubled  and  uneasy,  and  I 
prayed  earnestly  to  God  that  I  might  not  offend  Him.  That 
merciful  Father  saw  my  folly  and  took  pity  on  me.  He  began 
powerfully  to  work  on  my  heart.  The  light  of  faith  no  longer 
sufficing,  He  wounded  my  heart  as  with  a  sharp  arrow. 
Now  that  I  was  free,  I  went  to  daily  Mass,  during  which  I 
was  so  recollected  that  one  might  have  thought  that  I  was  a 
saint ;  but  then  in  the  evening  I  recommenced  my  worldly  life. 

"  Nevertheless,  God,  Who  watched  over  me,  gave  me  a  great 
grace ;  He  sent  me  the  small-pox,  which  cut  short  my  worldly 
career.  In  His  mercy,  He  did  not  call  me  away  to  judgment  in 
that  dreadful  moment.  What  would  have  become  of  me  ?  How- 
ever, I  saw  death  close  at  hand.  Our  Lord,  who  had  tried  gentle 
means,  now  allowed  terror  to  take  possession  of  me.  But  my 
heart  was  not  yet  won. 

"  I  left  that  part  of  the  country  a  few  months  later.  The 
world  of  pleasure  no  longer  attracted  me ;  but  I  was  now 
bewitched  with  wit  and  talent.  To  please  me,  my  parents  removed 
to  Paris;  I  was  just  twenty-four  (1833).  I  determined  to  culti- 
vate my  talent  for  painting,  and  accordingly  worked  from  eight  to 
ten  hours  daily  in  a  studio.  I  eagerly  frequented  the  society  of 
celebrated  persons.  God,  Who  wished  to  inspire  me  with  a  dis- 
gust for  all  things  by  seeing  them  near,  permitted  an  elderly  man, 
illustrious  by  his  writings,  to  take  a  particular  interest  in  me.  He 


A  LOVER   OF  THE  EUCH/tRIST.  779 

received  at  his  house  the  most  distinguished  persons  in  art  and 
literature.  On  more  intimate  acquaintance,  however,  with  these 
remarkable  men,  I  found  them  so  full  of  silly  vanity  that  my 
illusions  respecting  human  glory  vanished." 

On  her  arrival  at  Paris,  Theodelinda  sought  a  confessor. 
She  found  one  whom  she  thought  too  severe  and  chose  another, 
the  mildest  she  could  find. 

"  This  good  priest,"  she  says,  "  was  far  too  indulgent.  God 
doubtless  permitted  it  to  be  so  on  account  of  my  weakness,  which 
as  yet  could  endure  no  yoke.  I  began  to  feel  a  longing  for  more 
frequent  Communion,  but  I  did  not  think  myself  worthy.  Until 
the  age  of  twenty-five  I  continued  to  approach  the  Holy  Table 
only  four  times  a  year,  as  I  had  done  since  my  first  Communion. 
God  doubtless  pardoned  me  this  infatuation  of  false  humility 
which  made  me  fear  to  cause  it  to  be  said  that  ( devout  persons 
were  no  better  than  any  one  else ';  for  He  showered  down  on  me 
His  graces  and  lights. 

"  I  had  a  painting-master  who  possessed  great  talent ;  we 
were  united  by  an  affection  which  always  remained  good,  simple 
and  pure.  Nevertheless,  he  was  not  a  Christian.  If  he  had  been, 
he  would  have  been  a  saint,  for  God  had  gifted  this  soul  with  the 
noblest  qualities  I  ever  met  with  in  a  single  heart.  In  his  affec- 
tion for  me,  on  account  of  some  little  good  I  did  to  the  young 
girls,  who,  like  myself,  came  to  take  lessons  in  painting,  and  also 
on  seeing  that  I  showed  some  little  affection  for  my  good  parents, 
he  would  sometimes  say  to  me  :  '  If  there  are  still  saints  in  this 
world,  you  will  be  one.'  If  I  had  been  what  he  supposed,  I 
should  have  obtained  his  conversion,  whilst,  as  it  was,  I  had  the 
misfortune  of  seeing  him  die  without  the  Sacraments,  although  I 
did  not  leave  his  bedside  for  a  fortnight.  He  used  to  say  to  me  : 
'  My  dear  child,  I  hope  in  the  goodness  of  God.'  During  his  last 
night  on  earth,  I  said  the  prayers  for  the  agonizing  by  his  side ; 
he  prayed  with  his  lips ;  he  surrendered  his  soul  to  God  whilst 
kissing  my  crucifix.  God  has  His  secrets  of  mercy ;  but  the  fate 
of  this  beloved  soul  still  weighs  sorrowfully  on  my  heart.  .  .  . 

"  Whilst  speaking  of  this,"  that  is,  her  influence  over  her 


78O  A  LOVER   OF  THE  EUCHARIST. 

fellow-students,  "  I  may  mention  that  a  little  later,  in  imitation  of 
the  artists  in  Rome,  I  formed  an  Association  of  St.  Luke.  On  that 
Saint's  feast-day,  every  year,  the  members  assembled  at  a  Mass 
said  for  our  intention,  and  nearly  all  received  Communion.  At 
one  time  we  numbered  seventeen.  When  I  call  this  to  mind,  I 
look  upon  it  as  a  prelude  to  what  God  demanded  of  me 
later.  .  .  . 

"  The  first  extraordinary  and  prolonged  grace  I  received  was 
on  my  return  from  the  Louvre,  where  I  had  admired  the  energy 
and  strong  feeling  of  faith  of  the  Spanish  paintings.  I  had 
remained  a  whole  day  before  several.  I  remember  principally  a 
Saint  Francis  of  Assisi,  and  a  female  martyr.  On  the  evening  of 
that  day,  whilst  saying  my  night  prayers,  I  was,  as  it  were,  trans- 
ported. An  ardent  fire  of  divine  love  sprang  up  in  my  heart ; 
and  ever  since  that  night  all  the  rage  of  hell  has  been  unable  to 
quench  this  flame,  although  the  smoke  and  dust  of  this  world  have 
often  prevented  it  from  bearing  fruit." 

Decidedly  God  had  conquered,  and  fresh  graces  completed 
the  change  in  Theodelinda's  life.  One  of  her  greatest  joys  at  this 
time  was  the  conversion  of  her  beloved  mother. 

"  During  months  of  interior  trial  I  often  offered  my  tears  and 
my  mortal  anguish  for  the  soul  of  my  poor  mother.  God  in  His 
goodness  then  cast  a  look  of  mercy  on  my  family — my  mother's 
conversion  was  entire  and  perfect.  Separated  from  God  for  fifty 
years,  she  had  forgotten  everything.  She  prepared  for  the  Sacra- 
ments with  the  willingness  and  simplicity  of  a  child." 

On  January  4th,  1842,  Madame  Dubouche  died.  Theode- 
linda  assisted  at  her  mother's  last  struggles,  firmly  persuaded  that 
her  purgatory  was  ended  even  before  she  expired. 

Wprk  and  prayer  now  filled  up  the  measure  of  Theodelinda's 
life,  but,  in  the  midst  of  ceaseless  efforts  for  the  good  of  others,  the 
ardent  longing  for  her  father's  conversion  stood  uppermost.  One 
can  easily  imagine  what  this  holy  soul  suffered,  to  see  him  so  far 
removed  from  God.  Praying  by  his  side  in  the  evening  seemed 
to  her  more  effectual  than  argument  or  reasoning. 

One  evening  she  cast  herself  on  her  knees  beside  him,  kissed 


A  LOVER  OF  THE  EUCHARIST.  781 

his  hand,  and  exclaimed,  almost  beside  herself:  "How  do  you 
think  I  could  bear  to  be  separated  from  you  for  all  eternity?" 
She  passed  the  whole  of  that  night  in  prayer.  The  following  day 
she  told  her  confessor  what  had  passed  between  her  father  and 
herself,  and  asked  him  to  see  her  father.  He  came  and  was  well 
received,  but  the  victory  was  far  from  complete.  The  poor  father 
said  to  his  daughter,  with  a  bitter  smile  which  betrayed  a  desire 
and  a  regret :  "  They  wish  to  convert  me ;  but  it  is  too  late ;  I 
can  no  longer  have  faith." 

But  prayer  had  begun  the  change,  and  prayer  was  to  accom- 
plish it.  The  feast  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  was  at  hand. 
Mr.  Dubouch6,  acting  on  an  irresistible  impulse,  sought  the  priest. 
On  the  feast  of  St.  Catharine,  November,  1845,  he  told  his 
daughter  with  tears :  "  My  child,  this  is  the  happiest  day  of  my 
life.  I  have  regained  my  faith  !" 

HI. 

Th6odelinda  had  a  great  desire  to  unite  herself  in  some  way 
to  the  spirit  of  Carmel.  Something  in  her  heart  spoke  to  her  con- 
stantly of  this  devotion.  At  one  time  she  thought  of  joining  a 
community  of  hospital  Sisters,  but  was  dissuaded  by  the  Superi- 
oress, whose  advice  caused  her  joy  and  surprise.  "Perpetual 
adoration  will  suit  you  better  than  our  life,"  wrote  this 
enlightened  woman. 

Her  devotion  to  the  Blessed  Sacrament  was  full  of  ardor. 
"  I  feel,"  she  writes  to  her  director,  Father  F.  Lefevre,  "  that  if 
such  were  the  will  of  God,  I  should  wish  to  live  on  earth  for  cent- 
uries, so  as  to  adore  Him  in  His  Sacramental  love." 

The  decisive  grace,  however,  which  was  the  origin  of  her 
mission  was  the  vision  which  God  vouchsafed  her  of  the  Holy 
Face,  from  which  sprang  the  congregation  of  the  "QEuvre  R6par- 
atrice,"  or  Work  of  Reparation.  It  was  the  Thursday  after  Sexa- 
gesima  Sunday,  February,  1846,  that  this  divine  vision  was 
granted  her  for  the  first  time. 

Mother  Isabella  of  St.  Paul,  Prioress  of  the  Carmelites  of 
the  Rue  d'Enfer,  to  whom  she  had  become  devotedly  attached, 


782  A  LOVER  OF  THE  EUCHARIST. 

and  to  whom  she  had  confided  the  wonderful  graces  she  had 
received,  sent  her  to  her  confessor,  who  ordered  her  to  reproduce 
on  canvas  the  Image,  now  ever  present  to  her  soul.  An  inward  voice 
had  said  the  same  thing  to  her,  and  although  she  had  never  painted 
without  a  model,  she  undertook  the  work.  She  devoted  four  Fri- 
days to  the  task,  and  great  was  her  joy  when  she  found  that  there 
was  a  resemblance. 

"  Many  artistic  faults  will  be  found  with  it,"  she  wrote  to 
Father  Lefevre,  "but  for  me  it  is  the  recollection  of  a  great 
grace."  Eventually,  fearing  to  become  too  much  attached  to  this 
picture,  she  gave  it  as  a  present  to  her  confessor. 

We  cannot  enter  into  a  detailed  account  of  the  graces  which 
ThSodelinda  received  during  a  retreat  at  the  Carmelite  convent, 
but  it  is  important  to  mention  the  first  revelation  which  led  to  her 
vocation  of  Reparation.  With  her  father,  she  had  taken  up  her 
abode  in  the  Court  of  the  Carmelites.  Scarcely  had  she  begun 
her  new  life  under  the  shadow  of  the  cloister  than  the  Revolution 
broke  out.  It  was  from  this  social  commotion  that  sprang  the 
Congregation  of  Reparation. 

Permission  was  obtained  to  celebrate  in  the  Carmelite  chapel 
penitential  exercises  of  devotion  for  forty  days.  On  Passion 
Sunday,  April  9th,  1848,  the  devotions  commenced.  Abb6  Ber- 
tholon  had  placed  on  a  small  altar  the  precious  painting  which 
Theodelinda  had  given  to  him.  Each  day  a  Mass  was  celebrated 
before  this  picture  of  the  Holy  Face  in  reparation  for  the  injuries 
done  it. 

ThSodelinda's  idea  was  to  assemble  forty  persons,  each  of 
whom  should  consecrate  one  entire  day  to  exercises  of  Reparation. 
Instead  of  forty  she  found  two  hundred  and  fifty,  who  applied  them- 
selves to  the  devotion  eagerly  and  devoutly.  Whilst  Frenchmen 
were  cutting  each  other's  throats  in  the  streets,  the  new  associates 
of  the  Reparation  were  praying  before  the  monstrance.  While 
the  crisis  of  June  was  filling  all  hearts  with  consternation,  the 
Carmelite  chapel  had  become  a  centre  of  attraction  to  all  who 
were  animated  by  the  idea  of  Reparation. 

Theodelinda  took  an  active  part  in  this  work  which  drew 


A  LOyER  OF  THE  EUCH/tRIST.  783 

people  to  the  foot  of  the  altar.  While  in  other  places  they  dared 
not  expose  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  she  had  obtained  permission  to 
prolong  the  exposition  during  the  octave  till  eleven  o'clock  at 
night,  and  twice  even  through  the  entire  night.  Across  streets  which 
had  been  transformed  by  the  barricades  into  battle-fields,  cour- 
ageous women  found  their  way  to  this  sanctuary.  Th<k>delinda 
multiplied  herself  to  be  of  service  to  them.  Her  house  was 
theirs.  She  provided  food  and  shelter,  and  courageous  words  for 
one  and  all.  A  divine  strength  supported  her.  In  the  midst  ot 
the  tumult,  news  was  brought  her  of  the  death  of  Monseigneur 
Afire. 

"  I  went  to  venerate  his  body,"  she  says,  "  which  had  been 
exposed  for  three  days,  with  a  feeling  of  extraordinary  faith  and 
devotion.  I  communicated  in  the  Chapelle  Ardente,  and,  when 
kissing  his  feet,  I  begged  him  to  keep  the  promise  he  had  made, 
and  establish  at  Paris  the  Confraternity  of  Reparation." 

The  AbbS  Hulst  has  admirably  told  the  arduous  struggle  of 
this  brave  soul  to  establish  a  work  which  has  plainly  proved  itself 
an  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost  for  the  good  of  souls.  Her  own 
admirable  life  and  character  well  deserve  the  fullest  light  that  can 
be  shed  upon  them,  more  especially  the  fifteen  years  in  which  she 
so  bravely  struggled,  under  all  manner  of  obstacles,  to  found  her 
great  work. 

"  It  is  interesting,"  says  her  biographer,  "  to  note  in  her  life 
the  virtues  for  which  she  was  most  remarkable — poverty,  humility 
and  love  of  suffering.  The  spirit  of  poverty  had  in  her  preceded 
the  religious  vocation.  If  it  had  not  been  her  duty  to  keep  a 
comfortable  home  for  her  parents,  she  would  have  deprived  herself 
of  all  that  she  possessed.  As  she  always  gave  away  more  than  she 
possessed,  she  was  obliged  to  obtain  by  continual  work  the 
resources  which  she  needed." 

To  work  in  order  to  live,  seemed  to  her  to  be  the  law  of 
those  who  profess  to  imitate  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ;  and  that  word — 
Nazareth — Maria  Teresa  had  made  the  motto  of  her  institute  ;  for 
in  the  life  of  Nazareth  she  found  the  finished  model  of  the  Repa- 
ration. This  is  what  she  says  : 


784  THE  READER. 

"  Labor  is  a  divine  precept,  the  first  reparation  demanded  by 
God  of  the  sinner.  Labor  regenerates  man.  .  .  .  Jesus 
made  Himself  all  to  all.  His  daily  life  should  be  imitated  by 
great  numbers — it  is  the  best  means  of  bringing  men  back  to  the 
belief  that  evangelical  simplicity  is  not  a  mere  fable." 

Such  was  her  conception  of  the  Institute  of  Reparation, 
modelled  on  Nazareth,  consecrated  to  the  Eucharist,  vivified  by 
the  spirit  of  Carmel. 

A  few  weeks  before  her  death,  Maria  Teresa  took  up  her  pen 
to  write  for  the  last  time  to  her  children.  It  was  to  draw  up  a 
kind  of  will. 

"  I  leave  you,"  she  said,  "  a  magnificent  inheritance — the  per- 
petual adoration  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  exposed  on  the  altar." 

Mother  Maria  Teresa  died  on  Sunday,  August  30th,  1863. 
Her  last  wish  was  that  her  spiritual  children  should  be  true 
children  of  St.  Teresa  of  Jesus.  Her  remains  were  laid  in  the 
vault  of  the  Institute  of  the  Reparation,  in  the  cemetery  of  Mont- 
parnasse ;  but  five  months  later,  February  26,  1864,  they  were 
translated  to  the  crypt  beneath  the  new  chapel,  underneath  the 
spot  where  the  Eucharistic  Throne  was  to  be  raised.  There  they 
now  rest  on  the  spot  she  most  envied  when  alive.  Since  the 
opening  of  the  new  sanctuary,  her  remains  serve  as  a  foot-stool  to 
the  altar  of  the  Adoration  of  Reparation. 


THE   READER. 


In  connection  with  the  General  Intention  for  this  month,  it  is 
interesting  to  read  the  statistics  of  the  Mission  of  Madagascar  as 
furnished  by  the  Missiones  Catholicce  of  1890  and  the  Missions 
Catholiques  of  1891.  The  Fathers  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  are 
assisted  by  the  Christian  Brothers  and  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph. 

Priests  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  .         48        Orphans 1,105 

Brothers  of  the  Society  of  Jesus        10        Baptisms 5,424 


THE  READER.  785 

Scholastics  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  2  Baptisms,  Children     .    .    .  3,327 

Stations  with  resident  priests   .  14  Baptisms,  Adults    ....  2,097 

Stations  without  resident  priests  381  Christian  Brothers  ....  19 

Churches 71  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  (three 

Chapels 186            natives) 28 

Churches  in  course  of  erection  .  17        Confessions 85,206 

Chapels  in  course  of  erection     .  94        Communions 58,573 

Seminaries 1         Confirmed 1,348 

Native  students 15        Marriages      308 

Mission  schools 630  Christians  (Catholics)     .    .  29,267 

Boys  in  school 7,532  Catechumens            ....  69,158 

Girls ..  8,110  Population  about    ....  5,000,000 

Orphan  Asylums      10 

*  * 

There  is  always  room  for  a  new  Life  of  Christ.  No  one 
need  hope  to  exhaust  the  subject.  If  all  that  Jesus  did  and  said 
were  written,  the  world  itself,  I  think,  would  not  be  able  to  contain 
the.  books  that  should  be  written.1  Not  all  the  doings  and  sayings 
of  our  Lord  have  been  written,  nor  have  we  yet  discovered  all 
the  details  and  meaning  of  what  the  Gospel  writers  left  us.  Mean- 
time, commentator,  chronologist  and  topographer  go  on  amassing 
new  materials  so  rapidly  that  ordinary  readers  of  our  Lord's  life 
in  the  New  Testament  are  glad  to  get  from  time  to  time  a  sum- 
mary account  of  their  researches.  The  results  of  such  researches 
are  all  the  more  acceptable  when  presented  in  such  a  way  as  to 
elucidate  obscure  passages  of  the  sacred  text  without  interfering 
with  its  precious  integrity.  There  is  so  much  virtue  in  the  simple 
Gospel  words,  that  we  lose  something  by  substituting  in  their 
stead  any  merely  human  recital  of  what  they  record,  be  it  ever  so 
well  conceived  or  elaborated.  It  is  always  a  gain  to  hear  about 
Christ  from  those  who  lived  in  close  personal  relations  with  Him 
as  St.  Matthew  or  St.  John,  or  with  His  closest  followers  as  St. 
Mark  and  St.  Luke.  Given  their  texts,  or  better,  a  harmony  of 
their  several  accounts  of  the  life  of  Christ,  with  notes  to  help  us 
through  difficulties,  and  we  can  build  up  our  own  life  of  our 
Master — a  life  which  our  pious  study  and  labor  will  make  as  real 
in  our  hearts'  deeds  as  in  our  heads  and  words. 

The  Reverend  A.  J.  Maas,  S.J.,  has  lately  written  a  Life  of 
Christ  such  as  we  describe,  and  Mr.  B.  Herder,  of  St.  Louis,  has 
published  it.  The  Gospel  history  intact,  as  gathered  by  the  best 

>St  John,  21,  25. 


786  THE  READER. 

and  latest  harmonists,  is  distributed  into  parts,  chapters  and  para- 
graphs, making  as  many  as  one  hundred  and  ninety-four  short 
passages,  to  each  of  which  is  prefixed  the  title>  Gospel  references, 
and  season  or  date  of  occurence.  For  explanations  needed 
the  eye  is  attracted  to  notes  at  the  foot  of  each  page,  by  having 
the  difficult  word  or  phrase  printed  in  heavy  type.  These  notes 
are  more  than  a  verbal  commentary.  Persons,  places,  events ; 
religious  customs,  feasts,  fasts,  sects,  prejudices  and  dissensions ; 
civil  usages  and  parties  and  their  relations  with  ecclesiastical 
powers,  with  other  points,  all  come  in  for  explanation  and  leave 
nothing  to  be  desired  for  an  intelligent  reading  of  the  text. 

One  of  the  maps  in  this  Life  is  itself  a  book.  It  presents  in 
brief  compass  the  journeys  of  Jesus  during  His  public  Life. 
Nine  great  journeys  in  all,  back  and  forth  in  town  and  country, 
over  river  and  sea,  and  hills  to  climb  everywhere ;  here  they  are 
traced  in  outline,  the  stations  carefully  marked,  and  references 
added  to  the  texts  in  which  they  are  narrated.  An  index  of  sub- 
jects with  a  list  of  references  to  the  Gospel  texts  make  the  book 
still  more  serviceable.  His  Eminence  Cardinal  Gibbons  has  com- 
mended the  work  for  its  gravity  and  discretion. 

*  *  * 

When  we  cannot  make  our  way  in  the  Gospels,  and  some- 
times even  their  holy  pages  seem  puzzling  or  uninviting  to  our 
dull  or  indifferent  spirits,  it  is  well  to  have  some  trusty  guide  to 
divert  us  to  some  favorite  passage.  Father  St.  Jure,  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus,  has  been  well  tried  for  over  a  century  as  such  a  guide, 
and  he  is  the  more  to  be  trusted  that  he  knows  how  to  make  us 
go  direct  to  Christ  for  personal  instruction  and  entertainment. 
Much  of  his  larger  works  is  summarized  in  Christ  Our  Teacher, 
lately  done  into  English,  and  published  by  McCauley  &  Kilner  of 
Baltimore,  with  a  beautiful  commendation  by  His  Eminence  Car- 
dinal Gibbons.  Perhaps  the  highest  merit  of  this  neat  book,  not 
larger  than  a  pocket-book  in  size,  is  that  its  chapters  are  so  short, 
so  precise,  so  direct  and  so  personal,  as  our  Lord's  words  always 
are,  that  one  can  use  it  alike  for  reading  or  for  meditation. 

*  *  *  * 

Only  a  man  who  has  handled  theology  in  class-room,  pulpit 
and  council  can  hope  to  give  in  clear,  scientific  statement  a  hand- 


THE  READER.  787 

book  of  our  religion  to  suit  teachers  and  pupils  of  different  grades — 
preachers,  readers  and  inquirers  into  the  mysteries  of  holy  faith. 

Father  Wilmer's  Handbook  of  the  Christian  Religion  was 
long  ago  pronounced  successful  in  this  manifold  purpose,  and 
twenty  years  have  but  confirmed  the  first  approbations  with  which 
it  was  received.  It  lays  down  not  only  what  we  are  to  believe, 
but  also  in  very  clear  detail  what  we  are  to  do,  and  why  we 
believe  and  act  as  we  do — dogmatic,  moral  and  apologetic  theology. 
In  editing  this  work  in  English  the  Reverend  James  Con  way,  S.J., 
has  omitted  a  paragraph  here  and  there,  but  he  has  amply 
compensated  us  for  such  omissions  by  additions  of  his  own,  on 
some  new  points,  or  rather  on  old  questions  whose  answers  need  a 
more  emphatic  statement  to  meet  the  outcry  with  which  they  are 
denied.  In  this  day  of  materialism,  we  need  to  hear  that  our 
souls  are  spiritual  beings,  created  by  God,  not  evolved  from  brute 
matter ;  and  it  is  well  to  have  at  hand  some  statement  of  how  the- 
Commandments  should  help  us  decide  the  question  of  right  to 
private  property.  Father  Conway's  statements  are  not  mere 
emphases,  but  arguments  which  leave  no  room  for  further  ques- 
tioning. Benziger  Bros,  have  published  the  work  in  a  neat 

volume. 

***** 

Father  Legrand,  Secretary  of  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem  and 
Diocesan  Director  of  the  League,  writes  joyously  of  the  wonderful 
success  of  the  recent  Novena  of  Reparation  made  in  the  Chapel  of 
the  Religious  of  Our  Lady  of  Reparation.  The  religious  orders 
in  Jerusalem,  Dominicans,  Franciscans,  Lazarists,  Fathers  of  the 
Assumption,  Fathers  of  Sion,  Missionaries  of  the  Sacred  Heart 
attended  the  exercises  and  each  evening  one  of  their  number 
preached.  On  the  last  day  the  Right  Rev.  Vicar  of  the  Holy 
Land  celebrated  Mass  and  the  Superior  General  of  the  Missionaries 
of  the  Sacred  Heart  gave  the  sermon.  Heretics  and  schismatics 
were  present  every  evening  and  many  of  these  have  since  come  back 
to  the  Church.  Father  Legrand  adds  that  among  the  recent  Local 
Centres  aggregated]to  the  League  is  the  parish  of  Gifneh,  in  the 
diocese  of  Jerusalem,  where,  tradition  says,  Mary  and  Joseph 
returned  after  their  search  for  the  Child  Jesus. 


GENERAL   INTENTION 

FOR  OCTOBER,    1891. 

Designated  oy  His  Holiness,  Leo  XIII.,  with  his  special  blessing,  and  given  to  His 
Eminence  the  Cardinal  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda — the  Protector  of  the 
League  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  called  the  Apostteship  of  Prayer— for  recom- 
mendation to  the  prayers  of  the  Associates. 

THE   MISSION   OF  MADAGASCAR. 

IT  is  not  uncommon  to  hear  persons  remark  that  we  have  quite 
enough  to  do  to  maintain  the  Church  at  home,  without  busy- 
ing ourselves  about  places  very  far  away.  Neither  is  it  to 
be  forgotten  that  a  well-known  humorous  writer  of  this  age  won 
much  approval  for  his  endeavor  to  show  that  interest  in  "  foreign 
missions"  usually  brings  about  a  neglect  of  the  mission  which 
each  one  has  nearer  home.  The  broad  sketch  of  Mrs.  Jellaby, 
Mr.  Quail  &  Company,  amounting  almost  to  burlesque,  was 
looked  upon  by  the  reading-public  generally  as  a  stern  lesson 
given  in  season,  and  likely  to  do  good.  But  it  had  two  radical 
defects — ignorance  of  what  is  meant  by  the  Church,  and,  secondly, 
the  sophistry  of  drawing  a  general  conclusion  from  a  particular 
fact. 

I. 

The  Church  does  not  mean  either  the  buildings  in  which  we 
worship,  or  the  works  of  charity  and  mercy  we  carry  on,  or  the 
sermons  we  hear  and  the  prayers  we  say.  These  are  but  some  of 
the  means  we  make  use  of  to  keep  up  in  ourselves  a  healthy  and 
active  membership.  For  the  Church  is  the  Body  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  the  members  thereof  have  a  certain  closeness  of  union  with 
and  a  dependence  upon  their  Head  which  is  less  than  physical 
union  and  dependence,  yet  more  than  moral.  They  are  the  mystic 
body  of  Christ,  a  body  of  which  the  existence  and  the  nature  are 
as  real  as  the  pyramids,  though  not  discernible  by  mere  human 

788 


GENERAL  INTENTION.  789 

ken  or  power.  The  members  are  united  to  the  Head  suchwise 
that  they  receive  influence,  light,  strength  and  encouragement 
flowing  down  to  them  through  the  ministrations  of  those  to  whom 
He  has  assigned  the  special  organic  functions  which  they  discharge. 
Hence  St.  Paul  says :  Bid  doing  the  truth  in  charity,  we  may  in 
all  things  grow  up  in  Him  Who  is  the  Head,  even  Christ :  from 
Whom  the  whole  body,  being  compacted  and  fitly  joined  together  by 
what  every  joint  supplieth,  according  to  the  operation  in  the  measure 
of  every  part,  maketh  increase  of  the  body  unto  the  edifying  of  itself 
in  charity. '  * 

No  local  boundaries  hedge  in  this  Church.  She  is  as  really  in 
Madagascar  as  she  is  in  Rome.  One  faith,  one  government,  one 
sacrifice  and  one  sacramental  system  show  forth  the  identity  of 
the  body  everywhere.  Among  all  the  members  there  is  a  com- 
munion of  interest  for  the  welfare  of  the  body  and  of  each 
member.  Wherefore,  it  would  be  just  as  reasonable  to  say  that 
a  man's  brain  need  not  be  worried  in  devising  means  for  the  cure 
of  his  wounded  foot,  as  to  say  that  a  genuine  member  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  need  have  no  concern  about  those  who  are  far 
removed  from  him  by  space.  Rather  ought  it  be  to  his  zealous 
care  to  imitate  the  example  of  a  skilful  physician  who,  in  minister- 
ing to  the  needs  of  the  material  body,  strives  to  direct  the  vital 
energies  towards  the  part  which  is  not  afflicted.  And,  as  charity 
is  the  life-principle  of  the  Church,  the  Holy  Father  invites  the 
Associates  of  the  Holy  League  to  turn  the  forces  of  that  charity 
towards  an  afflicted  part  of  the  mystic  body  of  Christ.  The 
charity  of  prayer,  at  the  very  least,  ought  to  be  shown  towards  the 
Church  in  Madagascar.  That  much  done,  something  else  will 
follow. 

II. 

Madagascar  is  a  very  large  and  not  very  attractive  island 
lying  to  the  southeast  of  the  African  continent,  and  separated 
from  it  by  the  Mozambique  channel,  about  two  hundred  miles 
wide.  It  is  inhabited  by  four  different  classes  of  men ;  of  African, 

JEphesians,  iv.  15,  16.        *See  MESSENGER,  February,  1890,  Page  13. 


79O  GENERAL   INTENTION. 

Malay,  or  uncertain  origin.  Chief  among  them  are  the  Hovas, 
who  occupy  the  centre  of  the  island  and  have  established  their 
capital  at  Tananarive.  It  is  with  them  and  their  fitful  polity 
that  the  interests  of  the  Church  are  mainly  concerned. 

The  Dominican  missionaries,  aided  by  the  Portuguese,  con- 
verted many  of  them  in  the  sixteenth  century.  But  the  progress 
of  religion  was  very  slow  in  such  a  barren  soil.  The  most  devoted 
of  the  missionaries,  Brother  John  of  St.  Thomas,  was  poisoned  by 
the  natives.  After  them,  some  Jesuits  from  Goa  accompanied  a 
body  of  Portuguese  merchants,  about  the  year  1620.  They  could 
effect  nothing ;  and  when  a  few  months  of  useless  endeavor  had 
passed,  they  returned  to  the  place  from  which  they  had  come. 
Then  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  at  the  request  of  Louis  XIV.,  sent  his 
missionary  children  to  the  colony  of  Fort  Dauphin,  lately  estab- 
lished by  the  monarch,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  old  Portuguese 
settlement,  to  the  south  of  the  island.  Many  of  them  died  from 
fever,  and  their  places  were  quickly  filled.  But  there  was  growing 
amongst  the  people  a  hatred  of  the  French  Governor,  and,  though 
the  prospects  of  the  Mission  seemed  bright,  the  natives  arose  in 
their  might  and  either  massacred  or  expelled  all  the  colonists. 
From  that  time,  with  changing  fortunes,  some  pious  missionaries 
essayed  the  ever  difficult  enterprise  of  converting  the  Malagasies, 
as  the  inhabitants  of  the  island  are  called. 

In  1820,  the  London  Missionary  Society  sent  out  some  dis- 
senting ministers,  and  the  effect  of  their  presence  at  Tananarive 
was  to  excite  bitter  hatred  against  the  Catholic  missionaries. 
Father  Soulages,  in  1832,  and  after  him  Father  Dal mond  in  1837, 
strove  earnestly  to  spread  the  Gospel  among  the  Malagasies.  The 
former  was  bitterly  opposed,  through  the  instigation  of  the  dis- 
senters, and  died  of  starvation  and  neglect,  in  a  miserable  hovel  to 
which  he  had  retired  to  escape  his  persecutors.  The  other,  with 
the  title  of  Prefect  Apostolic,  continued  his  zealous  labors,  and 
established  missionary  stations  in  the  northwest  and  in  the  extreme 
south  of  the  island.  He  had  already  converted  several  hundred 
of  the  natives,  when,  in  1844,  his  apostolic  heart  was  gladdened 
by  the  arrival  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers  who  had  been  sent  to  aid  him. 


GENERAL  INTENTION.  791 

Battling  against  the  lowest  kind  of  superstition  and  ignorance, 
thwarted  at  every  step  by  the  intrigues  of  the  dissenters,  baffled 
in  their  most  benevolent  efforts  by  the  hatred  of  some  and  the 
caprice  of  others  among  the  native  rulers,  the  zealous  missionaries 
were  reaping  a  rich  harvest  of  souls.  In  their  work  they  were 
aided  sometimes  by  the  friendliness  of  members  of  the  royal 
family.  But  a  fierce  storm  soon  broke  over  the  infant  Church. 
A  royal  decree  ordered  the  expulsion  of  all  Europeans  from  the 
island,  in  May,  1883. 

III. 

For  three  years  the  missionaries  were  absent,  and  during 
that  time  there  was  an  extraordinary  and  a  very  gratifying  mani- 
festation of  the  influence  which  they  exerted  over  their  flock. 
Forty  young  neophytes  organized  themselves  into  a  "Catholic 
Union,"  to  supply,  as  far  as  possible,  the  place  of  the  absent 
Fathers.  Meetings  were  held  every  Sunday  at  the  usual  hours 
for  Mass  and  Vespers.  Prayers  were  said,  the  music  of  Mass  and 
Vespers  sung,  catechism  taught,  marriages  celebrated  before  wit- 
nesses, children  baptized,  and  the  dead  buried  in  a  Christian 
manner.  By  their  zealous  labors  the  faith  was  kept  alive,  and 
everything  belonging  to  the  church  service  was  in  such  good  con- 
dition that,  on  Easter  Sunday,  1886,  the  day  after  his  return  to 
Tananarive,  Mgr.  Cazet,  the  Vicar  Apostolic,  was  enabled  to  cele- 
brate Pontifical  Mass  and  Vespers.  He  then  visited  the  different 
stations  and  was  everywhere  received  with  the  greatest  gladness. 

The  school-teachers  make  a  Retreat  of  three  days,  in  silence, 
every  year ;  the  school-inspectors  receive  Holy  Communion,  in  a 
body,  every  month.  The  people  from  the  interior  of  the  island 
are  constantly  begging  for  schools,  teachers  and  places  to  worship. 
Fifty  dollars  will  put  up  a  building  suitable  for  school  and 
chapel,  and  one  dollar  and  a  half  per  month  will  maintain  a 
teacher. 

We  recommend  to  the  prayers  of  our  Associates  this  great 
island  of  Madagascar,  which  has  already  given  such  splendid 
examples  of  fidelity  to  the  faith.  Forty  years  ago  there  were  very 


792  THE  MONTHLY  COMMUNION  OF  CHILDREN. 

few    Christians    there :   to-day  there   are    30,000,   with    70,000 
catechumens,  out  of  a  population  of  5,000,000. 

OFFERING  FOR  THE  INTENTIONS  OF  THE  MONTH. 

O  Jesus,  through  the  Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary,  I  offer 
Thee  all  the  prayers,  work,  and  sufferings  of  this  day  for  all  the 
intentions  of  Thy  Divine  Heart,  iu  union  with  the  Holy  Sacrifice 
of  the  Mass,  in  reparation  for  all  sin,  and  for  all  requests  pre- 
sented through  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer  :  and  in  particular  that 
God's  law  and  the  love  of  His  Sacred  Heart  may  reign  through- 
out the  Mission  of  Madagascar.  Amen. 


THE   MONTHLY   COMMUNION   OF   CHILDREN. 

r  I  ARUE  lovers  of  children  never  tire  of  the  beauty  and  pathos 
of  their  simple  wish  that  '  it  might  be  always  First  Com- 
munion Day.'     Who  has  ever  witnessed  their  innocent  and 
peaceful  faces  at  the  altar-rail  or  their  modest  manners  for  hours 
afterward,  without  praying  in  some  anxiety  that  their  lives  may 
be  made  up  of  such  days  ? 

What  ( lives  of  such  days'  means  in  the  prayer  of  adult, 
teacher,  parent  or  pastor,  is  clear  enough,  but  not  always  so 
definite  in  detail  as  the  wish  of  the  children.  These,  of  course, 
love  and  would  keep  forever  the  God-Man  dwelling  in  their  souls, 
and  they  cherish  the  innocence  which  draws  Him  to  them ;  but 
their  love  and  desire  are  divided  frequently,  and  a  large  share 
goes  to  mere  circumstance,  to  the  external  beauty  of  God's  house 
or  to  the  partners  in  their  holy  privilege,  and  a  good  measure  goes 
to  the  extra  fondness  and  consideration  necessarily  shown  them 
when  the  renewed  beauty  of  their  souls  enhances  the  charms 
natural  to  their  guileless  years.  From  being  fair  that  share  may 
easily  grow  excessive,  and  absorb  young  souls  entirely,  unless 


THE  MONTHLY  COMMUNION  OF  CHILDREN.  793 

their  instructors  take  care  to  fix  their  young  minds  on  what  alone 
can  last  with  them  forever. 

What  may  last  forever  and  go  on  increasing  with  each  Holy 
Communion  is  the  right  disposition  of  soul  brought  to  the  Holy 
Table  and  the  special  good  gift  acquired,  or  habit  confirmed  by 
the  grace  of  the  Holy  Sacrament.  The  holy  thought,  pious  affec- 
tion and  strong  resolution  which  any  soul  brings  to  Holy  Com- 
munion must  grow  holier,  more  pious  and  stronger  still  when  the 
source  of  all  true  life  comes  to  invigorate  our  souls.  This  is  one 
of  the  most  important  laws  in  the  life  of  the  soul.  Just  as  surely  • 
as  that  certain  drugs  enable  our  bodies  to  derive  greater  nourish- 
ment from  ordinary  food,  so  also  the  divine  powers  of  Christ 
received  in  the  Holy  Eucharist  enable  our  souls  to  think  of  better 
things,  to  will  and  accomplish  them  with  ease  and  pleasure.  This 
effect  is  inseparable  from  the  Blessed  Sacrament  worthily  received. 
The  outward  ceremony  may  grow  less  from  year  to  year  until  it 
reaches  the  minimum  of  pomp  in  the  candle  light  and  white  laid 
table  of  the  death-room ;  the  inward  grace,  the  holy  thought  and 
deed  may  last  and  grow  always. 

Why  not  apply  this  law  in  our  anxiety  that  the  little  ones 
should  live  the  life  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  ?  From  the  start 
they  must  find  in  Holy  Communion  some  very  real  and  sensible 
fruit,  or  they  will  soon  lose  all  relish  for  it.  Why  not  make  them 
realize  how  it  can  help  them  to  a  stronger  grasp  of  some  good 
principle,  or  to  a  more  cheerful  compliance  with  some  irksome 
duty.  It  is  a  simple  practice  to  pick  out  for  every  Communion- 
day  some  clearly  defined  favor,  gentleness,  meekness,  riddance  of 
annoying  thoughts,  peace  of  soul,  contempt  for  selfish  and  worldly 
motives.  Young  souls  are  keen  to  detect,  swift  to  acknowledge, 
and  sure  to  adhere  to  any  source  of  favor.  Let  them  once 
experience  the  power  of  this  supreme  source  of  all  good,  and  their 
eyes  will  not  soon  cease  to  look  in  hope  to  thee,  O  Lord,  Who  givest 
them,  meat  in  due  season.* 

To  make  this  practice  become  a  habit,  no  means  is  so  sure  as 
making  them  repeat  it  together  in  monthly  Communions.  The 

1  Psalm  xliv.  15. 


794  THE  MONTHLY   COMMUNION   OF  CHILDREN. 

common  desire  and  effort  for  some  great  favor  and  the  mutual 
satisfaction  in  securing  it,  must  increase  their  esteem  for  the  gift 
itself  and  their  love  for  the  infallible  means  of  obtaining  it.  Nor 
need  the  practice  be  limited  to  individual  graces.  Let  each  one 
ask  these  by  all  means ;  but  let  all  fix  upon  some  general  favor 
good  for  them  all  at  any  time,  or  proper  to  the  season  or  month 
of  the  ecclesiastical  year.  Thus,  devotion  to  the  Holy  Angels, 
the  devotion  of  this  present  month,  might  very  properly  be  the 
favor  which  young  souls,  the  jealous  wards  of  Angels,  would  ask 
'when  they  approach  to  eat  the  Bread  of  Angels,  the  bread  worthy 
of  angelic  ministers,  and  fit  to  make  angelic  lives. 

Or,  there  is  the  devotion  of  the  Most  Holy  Rosary,  which 
children  take  to  as  they  take  to  gathering  wild  flowers,  a  devotion 
associated  with  our  Lord  in  the  Tabernacle  as  our  Blessed  Mother 
was  with  Him  in  Nazareth.  If  enrolled  in  the  League  the  Daily 
Decade  of  the  2d  Degree  offers  a  new  object  of  their  Communions  ; 
aad  if  enrolled  in  the  Apostleship  of  Study,  the  work  of  the 
League  especially  chosen  for  children  still  in  school,  there  is  the 
ample  range  of  all  the  holy  purposes  for  which  this  Apostleship 
is  designed,  a  filial  attachment  to  the  Church,  zeal  in  their  class- 
work,  the  consecration  of  their  hours  of  play  and  of  silence  to 
the  Sacred  Heart,  and  a  strong  aversion  to  any  form  of  society  or 
organization  which  bands  men  together  against  God  and  against 
His  Church.  Any  one  of  these  holy  purposes  may  serve  to  make 
their  Holy  Communions  more  efficacious,  and  fruitful.  Besides,, 
the  Apostleship  of  Study  presents  these  high  aims  in  no  vague  or 
unattractive  way.  Its  Decorations  are  so  expressive  of  all  its 
holy  purposes,  so  clear  a  proof  of  the  merit  of  those  who  wear 
them,  and  so  highly  favored  with  Indulgences,  that  they  serve  at 
once  the  double  purpose  of  adornment,  and  of  inducement  to  pray 
and  labor  for  the  various  good  qualities  they  denote. 

For  this  reason  they  may  be  made  to  emphasize  dispositions 
and  habits  which  Holy  Communion  requires,  and,  because  it 
confirms  the  same,  to  recommend  it  as  the  source  of  all  good 
gifts. 


APOSTLESHIP  n  TOWn    NOTICES 


RECENT  AGOKEGATIONS. — To  the  Apostleship  of  Prayerr 
League  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  (August  12  to  September 
12,  1891). 

(Name  of  diocese  in  italics,  before  parish  or  community  aggregated.) 

Albany,  New  York :  St.  Mary's  Church,  Oneonta. 

Boston,  Massachusetts:  City  Orphan  Asylum  (Sisters  of 
Charity),  Salem. 

Brooklyn,  New  York :  St.  Agnes'  Seminary,  Brooklyn  and 
Babylon  Academy  (Sisters  of  St.  Joseph),  Babylon. 

Cleveland,  Ohio :  St.  Mary's  Church,  Wakeman. 

Davenport,  Iowa :  St.  Patrick's  Church,  Corning ;  St. 
Bridget's  Church,  Villisca. 

Detroit,  Michigan :  Detroit  College,  Detroit. 

Hartford,  Connecticut :  Sacred  Heart  Church,  Waterbury. 

Louisville,  Kentucky:  St.  Joseph's  Infirmary  (Sisters  of 
Mercy),  Louisville. 

Marquette,  Michigan :  St.  Mary's  Church,  Norway. 

Milwaukee,  Wisconsin:  St.  Clara's  Academy  (Dominican 
Sisters,  3d  Order,  Congregation  of  the  Most  Holy  Rosary),  Sin- 
sinawa. 

Nesqually,  Washington :  Convent  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
Pomeroy,  and  Sacred  Heart  School  (Dominican  Sisters),  Seattle. 

Newark,  New  Jersey :  St.  Cecilia's  Church,  Englewood. 

New  York,  New  York:  Our  Lady  of  Mercy  Church,  Port- 
chester. 

Scranton,  Pennsylvania :  St.  Mary's  Church,  Dunmore. 

795 


796  APOSTLESHIP  NOTICES. 

Sioux  Falls,  South  Dakota:  St.  Vincent's  Church,  Spring- 
field. 

THE  SODALITY  OF  THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN. 

Diplomas  of  Affiliation,  received  from  the  Prima  Primaria, 
have  been  transmitted  to  the  following : 

Arizona,  Arizona :  Catholic  Church,  Flagstaff. 

Davenport,  Iowa :  St.  Peter's  Church,  Council  Bluffs. 

Detroit,  Michigan :  Cathedral  of  Sts.  Peter  and  Paul,  Detroit ; 
St.  Mary's  Church  (2),  Wayne. 

Fort  Wayne,  Indiana:  Academy  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Sacred 
Heart  (Sisters  of  Holy  Cross),  Academy,  near  Fort  Wayne. 

New  Orleans,  Louisiana:  St.  John  Baptist's  Church,  New 
Orleans ;  Immaculate  Conception  Church,  Washington. 

New  York,  New  York :  St.  John  Evangelist's  Church, 
Goshen. 

Providence,  Rhode  Island :  St.  John  Baptist's  Church,  Cen- 
treville. 

Springfield,  Massachusetts:  St.  Mary's  Church,  Southbridge. 

Vincennes,  Indiana :  Church  of  St.  Pius  V.,  Troy. 

THE  TREASURY  OF  THE  SACRED  HEART. 

Associates  can  gain  100  days1  Indulgence  for  each  action  offered  for  the 
Intentions  of  the  League. 

Offerings  for  the  Intentions  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  received  from  August  12  to 
September  12,  1891. 

No.  OF  TIM  us.  No.  or  Tutu. 

1.  Acts  of  Charity  ....  336,790  11.  Masses  Heard    ....  139,985 

2.  Beads 286,410  12.  Mortifications    ....  238,307 

3.  Stations  of  the  Cross     .  32,408  13.  Works  of  Charity     .    .  332,705 

4.  Holy  Communions    .    .  50,396  14.  Works  of  Zeal  ....  364,693 

5.  Spiritual  Communions ,  275,655  15.  Prayers 3,904,393 

6.  Examens  of  Conscience  112,260  16.  Charitable  Conversation  64,095 

7.  Hours  of  Labor  ....  500,590  17.  Sufferings  or  Afflictions  63,985 

8.  Hours  of  Silence    .    .    .  172,649  18.  Self-Conquest     ....  124,340 

9.  Pious  Reading    ....  71,913  19.  Visits  to  B.  Sacrament  195,453 
10.  Masses  Celebrated     .    .  1,133  20.  Various  Good  Works   .  354,681 

Total 4,622,885 

The  above  represents  the  returns  from  two  hundred  and  eighty-seven  Centres. 


ALL  YOU  THAT  LABOUffcMND  ARE  BURDENED 


IN  THANKSGIVING   FOR  GRACES   OBTAINED. 

TOTAL  NUMBER  OF  THANKSGIVINGS  FOB  LAST  MONTH,  67,872. 

In  everything,  by  prayer  and  supplication  with  thanksgiving,  let  your  petitions  be 

made  known  to  God  (Philippians,  iv.  6). 

NEWARK,  N.  J.,  AUGUST  12. — Thanks  are  returned  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  for  the  conversion  of  a  gentleman  seventy  years  of 
age,  through  the  prayers  of  the  League.  He  had  always  been 
hostile  to  Catholics  and  firmly  fixed  in  his  own  opinions. 

,  NEW  JERSEY,  AUGUST  12. — A  Promoter  returns 

thanks  for  the  removal  of  obstacles  in  the  way  of  a  vocation  to  the 
priesthood  and  for  a  sum  of  money  received  when  much  needed. 

PITTSBURGH,  PA.,  AUGUST  13. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart 
for  the  recovery  of  a  member  of  our  community.  She  had 
haemorrhages  and  medical  remedies  gave  her  no  relief.  We 
had  recourse  to  the  Sacred  Heart,  and  now  she  is  entirely 
cured. 

WEST  BROOK,  MAINE,  AUGUST  17. — I  promised  an  offering 
to  the  Sacred  Heart  if  the  members  of  my  family  would  be  pro- 
tected from  fever  which  was  in  our  tenement.  Blessed  be  the 
Sacred  Heart,  the  favor  was  granted  me. 

NEW  YORK,  AUGUST  21. — We  return  thanks  for  the  cure  of 
a  baby  that  was  seriously  ill  for  a  week.  We  were  all  afraid  we 
should  lose  her.  I  placed  the  Badge  upon  her,  and  she  immediately 
became  better  and  is  improving  each  day. 

,  MARYLAND,  AUGUST  22. — I  wish  to  return  thanks  for 

797 


798  IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES   OBTAINED. 

the  graces  of  conversion  and  a  happy  death  granted  my  brother 
who  had  neglected  his  religious  duties  for  twenty-three  years.  He 
made  the  Mission  last  January  and  since  then  bore  his  great  suffer- 
ings in  patience.  During  his  last  illness  he  received  Extreme 
Unction  and  the  Holy  Viaticum  and  died  a  most  peaceful  death 
on  the  eve  of  the  Assumption. 

ALBANY,  N.Y.,  AUGUST  22. — We  wish  to  give  thanks  for 
the  return  of  a  young  girl  to  the  practice  of  her  religious  duties 
after  an  apparent  loss  of  faith  for  nearly  ten  years ;  another 
person  recommended  for  nearly  two  years  received  the  grace  of 
conversion ;  desirable  employment  was  secured  by  one  who  had 
petitioned  for  it  since  last  October. 

JERSEY  CITY,  N.  J.,  AUGUST  22. — Most  fervent  thanks  to 
the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  cure  of  a  person  who  had  been  suffering 
from  chronic  rheumatism.  Doctors  used  every  effort  but  could  do 
nothing  for  him.  I  prevailed  upon  him  to  join  the  League  and 
wear  the  Badge.  I  then  recommended  him  to  the  prayers  of  the 
League.  During  the  first  and  second  months  the  change  in  his 
condition  was  scarcely  perceptible,  but  during  the  third  month  he 
began  to  walk  about,  a  thing  which  he  had  not  done  for  nine 
months  before,  and  on  the  first  day  of  June  he  was  able  to  go  to 
work  for  the  first  time  in  one  year. 

CONCORD,  N.  H.,  AUGUST  23. — Promise  was  made,  that  if 
my  health  were  restored  I  would  have  the  favor  published  in  the 
MESSENGER.  I  wish  to  make  known  the  mercy  of  the  Sacred 
Heact  and  the  efficacy. of  the  prayers  of  the  League  by  publishing 
my  thanks  for  the  favor  granted  me. 

,  OHIO,  AUGUST  23. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for 

the  conversion  of  a  lawyer  in  my  parish.  He  lived  a  most 
exemplary  life  during  the  time  that  intervened  between  his  baptism 
and  his  death.  His  wife  and  child  also  were  converted  to  the 
faith.  A  Catholic  bitterly  hostile  to  the  Church  was  reconciled 
in  illness  and  received  the  last  Sacraments. 

DENVER,  COLO.,  AUGUST  24. — A  religious  wishes  to  return 
thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  conversion  of  a  former  pupil 
frequently  recommended  to  the  prayers  of  our  Associates. 


IN   THANKSGIVING   FOR   GRACES  OBTAINED.  799 

SHKEVEPORT,  LA.,  AUGUST  25. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  for  the  recovery  of  a  lady  in  whose  case  surgical  aid  was 
deemed  absolutely  necessary.  Upon  the  reception  of  the  Badge, 
she  was  cured  without  it,  much  to  the  astonishment  of  the  attend- 
ing physicians,  who  pronounced  the  case  without  parallel  in  med- 
ical records. 

,  PENNSYLVANIA,  AUGUST  26. — An  Associate  returns 

thanks  for  the  conversion  of  a  man  who  for  ten  years  entirely 
neglected  his  religious  duties.  Nearly  three  years  ago  his  family 
recommended  him  to  the  prayers  of  the  League  and  continued  to 
do  so  month  after  month  until  last  April,  when  at  the  opening  of 
the  Forty  Hours'  Devotion  in  his  parish  he  assisted  at  Mass  and 
received  the  Sacraments.  Since  that  time  he  has  gone  to  Mass 
every  day. 

BOSTON,  AUGUST  30. — My  brother  was  dangerously  ill  and 
would  not  go  to  confession.  I  sent  in  a  petition  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  of  Jesus,  the  good  Sisters  and  the  school  children  made  a 
novena  for  him,  and  I  promised  if  our  prayers  were  heard,  to 
publish  my  thanks  in  the  MESSENGER.  Thanks  to  the  Sacred 
Heart,  he  had  the  grace  to  receive  Holy  Communion  several  times 
before  he  died. 

ST.  Louis,  AUGUST  31. — A  gentleman  who  had  not 
approached  the  Sacraments  for  seven  years,  was,  unknown  to  himself, 
recommended  to  the  prayers  of  the  League  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
during  the  month  of  June.  He  has  since  received  the  Sacraments. 

KANSAS  CITY,  Mo.,  SEPTEMBER  2. — After  five  years  of 
untiring  devotion  to  the  Holy  League,  we  are  at  length  rewarded 
with  spiritual  and  temporal  blessings  far  surpassing  all  our 
•expectations.  We  trust  that  all  Associates  of  the  League  may 
pray  with  renewed  courage,  confident  that  in  good  time  the  Sacred 
Heart  will  grant  every  request. 

ST.  PAUL,  MINN.,  SEPTEMBER  5. — I  had  two  debts  which  I 
could  not  meet,  so  I  asked  the  Sacred  Heart  to  help  me.  I  then 
went  to  my  creditors  and  stated  my  case ;  from  the  smaller  debt  I 
was  released  by  paying  one-half  and  on  the  larger  I  had  to  pay 
but  one-third. 


8OO  IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES  OBTAINED. 

NEW  YORK,  SEPTEMBER  6. — A  Promoter  returns  heartfelt 
thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  conversion  of  a  brother  who 
had  not  been  to  confession  for  six  years. 

,  MASSACHUSETTS,  SEPTEMBER  8. — An   official  order 

was  recently  issued  by  the  school  board  of  our  city,  that  all 
teachers  should  stand  an  examination  in  October.  The  announce- 
ment coming  at  this  time  of  the  year  was  a  great  surprise.  I 
promised  the  Sacred  Heart,  that  if  I  did  not  have  to  comply  with 
the  order  I  would  publish  my  thanks  in  the  MESSENGER.  Last 
week  I  was  informed  that  I  was  one  of  four  exempted. 

MILWAUKEE,  SEPTEMBER  8. — Special  thanks  are  returned  to 
the  Sacred  Heart  for  a  temporal  favor  received.  It  had  been 
recommended  to  the  prayers  of  the  Associates  with  a  promise  that 
should  the  favor  be  granted,  public  thanks  would  be  returned  in 
the  MESSENGER.  The  difficulties  to  be  overcome  were  such  as  to 
leave  no  room  for  doubting  the  interposition  of  Divine  Providence. 

VARIOUS  CENTRES. — Thanks  are  returned  to  the  Sacred 
Heart  for  positions  obtained  by  several  persons. — For  news 
received  from  absent  relatives,  one  of  whom  had  not  been  heard 
from  in  twenty-one  years. — For  the  conversion  of  a  man  who, 
during  the  sixty^three  years  of  his  life,  had  practised  no  religion. 
He  had  never  been  baptized. — For  the  recovery  of  several  persons 
from  severe  illness. — For  the  conversion  of  a  brother  who  married 
out  of  the  Church  and  abandoned  the  practice  of  his  religious 
duties  for  twelve  years. — For  deliverance  from  terrible  physical  suf- 
fering.— For  the  settlement  of  an  estate  in  favor  of  relatives  who 
were  in  great  need. — For  temporal  assistance,  employment  and 
means  granted  in  unexpected  ways. — For  the  conversion  of  a  man 
away  from  the  Sacraments  for  eighteen  years. — For  the  grace  of 
vocation  to  the  priesthood. — For  a  change  in  employment  and 
increased  wages. — For  means  speedily  granted  to  meet  pressing 
debts. — For  successful  surgical  operations.- — For  the  conversion 
of  a  lady  in  her  eighty-sixth  year. — For  the  happy  deaths  of 
several  Associates. — For  the  conversion  of  two  persons,  one  five, 
the  other  twelve  years  away  from  the  Sacraments. 


TO 


(Design  Irom  the  Studio  of  Gagliardi,) 


THE  MESSENGER 

OF   THE 

SACRED  HEART  OF  JESUS 

VOL.  VI  (xxvi).        NOVEMBER,  1891.  No.  11 


THE   SACRED  HEART. 

By  Maurice  Francis  Egan. 


HIS  Heart  led  the  Precursor  through  the  night 
Of  Advent  time ;    It  was  the  glowing  star 
That  made  the  Magians  struggle  from  afar 
In  hope  serene;    beneath  Its  wondrous  light 
King  Herod  trembled ;    for  It,  strong  in  fight, 
St.  Stephen  suffered;    'twas  the  potent  bar 
That  kept  Augustine  from  the  gilded  car 
Where  vice  triumphant  rode  o'er  God's  own  right  ? 

It  is  a  star,  a  barrier, — hope,  love ! 

It  is  an  instrument  of  music  sweet, 
.  .    It  is  a  rose,  a  fragrant  blossom-rod, 
It  is  our  flesh;  It  holds  all  Heaven  above, 
It  is  a  guide  eternal  to  our  feet, 

It  is  a  Heart, — the  very  Heart  of  God  ! 


Copyright,  1891,  by  Rey.  R.  S.  Dewey,  S.  J.    All  rights  reserved.]  801 


THE   HELPERS   OF  THE   HOLY  SOULS. 


D' 


DEVOTION  to  the  faith- 
ful departed  is  not  only 
the  expression  of  a 
dogma,  but  it  is  also  the  con- 
solation of  bereaved  and  sor- 
rowing hearts  in  this  earthly 
pilgrimage  whose  stages  are 
but  too  often  marked  by  the 
graves  of  the  tenderly  beloved. 
Of  all  the  dire  denials  of 
Catholic  doctrine  made  by 
Protestantism,  none  perhaps 
is  more  appalling  than  that 
which,  casting  souls  ruthlessly 
into  hell  or  sending  them 
presumptuously  to  heaven, 
suppresses  belief  in  Purgatory 
and  consequently  abolishes 
prayer  and  sacrifice  for  the 
dead.  It  is  a  terrible  thing 
thus  to  break  that  sacred  com- 
munion which  should  continue, 

even  after  death,  to  unite  the  faithful  with  those  they  have  loved 
on  earth.  Devotion  to  the  departed  is  natural  to  all  Christians. 
Nay,  we  find  its  traces  in  nations  yet  plunged  in  heathen  darkness. 
In  whose  heart  does  not  the  prayer :  Have  pity  on  me,  at  least 
you  my  friends,  awaken  an  anguished  echo  ?  Yet  what  do  the 
majority  of  men  answer  to  this  heart-rending  appeal  ?  Alas,  for 
human  weakness  !  "  The  sentiment  is  universal,  but  even  when 
it  is  founded  on  faith,  it  does  not  always  bear  the  fruit  it  ought 
to  produce."1 

1  The  Life  of  Mire  Marie  de  la  Providence,  Foundress  of  the  Helpers  of  the 
Holy  Souls.    By  Lady  Georgiana  Fullerton.     London  :  Burns  and  Gates. 


OUK  LADY  OF  PROVIDENCE, 

Queen  of  Purgatory. 


802 


THE  HELPERS   OF   THE  HOLY  SOULS. 


803 


Undoubtedly,  the  dead  are  too  often  neglected  even  by  those 
who  fondly  loved  them  while  on  earth.  It  was  reserved  for  the 
latter  half  of  this  century  to  witness  the  creation  of  an  Order 
entirely  devoted  to  their  relief,  which  would  raise  its  voice  inces- 
santly in  the  name  of  Christ's  Church  Militant  on  earth  in  favor 
of  the  Church  Suffering  in  Purgatory.  This  Order  is  known  as 
the  Society  of  Helpers  of  the  Holy  Souls.  It  was  founded  in 
Paris  in  1856  by  Mademoiselle  Eug6nie  Marie  Josephine  Smet, 
who  took  the  name  of  Mother  Marie  de  la  Providence.  This 
friend  of  the  Souls  in  Purgatory  was  born  at  Lille  in  France, 
March  25,  1825.  Educated  in  the  convent  of  the  Sacred  Heart  at 
Lille,  where  she  distinguished  herself  not  only  by  her  intellectual 
acquirements,  but  also  by  many  loving  traits  of  devotion  to  the 
Holy  Souls  and  confi- 
dence in  Divine  Provi- 
dence, she  returned  to 
her  family  in  September, 
1843.  From  that  time 
until  the  foundation  of 
the  Society,  she  led  a 
most  exemplary  life  of 
piety  and  zeal. 

God's  blessing  rested 
upon  all  the  good  works 
she  undertook  for  His 
service;  quietly,  but 
surely,  He  was  forming 
her  for  her  future  mis- 
sion. The  first  clear  in- 
dication of  that  mission 
was  given  her  on  the 
feast  of  All  Saints,  1853. 
On  that  day  Eugenie, 
whose  charity  for  the 
Holy  Souls  had  been 

,4-1,       :~^        ^J~  MOTHER  MARY  OF  PROVIDENCE. 

constantly    increasing,  Foundresg of  ^  Helperg  of  the  Hol'  gouK 


8O4  THE  HELPERS   OF   THE  HOLY  SOULS. 

first  conceived  the  distinct  idea  of  forming  an  association  in  their 
favor.  The  next  day,  All  Souls,  whilst  she  was  absorbed  in 
thanksgiving  after  Holy  Communion,  she  was  suddenly  struck  by 
the  following  thought :  "  There  are  Communities  that  respond  to 
all  the  requirements  of  the  Church  Militant,  but  not  one  that  is 
entirely  consecrated  to  the  Suffering  Church  by  the  practice  of 
works  of  zeal  and  charity."  At  the  same  moment,  she  felt  herself 
interiorly  called  upon  to  supply  this  want  by  founding  a  Religious 
Order  in  favor  of  the  Souls  in  Purgatory.  Thenceforth  the  great 
struggle  began. 

In  the  midst  of  her  anguished  perplexities  she  submitted  her 
idea  through  a  friend  to  the  saintly  Cure  d'Ars,  who  became  the 
organ  of  the  Holy  Ghost  for  the  future  Foundress.  The  first 
answer  she  received  was  this  :  "  Tell  her  that  she  may  found  an 
Order  for  the  Souls  in  Purgatory  as  soon  as  she  pleases."  A 
second  answer  was  the  following  still  more  re-assuring :  "  Tell 
her  that  the  idea  of  founding  an  Order  for  the  Holy  Souls  comes 
directly  from  the  Heart  of  our  Lord  and  He  will  bless  this  heroic 
self-devotion."  This  was  on  the  29th  of  November,  1855 ;  on 
January  19,  1856,  Eugenie  arrived  in  Paris.  The  foundation  of 
the  Society  dates  from  that  day.  On  the  22d,  the  foundress 
obtained  the  permission  of  his  Grace,  Archbishop  Sibour,  to  estab- 
lish her  Order  in  Paris.  To  his  authorization  the  Archbishop 
added  these  remarkable  words :  "  Go,  my  child ;  faith  which 
transplants  mountains  can  build  houses.  I  give  you  leave  to  say 
openly  in  Paris,  that  the  Archbishop  is  heart  and  soul  with  you  in 
this  work  ;  and  if  you  want  advice  or  help,  come  to  me."  The 
Church  having  spoken  by  the  lips  of  Monseigneur  Sibour,  nothing 
henceforth  could  arrest  the  progress  of  God's  work.  So  after  a 
few  months  of  great  trial,  in  an  apartment  in  the  rue  St.  Martin, 
the  Mother  Foundress  and  her  spiritual  children  took  possession 
of  No.  16  rue  de  la  Barouillere,  on  the  eve  of  the  feast  of  the 
Visitation,  1856.  This  cradle  of  the  Society  is  still  the  mother- 
house  of  the  Order.  On  the  8th  of  the  following  November 
Eugenie  solemnly  consecrated  herself  and  her  community  to  Mary 
Immaculate,  with  characteristic  simplicity  of  faith,  placing  the 


ALTAR  AND  DOME, 
Chapel  of  the  Helpers,  rue  de  la  Barouillere. 


8O6  THE  HELPERS  OF   THE  HOLY  SOULS. 

keys  of  the  house  at  the  feet  of  the  Blessed  Mother  of  God.  This 
touching  little  ceremony  took  place  before  that  same  statue  of  Our 
Lady  of  Providence,  from  the  lips  of  which  in  years  gone-by  she 
had  seemed  to  hear  those  prophetic  words  :  "  One  day  I  shall  be 
in  a  Chapel»" 

A  few  days  afterwards  a  monstrance  having  been  presented 
to  the  Congregation,  Mere  Marie  exclaimed  :  "  I  see  that  our  Lord 
wants  to  give  us  His  blessing,"  and  went  immediately  to  the 
Archbishop  to  obtain  leave  for  exposition  of  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment and  Benediction  on  several  days  of  the  year.  When  the 
Archbishop  glanced  at  the  list  she  had  drawn  up  he  said  :  "Why, 
my  child,  you  are  asking  for  privileges  which  long-established 
Congregations  would  not  think  of  soliciting."  The  new  Foundress 
replied :  "  O  Archbishop,  do  you  not  know  that  the  youngest 
children  in  a  family  are  always  the  boldest  and  the  most  indulged  ?" 
The  kind  Archbishop  smiled  and  seemed  about  to  sign,  but  as  he 
was  taking  up  the  pen,  he  stopped  and  said  :  "No,  really,  I  can- 
not give  so  extensive  a  permission."  Mere  de  la  Providence  was 
not  to  be  daunted.  "Archbishop,"  she  urged  with  a  voice  full 
of  emotion,  "  do  give  it,  the  Souls  in  Purgatory  are  holding  your 
pen  !"  "  Do  you  think  so,  my  child  ?"  his  Grace  said,  as  if 
impressed  by  the  thought,  and  forthwith  signed  the  paper.  A 
few  days  afterwards  this  pious  prelate  was  numbered  with  the 
dead.  He  had  fallen  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin.  But  between 
the  day  of  Eugenie's  last  interview  with  Archbishop  Sibour  and 
that  on  which  they  shed  bitter  tears  for  his  loss,  the  Helpers  of 
the  Holy  Souls  had  accomplished  the  important  act  which  united 
them  to  our  Blessed  Lord.  On  the  feast  of  St.  John  the  Evangel- 
ist the  Foundress,  with  five  of  her  first  companions,  pronounced 
her  first  Vows,  receiving  in  religion  the  name  of  Mary  of  Provi- 
dence. Henceforth  all  Mere  Marie's  energies  were  devoted  to 
establishing  the  Order  on  a  firm  and  lasting  basis. 

In  this  great  work  she  was  directed  and  helped  by  Father 
Fessard,  S.J.,  then  Provincial  of  Paris,  and  above  all  by  Father 
Basinau,  S.J.,  the  future  Chinese  missionary  who  guided  and 
counselled  her  during  the  first  seven  years  of  the  foundation. 


808  THE  HELPERS   OF   THE  HOLY  SOULS. 

Later  on  Father  de  Ponlevoy  while  Provincial  continued  with 
other  holy  priests  to  watch  over  this  new  Order,  which  they  all 
felt  was  destined  to  render  signal  services  to  Holy  Church. 
Finally,  Father  Olivaint,  the  noble  martyr  of  the  Commune,  led 
her  intrepidly  and  joyously  to  the  feet  of  that  All-Merciful  Judge 
before  Whom  he  himself  was  so  soon  to  appear.  On  the  7th  of 
February,  1871,  feast  of  the  Agony  of  Our  Lord,  Mere  Marie  de 
la  Providence  gently  fell  asleep  in  Him  for  Whom  she  had  so 
valiantly  and  lovingly  labored  and  suffered.  She  was  not  yet 
forty-six  years  of  age.  Amidst  all  the  horrors  of  the  Siege  of 
Paris  and  the  cruel  sufferings  of  the  terrible  malady  which  caused 
her  death,  the  Fiat  was  ever  on  her  lips  and  God's  own  living 
charity  in  her  heart.  Father  Olivaint  assisted  her  in  her  agony 
and  gave  her  the  last  blessing.  "  On  the  26th  of  May,  in  this 
same  year,  this  soldier  of  Christ,  this  true  son  of  St.  Ignatius, 
ascended  to  heaven  with  the  martyr's  palm  in  his  hand.  One  of 
the  most  precious  jewels  in  his  crown  will  be  the  Foundress  of  the 
Helpers  of  the  Holy  Souls."2 

Let  us  now  glance  at  the  organization  and  practical  working 
of  the  Society.  Besides  binding  themselves  by  the  ordinary  vows 
of  religion,  the  Helpers  take  a  fourth  obligation  which,  in  the 
spirit  of  the  "  Heroic  Act  of  Charity,"  is  a  complete  surrender  in 
favor  of  the  Souls  in  Purgatory  of  all  their  works  of  mercy,  their 
religious  consecration  and  prayers,  the  Indulgences  gained  by 
them  during  life  and  the  suffrages  to  be  offered  up  for  them  after 
death.  They  unite  the  exercises  of  the  active  life  with  those  of 
the  contemplative,  drawing  from  prayer  strength  and  means  to 
labor  profitably  in  the  service  of  their  fellow-creatures,  always 
with  a  view  to  the  solace  and  deliverance  of  the  Holy  Souls. 
The  Society  of  Helpers,  as  Father  Garside  expresses  it,  "  is  a  tree 
planted  upon  the  earth,  but  the  cooling  shade  of  its  branches 
reaches  far  into  the  world  unseen.  To  Purgatory  it  owes  its  exist- 
ence ;  before  its  gates  it  is  ever  faithfully  watching  and  pleading, 
and  thither  flows  the  perpetual  current  of  its  manifold  charity."8 

2 Les  Auxiliatrices,  by  Father  Bouix,  S  J. 

1  HeJpers  of  the  Holy  Souls.  By  Father  Garside.  London  :  Burns  and 
Gates. 


THE  HELPERS    OF   THE  HOLY  SOULS. 


809 


To  pray,  suffer,  work  for  the  Souls  in  Purgatory — such  is 
the  motto  of  the  Helpers,  engraved  on  their  crucifix  and  woven 
into  every  action  of  their  life.  They  are  aroused  in  the  morning 
by  the  indulgenced  invocation  :  "  My  Jesus,  mercy  !"  All  their 
prayers  throughout  the  day  finish  with  the  well-known  supplica- 
tion :  "  Eternal  rest  grant  them,  O  Lord,  and  let  perpetual  light 
shine  upon  them  I"  When  the  clock  strikes,  each  Helper  says  : 
"  My  God,  we  offer  for  the  Holy  Souls  all  the  acts  of  love  by 


GARDEN  OF  THE  NOVITIATE  OF  THE  HELPERS, 

Bcaulieu,  Jersey,  Channel  Islands. 

which  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  glorified  Thee  during  this  hour 
whilst  He  was  on  earth."  After  the  Office  of  the  Dead  said  by 
the  Choir-Nuns  (the  Lay-Sisters  do  not  recite  this  Office),  and  the 
various  other  religious  exercises  of  the  day,  their  last  prayer 
at  night  is  again  a  supplication  for  the  loved  sufferers  of  Pur- 
gatory. 

The  principal  work  of  mercy  to  which  the  Helpers  devote 


81O  THE  HELPERS  OF  THE  HOLY  SOULS. 

themselves  is  the  visiting  and  care  of  the  sick  poor.  During  the 
time  which  is  not  occupied  by  their  spiritual  exercises,  they  go  to 
the  homes  of  the  poor  afflicted  by  sickness  and  bring  them  every 
relief  and  consolation  religious  devotedness  can  devise,  rendering 
them  the  humblest  services  that  their  state  requires.  Thus  all 
their  work  as  well  as  their  religious  formation  brings  them 
back  constantly  to  the  charity,  modesty  and  humility  of  the 
Sacred  Heart. 

But  what  they  strive  above  all  to  effect  is  to  awaken 
thoughts  of  faith  and  its  immortal  promises  in  hearts  estranged 
from  God  by  indifference  and  impiety,  following  out  in  this  the 
teaching  of  Mary  of  Providence  who  often  used  to  say  :  "  Let  us 
always  remember  that  our  vocation  is  an  apostolate.  We  are 
bound  to  bring  souls  to  our  Lord,  whether  we  find  them  upon 
earth  or  seek  them  in  Purgatory." 

The  Helpers  also  undertake,  according  to  the  requirements 
of  the  place  in  which  they  are  settled,  numerous  other  works  of 
zeal  and  charity ;  such  as  the  religious  instruction  of  children  and 
adults,  sodalities  for  women  and  girls  of  the  working-classes; 
meetings  for  governesses  and  business  employees,  free-circulat- 
ing libraries,  catechism  classes,  the  direction  of  industrial  schools, 
etc. 

All  these  works  are  gratuitous,  their  Kule  forbidding  com- 
pensation, for  the  Helpers  in  their  self-sacrifice  and  labors  must 
have  no  other  end  in  view  than  the  greater  glory  of  God  procured 
by  the  relief  of  the  Holy  Souls. 

With  the  view  of  still  further  augmenting  the  treasure  of 
merits  and  satisfaction  for  the  Holy  Souls  and  of  obtaining  for 
them  a  succession  of  daily  increasing  prayers,  this  Order  has  added 
to  its  ranks  Honorary  Members,  Associates  and  Benefactors,  who 
enter  into  a  union  of  prayer  and  sacrifice  and  participate  in  the 
privileges  enjoyed  by  the  Society.4 

It  may  not  be  inappropriate  to  quote  here  the  following 
letter  from  the  late  Very  Reverend  Father  General  of  the  Society 
pf  Jesus,  which  seemed  to  Mere  de  la  Providence  a  crowning 

4  For  further  details,  see  Father  Garside's  work  mentioned  above. 


THE  HELPERS   OF   THE  HOLY  SOULS.  811 

instance  of  the  protection  of  St.  Ignatius  and  a  pledge  of  his 
interest  in  her  spiritual  children  : 

"  Devotion  to  the  Souls  in  Purgatory,"  he  says,  "  has  always  been  dear  to 
our  Society,  and  one  of  our  predecessors,  Father  Laynez,  the  immediate  successor 
of  St.  Ignatius,  looking  upon  it  as  the  necessary  result  of  the  end  of  our  Institute, 
especially  recommended  it ;  consequently,  I  felt  inclined  at  once  to  agree  to  the 
request  contained  in  your  letter,  and  to  apply,  out  of  the  number  of  Masses  I 
have  at  my  disposal,  five  hundred  for  the  relief  of  the  Holy  Souls.  ...  I  beg 
our  Lord  to  continue  to  shed  His  blessings  abundantly  on  you,  Eeverend  Mother, 
and  on  the  fervent  souls  who  have  joined  you  in  the  holy  work  you  have  under- 
taken. In  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus,  I  remain, 

Your  very  humble  servant  in  Christ, 
PETER  BECKX,  General  of  the  Society  of  Jesus. 

His  Holiness,  Pope  Pius  IX.,  deigned  to  bless  the  Third 
Order  of  Lady  Associates  and  grant  it  special  Indulgences  in 
1859.  On  June  9,  1873,  the  same  Pontiff  deigned  to  grant  the 
Society  a  Brief  of  Approbation  and  on  June  25,  1878,  the  Con- 
stitutions of  the  Society  were  approved  by  Pope  Leo  XIII. 

Such  is  the  tree ;  let  us  now  see  the  branches  it  has  already 
put  forth.  Mother  Mary  of  Providence  never  forgot  this  maxim 
of  Bourdaloue  :  "It  is  not  enough  to  pray  for  the  dead,  we  must 
also  and  above  all  things  sanctify  ourselves  for  their  sakes."  Push- 
ing the  application  still  further,  she  used  to  say  :  "  Let  us  never 
forget  that  personal  sanctification  is  the  first  step  towards  apostle- 
ship.  It  is  not  necessary  that  we  should  be  spread  abroad  in  every 
direction ;  the  important  thing  is  that  we  should  be  good  Relig- 
ious." Thus  she  writes  to  Bishop  Grant  in  answer  to  a  request 
for  a  foundation  in  London  as  early  as  1 864  :  "  Our  first  founda- 
tion last  year  at  Nantes  has  exhausted  our  means  and  our  sub- 
jects, for  we  never  shorten  the  two  years  novitiate  which  precedes 
the  first  vows.  On  this  account  we  have  been  obliged  to  refuse 
many  offers  made  since  the  foundation  at  Nantes."  The  same 
spirit  continues  to  rule  the  Order  to  this  day  to  the  greater  glory 
of  God.  The  religious  formation  of  the  Nuns  is  never  sacrificed 
for  the  material  extension  of  the  Order,  however  pressing  the 
demand  for  foundations  may  be.  Nevertheless  the  Society  contin- 
ues to  develop  rapidly  though  steadily,  and  even  before  her  death 
the  Foundress  had  sent  her  children  to  a  far  distant  mission. 


MARTYRDOM  OF  ST.  DENYS, 
Chapel  of  the  Helpers,  Montmartre. 


THE  HELPERS  OF   THE  HOLY  SOULS.  813 

August  4,  1867,  Monseigneur  Languillat  asked  to  have  the 
Helpers  for  the  Mission  of  Kiang-Nan,  which  had  been  confided  to 
the  Jesuit  Fathers  of  the  Province  of  France.  After  she  had 
prayed  and  had  consulted  Father  de  Ponlevoy  and  Father  Oli- 
vaint,  the  Foundress,  convinced  that  such  was  God's  will,  gave 
with  mingled  joy  and  sorrow  a  colony  of  her  children,  who  were 
conducted  by  Monseigneur  himself  to  Shang-Hai  where  Father 
Basinau  was  waiting  to  receive  them. 

The  particular  work  which  the  Helpers  were  invited  to 
undertake  was  the  superintendence  and  training  of  a  Congregation 
of  Chinese  Catholic  maidens,  now  known  as  the  Presentandines. 
These  Chinese  maidens  are  trained  in  the  spirit  of  the  interior  life 
and  in  the  practice  of  good  works.  They  have  a  novitiate  apart 
and  bind  themselves  by  a  simple  promise  to  the  mode  of  life  they 
have  adopted.  They  visit  the  sick,  baptize  the  poor  abandoned 
children  whom  they  find  in  danger  of  death,  keep  orphanages  and 
schools  in  distant  and  scattered  districts.  Sometimes  two  or  more 
reside  in  houses  called  Konsou,  which  serve  the  purpose  at  once  of 
church,  school,  and  place  of  instruction  for  catechumens.  The 
Helpers  took  the  direction  of  an  Orphanage  of  the  Holy  Child- 
hood, which  is  a  most  arduous  and  at  the  same  time  most  interest- 
ing work  of  missionary  zeal  and  charity.  It  now  shelters  more 
than  three  hundred  children,  many  of  them  abandoned  by  their 
parents  on  account  of  their  ugliness  or  infirmities.  These  poor 
little  ones  are  sometimes  left  on  the  roadside  or  at  the  door  of  the 
convent  by  the  pagans  themselves,  who  have  sufficient  humanity 
left  not  to  kill  their  helpless  offspring.  Sometimes  they  are 
thrown  over  the  wall  into  the  enclosure,  scantily  covered  by  a  few 
rags,  or  wrapped  up  in  straw ;  they  are  often  half  devoured  by 
vermin  and  ill  with  a  variety  of  diseases.  In  other  cases  again 
they  are  brought  by  native  Christian  women  who  buy  them  at 
their  birth.  It  sometimes  happens  that  they  are  wrapped  up  in 
sheets  of  paper  and  that  the  pagan  bearer  asks,  quite  simply,  to 
have  the  paper  back  ! 

There  is  at  present  a  certain  number  of  Chinese  Helpers 
chosen  from  the  native  Christian  families.  One  of  the  first  Chi- 


814  THE  HELPERS   OF   THE  HOLY  SOULS. 

nese  Nuns  was  presented  two  years  ago  to  His  Holiness  Leo  XIII., 
who  deigned  with  paternal  kindness  to  bless  in  her  all  her  Chinese 
Sisters. 

The  London  convent  which  had  been  asked  for  in  1864  was 
founded  in  1873  by  the  united  efforts  of  the  late  Marchioness  of 
Lothian,  Lady  Georgiana  Fullerton,  and  other  Catholic  ladies. 

Since  then  many  other  communities  have  been  established  in 
different  countries  in  which  they  propagate  devotion  to  the  Holy 
Souls  and  carry  on  works  of  spiritual  and  corporal  mercy  in  the 
spirit  of  their  holy  Foundress.  Italy  has  convents  at  Turin  and 
sunny  Florence.  At  Beaulieu,  in  the  Island  of  Jersey,  the  second 
Novitiate  of  the  Helpers  was  founded  principally  to  prepare  Sisters 
for  the  foreign  missions. 

Each  of  these  foundations  would  in  its  turn  furnish  pages 
replete  with  interest  to  the  Catholic  reader,  but  space  allows  us 
to  speak  of  one  only — the  Convent  of  Montmartre.  Few  spots 
indeed  have  so  many  holy  remembrances  clinging  around  them  as 
this  which  was  the  scene  of  St.  Denys'  martyrdom  and  the  birthplace 
of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  Ages  ago  a  little  chapel,  which  tradition 
ascribes  to  St.  Genevieve,  was  erected  on  the  spot  where  St.  Denys 
and  his  companions,  St.  Rusticus  and  St.  Eleutherius,  were  put  to 
death. 

In  1096  it  became  the  property  of  the  monks  of  St.  Martin- 
in-the-Fields ;  and  in  1133  Louis  the  Great  and  his  wife  Adelaide 
of  Savoy  concluded  a  bargain  with  these  religious  through  which 
the  Chapel  of  the  Martyrs  became  a  dependency  of  the  ancient 
Abbey  of  Montmartre. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  St.  Ignatius  of  Loyola  and  his  com- 
panions consecrated  themselves  to  God  by  vows  of  religion  in 
this  chapel,  thus  laying  the  foundation  of  the  Society  of  Jesus. 
Half  a  century  afterwards,  Henry  IV.,  accompanied  by  all  his 
court,  came  there  on  the  day  of  his  abjuration,  and  gave  thanks 
for  his  reconciliation  to  the  Church. 

Numbers  of  saints,  century  after  century,  visited  this  holy 
spot. 

The  Abb4  le  RSbours  and  the  Fathers  of  the  Society  of  Jesus, 


THE  HELPERS  OF   THE  HOLY  SOULS. 


815 


to  whom  belonged  the  ground  on  which  the  ancient  chapel  stood, 
agreed  to  offer  to  the  Helpers  of  the  Holy  Souls  the  site  of  the  for- 
mer chapel.  The  Archbishop  of  Paris  and  his  coadjutor  sanctioned 
and  encouraged  the  foundation,  and  the  Nuns  took  possession  of 
this  venerable  shrine  on  the  9th  of  October,  1877,  thus  founding 
a  convent  of  their  Order  on  the  very  spot  where  once  stood  the 
Abbey  of  Montmartre.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  one  of  its 
former  Abbesses,  the  holy  Mother  Adeline,  had  been  remarkable 
for  her  singular  devotion  to  the  Souls  in  Purgatory,  and  instituted 
a  Congregation  for  their  especial  assistance. 

The  Helpers,  after  passing  some  years  in  a  temporary  resi- 
dence, have  at  last,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  been  enabled  to  erect 
a  more  fitting  sanctuary  for  this  holy  pilgrimage  and  a  monastery 
wherein  they  can  develop  their  works  of  charity.  These  abound  in 
the  thickly-populated  neighborhood  of  Montmartre  and  bring 
forth  abundant  fruits  of  benediction. 

There  we  will  now  leave  them,  with  the  earnest  hope  that, 
responding  to  the  pressing  demands  that  have  been  made  for  their 
presence  in  the  United  States,  they  will  soon  be  amongst  us, 
carrying  out  humbly  and  faithfully  their  motto  :  To  pray,  suffer 
and  work  for  the  Souls  in  Purgatory.  And  in  doing  so,  they  will 
make  new  conquests  for  Christ's  fold  on  earth  ;  for  to  make  a  last 
quotation  :  "  The  Helpers  of  the  Holy  Souls  may  well  be  termed, 
also,  helpers  of  every  sinning  and  suffering  soul  within  their 
reach." 


A   SUNDAY   ON  THE   SIPSEY   RIVER. 

By  the  Author  of  "Old  Black  Jo,"  "A  Story  of  Old  Virginny," 
"Poor  Little  Dick,"  "Joseph's  Dream,"  etc. 

I. 

MAMMA,  MAMMA,  come  and  see  the  women 
with  such  funny  bonnets  on,  going  up  the  road. 
Me  and  Dan  was  playing  down  by  the  gate,  and 
a  great  big  wagon  came  along,  full  of  'em — " 

"Full  of  what,  who,  Lucy?"  said  Mrs. 
Ingle,  looking  up  from  the  churn  and  giving  the 
dasher  a  momentary  rest  as  she  turned  toward  little  Lucy  who, 
with  rosy  cheeks  and  tangled  curls  and  eyes  brighter  even  than 
usual,  had  tumbled  into  the  spring-house  to  bring  the  news. 
"Are  they  coming  here?" 

"  No'm,  they're  going  up  the  branch  road ;  'cause  they  asked 
Dan  the  way  to  the  railroad  camp.  And  you  just  ought  to  see 
their  funny  white  bonnets  go  flippetty-flap,  just  like  my  guinea- 
keets'  wings,  on  the  top  of  their  heads."  And  the  lively  child, 
putting  both  hands  up  to  the  height  of  her  ears,  imitated  precisely 
the  motion  of  the  queer  bonnets  she  was  trying  to  describe. 
"  Come  down  to  the  stile,  Mamma,  and  you  can  see  them  go  by." 
While  the  little  maid  was  speaking,  a  sudden,  strange  expres- 
sion flashed  from  her  mother's  eyes.  Rising  hastily,  she  untied 
her  apron,  spread  it  over  the  churn,  dipped  her  fingers  in  the 
spring,  dried  them  quickly,  and  hurried  down  to  the  stile,  which 
she  reached  just  in  time  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  three  white  bonnets 
— the  snowy  cornettes  of  Sisters  of  Charity.  Signalling  to  the 
driver  to  stop,  she  ran  out  into  the  road  and  overtook  the  con- 
veyance, which  was  a  lumbering,  old-fashioned  coach,  something 
like  an  ambulance,  drawn  by  a  pair  of  weary-looking  horses 
covered  with  swamp  mud.  Within  were  three  Sisters  of  Charity, 
accompanied  by  a  muscular  Irish  driver  and  a  half-grown  boy. 

816 


A  SUNDAY  ON    THE  SIPSEY  RIVER.  817 

They  were  on  their  way  to  Birmingham,  they  said ;  and  as  they 
must  reach  that  city  before  September,  and  the  railroad  would  not 
be  finished  for  several  months,  they  had  come  many  miles  by 
private  conveyance,  travelling  about  forty  or  fifty  miles  a  day. 
They  hoped  to  reach  the  railroad  camp  before  night,  and  there 
they  expected  to  find  Father  Morgan,  an  old  friend,  who  was 
attending  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  Catholic  laborers,  and  had 
promised  the  travellers  a  comfortable  resting-place. 

Mrs.  Ingle  told  the  Sisters  they  were  the  first  Catholics  she 
had  seen  for  several  years  except  her  sister  who  visited  her  at  rare 
intervals ;  and  she  begged  them  to  stop  with  her  a  few  hours, 
pleading  that  it  was  almost  time  for  the  noon-day  meal,  and  that 
she  wanted  her  husband  and  little  ones  to  meet  them.  The  Sisters, 
delighted  to  find  a  Catholic  family  in  the  midst  of  the  wilderness, 
cheerfully  consented  to  stay  to  dinner,  and  in  the  meanwhile  to 
make  the  acquaintance  of  Mrs.  Ingle's  interesting  family.  But 
their  visit  was  a  very  short  one,  and  they  departed  bearing  an 
urgent  invitation  to  Father  Morgan  to  visit  the  plantation. 

There  were  seven  children,  three  boys  and  four  girls,  ranging 
in  age  from  two  years  to  eleven.  There  was  sturdy,  blue-eyed  John, 
his  mother's  own  right-hand  man ;  then  came  Mary,  the  oldest 
daughter,  with  a  dignity  and  womanliness  far  beyond  her  nine 
years ;  next  came  Dan,  rollicking  Dan,  always  in  mischief,  always 
in  rags  and  always  in  a  good  humor,  followed  by  his  unfailing 
shadow,  Lucy.  The  twins,  William  and  Annie,  aged  four,  and 
two-year-old  Minnie  completed  the  group.  Three  of  the  children 
had  never  been  baptized,  as  they  had  arrived  since  their  mother's 
last  "  trip  to  town,"  and  consequently,  it  is  easy  to  surmise  that 
not  one  of  the  little  ones  had  ever  been  to  confession,  nor  had 
Mrs.  Ingle  herself  been  able  to  receive  the  Sacraments  for  about 
five  years. 

The  plantation  into  which  we  have  so  unceremoniously  intro- 
duced ourselves  was  in  the  "backwoods"  of  Alabama,  at  least 
eighty  miles  from  a  city  large  enough  or  advanced  enough  in  civil- 
ization to  support  a  Catholic  mission ;  and  as  there  was  no  railroad 
as  yet  nearer  than  fifty  miles,  it  can  be  readily  understood  that 


818  A  SUNDAY  ON   THE  SIPSEY  RI^ER. 

Mrs.  Ingle's  visits  to  church  were  laborious  journeys.  She  had 
no  trustworthy  person  with  whom  to  leave  the  older  children  dur- 
ing a  long  absence,  their  grand-parents  being  too  feeble  to  under- 
take such  a  heavy  responsibility ;  and  a  trip  of  fifty  miles  over 
rough  country  roads,  then  thirty  more  in  the  steam-cars,  with  a 
houseful  of  small  children  to  care  for,  is  not  an  experience  many 
women  can  contemplate  with  any  degree  of  equanimity.  When 
there  was  only  one  baby,  it  was  easy  enough  to  get  to  her  Easter 
duty ;  when  there  were  three  or  four,  it  was  barely  possible ;  but 
when  the  fifth  and  sixth  little  strangers  put  in  a  simultaneous 
appearance,  the  poor  mother's  heart  failed  entirely,  and  she  had 
been  praying  ever  since  that  some  good  missionary  priest-  might 
find  his  way  to  that  part  of  the  Lord's  vineyard  and  visit  her 
desolate  little  flock. 

Had  her  husband  been  a  Catholic,  it  would  no  doubt  have 
been  an  easy  matter  to  arrange  for  the  visit  of  some  zealous  priest 
in  one  of  the  nearer  cities,  or  to  have  had  the  children  taken  to 
church  and  to  the  Sacraments ;  but  he  was  not  a  member  of  the 
Church  and  although  a  good,  kind  husband  and  father,  he  could 
not  appreciate  the  great  importance  Catholics  attach  to  the  observ- 
ance of  their  religious  duties.  He  was  fond  of  saying  that  his 
wife  was  the  best  and  kindest  woman  in  the  world,  even  though 
she  did  not  go  to  camp-meetings  and  revivals  as  her  neighbors 
did ;  and  that  she  was  bringing  up  her  children  to  say  their 
prayers  and  do  their  duty ;  and  how  could  any  one  do  better  than 
that  if  she  lived  next  door  to  church  and  went  to  meeting  every 
day? 

And  she,  poor  woman,  happy  in  his  love  and  approval,  kept 
hidden  in  her  heart  the  bitter  loneliness  and  pain  and  discourage- 
ment which  have  little  solace  in  this  world  save  in  the  life-giving 
Sacraments ;  and  so  she  lived  from  day  to  day  hoping  for  a  better 
time.  The  prospect  of  a  new  railroad  through  their  own  county 
was  welcomed  as  a  rainbow  of  promise ;  and  the  sight  of  the 
white  bonnets  that  "  went  flippetty-flap  "  was  like  a  message  from 
home. 


A  SUNDAY  ON    THE  SIPSEY  RIVER.  819 

II. 

A  few  days  after  the  flitting  of  the  white  cornettes,  a  solitary 
horseman  was  seen  wending  his  way  towards  Mrs.  Ingle's  hospi- 
table home.  He  was  a  man  of  middle  age,  perhaps  a  little  older  ; 
for  many  a  silver  thread  glistened  among  the  thick  raven  locks 
which  crowned  his  shapely  head,  and  a  few  deep-lined  furrows 
marked  his  brow ;  but  these  might  have  been  written  by  care 
rather  than  age ;  for  his  form  was  erect  and  stalwart,  his  com- 
plexion, bronzed  by  exposure  to  the  sun,  was  of  a  healthy  ruddi- 
ness betokening  strength  and  activity ;  and  his  hazel  eyes  were 
bright  and  piercing,  with  all  the  vivacity  of  youth.  As  he  rode 
steadily  on,  he  gazed  around  him  with  no  little  curiosity  and 
interest,  seeming  to  recognize  the  place,,  as  in  truth  he  did,  but 
only  from  the  accurate  description  given  him  by  the  good  Sisters ; 
for  as  the  reader  has  doubtless  surmised,  this  was  no  other  than 
Father  Morgan  on  his  errand  of  charity  to  this  little  flock  so 
strangely  found  in  the  wilderness. 

The  dwelling  was  similar  to  thousands  occupied  by  families 
in  moderate  circumstances  throughout  the  rural  districts  of  the 
South.  It  consisted  of  a  double  log-cabin,  having  two  rooms  on 
either  side  of  a  wide  open  hall ;  a  single  log-cabin  on  one  side  a 
little  back  of  the  main  building  served  as  a  kitchen,  and  in  cold 
weather  also  did  service  as  a  dining-room.  The  house  was 
weather-boarded  and  covered  by  a  sloping  gable  roof,  which  pro- 
jected far  enough  front  and  back  to  protect  wide  rustic  verandas. 

A  few  rude  attempts  at  ornamentation  were  visible,  but  it 
was  quite  evident  that  between  the  chickens,  the  children,  and  an 
occasional  marauder  from  the  pig-pen  or  stable,  it  was  a  forlorn 
hope  to  try  to  keep  the  yard  more  than  passably  decent ;  and  Mrs. 
Ingle's  efforts  at  horticulture  had  at  last  been  confined  to  the 
vegetable  garden,  of  which  she  was  justly  proud,  and  which  was 
in  fact  renowned  for  miles  around  as  producing  the  earliest  and 
best  vegetables  and  the  sweetest  herbs  in  all  the  county.  The 
house  was  surrounded  by  giant  old  trees  which  spread  their  pro- 
tecting branches  high  above  the  weather-beaten  cabin,  and  had 
sheltered  the  denizens  of  the  forest  for  many  a  year  before  the 


82O  A  SUNDAY  ON   THE  S1PSEY  RIl/ER. 

woodman's  ax  had  wakened  the  echoes  of  their  wild-wood  home. 
An  unusual  degree  of  comfort  was  apparent  in  the  surroundings 
of  this  little  home,  humble  as  its  description  may  appear  to  those 
accustomed  to  the  more  pretentious  modes  of  city  life,  owing  to 
the  fact  that  Mr.  Ingle's  parents  had  settled  here  fifty  years 
before,  when  the  surrounding  country  was  an  untrodden  wilder- 
ness. They  had  brought  with  them  notions  of  thrift  and  economy 
learned  in  a  less  genial  clime,  instilled  the  same  severe  principles 
of  sturdy  industry  into  their  children,  and  gradually  accumulated 
around  them  the  comforts  of  a  long  established  home. 

This  is  the  class  of  Southerners  least  understood  by  the 
majority  of  their  Northern  brethren,  or  it  might  be  better  to  say 
least  known  to  them,  because  so  seldom  portrayed  by  our  writers. 
With  a  standard  of  aristocracy  dependent  neither  on  the  depth  of 
their  purses,  nor  on  the  number  of  their  slaves,  nor  on  genera- 
tions of  blue-blooded  ancestors,  these  are  the  men  that  stood  in  the 
breach  when  all  seemed  lost,  and  built  upon  the  ruins  of  the  old 
order  a  stronger  and  more  enduring  civilization.  These  are  the 
real  architects  of  what  is  so  vaguely  known  as  the  "  New  South." 

Perhaps  some  such  thoughts  as  these  flashed  through  Father 
Morgan's  mind  as  he  ascended  the  gentle  slope  leading  to  the 
house,  but  philosophical  reflections  were  put  to  flight  by  the 
greeting  which  awaited  him.  All  the  children  led  by  their 
mother  were  in  a  group  at  the  open  gate — we  may  remark  in 
passing  that  such  a  thing  as  a  closed  gate  seldom  greets  a  visitor 
in  the  South — and  their  smiling  faces  gave  evidence,  were  any 
needed,  of  the  joy  with  which  they  bade  him  welcome.  The  irre- 
pressible Dan,  with  an  awkward  jerk  at  his  ragged  cap,  sprang  to 
the  horse's  head,  while  John  waited  to  carry  in  the  saddle-bags. 
The  priest  saluted  Mrs.  Ingle  with  a  hearty  "God  bless  you,  my 
child,"  and  she  led  the  way  to  the  porch,  saying  that  she  would 
introduce  the  children  after  he  had  a  chance  to  breathe. 

As  they  ascended  the  steps  leading  to  the  front  porch,  Father 
Morgan  stopped  to  enjoy  the  view.  Stretched  around  them  was 
an  ever-varying  expanse  of  meadows  and  hills ;  facing  the  south, 
they  could  see  from  the  limit  of  the  horizon  one  hill  after  another, 


A  SUNDAY  ON    THE  SIPSEY  RI^ER.  821 

crowned  with  its  inevitable  wreath  of  sombre  pines  or  scraggy 
cedars,  toning  gradually  down  into  the  warmer  tints  of  the  valley 
below.  The  road  over  which  the  traveller  had  come  was  visible 
for  several  miles,  save  where  it  was  hidden  by  the  thicket  which 
skirted  the  lazy  looking  stream  winding  its  way  between  the  hills. 
On  one  side  of  the  road  was  an  immense  field  of  corn,  its  yellow 
tassels  waving  to  and  fro  like  billows  of  molten  gold ;  on  the 
other  side  uprose  a  forest  of  cotton  plants,  with  their  variegated 
blossoms,  their  emerald  bolls  and  snowy  fruit.  To  the  east  the 
ground  gradually  rose  and  the  road  was  lost  among  the  thickly 
wooded  hills ;  while  to  the  north  a  dense  forest  of  stately  pines 
and  massive  oaks  formed  a  fitting  background  for  the  home  known 
to  all  the  country  round  as  "  Ingle's  Rest." 

"  Yes,  it  is  very  beautiful,"  said  Mrs.  Ingle,  in  reply  to  the 
look  of  admiration  excited  by  the  magnificent  view  spread  before 
them.  "  When  I  first  came  here,  I  thought  I  would  never  grow 
weary  of  gazing  at  it ;  now  I  seldom  notice  it,  but  if  I  were  to 
go  away,  no  doubt  I  would  miss  it  very  much." 

"  That  is  the  way  with  many  of  our  blessings ;  we  grow  so 
used  to  them,  that  we  forget  their  presence.  Our  Lord  has  given 
you  a  lovely  home,  my  child." 

"Yes,  Father,  He  has  been  very  good  to  me,"  replied  the 
mother,  as  she  glanced  involuntarily  at  the  group  of  children,  who 
crowded  together  like  a  flock  of  sheep  following  the  priest  with 
looks  of  timid  reverence  and  lively  curiosity. 

He  smiled  and  laid  his  hand  upon  the  head  of  the  nearest, 
Lucy. 

"I  am 'afraid  you  will  find  them  terrible  little  savages, 
Father,"  said  Mrs.  Ingle.  "  It  is  so  hard  to  teach  them  in  this 
wilderness,  so  far  from  church  and  school.  And  yet  if  we 
could  only  have  a  priest  to  visit  us  now  and  then,  I  would  be  very 
happy  here." 

Upon  examination,  Father  Morgan  found  them  much  better 
instructed  than  he  had  dared  to  hope,  and  as  this  was  Friday, 
it  was  agreed  that  the  next  day  should  be  devoted  to  their 
further  instruction  and  to  their  first  confession,  and  that  Mass 


822  A  SUNDAY  ON   THE  SIPSEY  RIVER. 

should   be   celebrated   privately  in    the    best    room    on    Sunday 
morning. 

III. 

Mr.  Ingle  was  away  from  home  on  a  distant  part  of  the  farm 
when  Father  Morgan  arrived,  but  he  returned  in  time  to  welcome 
the  guest  to  the  evening  meal. 

He  was  a  tall,  slender  man,  with  somewhat  of  the  weather- 
beaten  look  frequently  found  in  men  whose  lives  are  passed  in 
laborious  out-door  occupations.  His  eyes  were  dark-blue,  with  a 
genial,  kindly  expression,  but  his  other  features  were  sharp,  and 
betokened  a  high-strung  nervous  temperament.  He  welcomed  the 
priest  with  great  cordiality,  and  seemed  most  anxious  to  render  his 
stay  pleasant.  Father  Morgan  conceived  a  great  liking  for 
this  plain,  unpretending  farmer,  and  in  a  few  moments  they  were 
chatting  like  old  friends. 

John  Ingle  was  a  man  of  solid  good  sense,  and  though  the 
circumstances  of  his  early  life  had  prevented  him  from  acquiring 
a  fine  education,  he  had  picked  up  considerable  general  informa- 
tion. His  mind  was  liberal,  his  judgment  sound,  and  he  was 
capable  of  sustaining  an  intelligent  conversation.  He  was  much 
pleased  with  his  guest,  who  had  in  a  high  degree  the  faculty  so 
essential  to  all  who  desire  to  do  good,  and  to  none  more  than  to 
the  minister  of  Christ,  of  making  himself  all  things  to  all  men  and 
of  accommodating  himself  gracefully  to  all  circumstances.  Their 
talk  naturally  drifted  to  the  subject  of  religion. 

"  When  I  married  my  wife,"  said  Mr.  Ingle,  "  she  belonged 
to  the  Catholic  religion :  I  belonged  to  none.  It  seemed  to  me, 
that  if  either  of  us  changed  our  faith,  it  ought  to  be  the  one  who 
was  not  yet  a  member  of  any  church.  If  I  had  been  a  Catholic, 
and  she  a  member  of  no  denomination,  I  would  have  wished  her 
to  become  a  Catholic — providing  of  course  she  could  believe  in 
that  religion  ;  and  I  have  always  thought  that  were  I  ever  to  unite 
with  any  church,  it  would  be  the  one  that  my  wife  belongs  to  ; 
but — "  here  he  paused  and  a  look  of  embarrassment  came  over  his 
face,  as  if  he  feared  he  had  said  too  much — "  but  you  will  think 
me  very  foolish,  Mr. — Father  Morgan." 


A  SUNDAY  ON    THE  SIPSEY  RIVER.  823 

"Not  at  all,  my  friend,"  said  the  priest  smiling.  "And 
while  I  am  not  sure  of  the  soundness  of  your  doctrine  carried  out 
to  its  ultimate  conclusions,  I  admire  the  generous  spirit  which 
prompts  it.  You  very  justly  conclude  that  it  would  be  unfair  to 
wish  any  one  to  give  up  certain  convictions  for  uncertainty ;  yet 
how  do  you  know  that  your  wife's  faith  would  satisfy  you  ?  Or 
why  do  you  not  at  once  embrace  it  ?" 

"  There  are  many  things  about  the  Catholic  religion  that  I 
like,  but  there  are  a  few  I  find  very  hard  to  accept.  I  have 
learned  a  great  deal  about  it  by  helping  to  teach  the  children  their 
catechism  and  we  have  read  several  Catholic  books  together  during 
the  long  winter  evenings.  I  confess  I  could  see  nothing  in  them 
to  object  to.  But  sometimes  I  think  I  can  be  just  as  good  a 
Christian  without  binding  myself  to  observe  the  rules  of  any 
church." 

"  Speaking  of  being  a  Christian,  of  course  you  believe  in  our 
Lord  and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ?" 

"I  do,  most  assuredly,  and  in  the  truths  taught  in  His 
Gospel." 

"  Well,  has  it  never  occurred  to  you  that  there  must  be  some 
meaning  in  these  words  :  Re  that  will  not  hear  the  Church,  let  him 
be  to  you  as  the  heathen  and  the  publican  f  And  again  speaking 
of  those  whom  He  had  commissioned  to  teach  the  nations,  He 
said  :  He  that  heareth  you,  heareth  Me  ;  and  he  that  despiseth  you, 
despiseth  Me.  Now  how  can  you  either  hear  or  refuse  to  hear  a 
body  of  men,  as  coming  to  you  with  the  divine  commission  of 
Christ,  unless  they  can  show  in  a  clear  and  unmistakable  manner 
that  they  are  the  direct  successors  of  those  men  to  whom  He  gave 
this  mission,  and  to  whom  He  gave  power  that  was  to  last  until 
the  consummation  of  the  world.  And  yet  you  are  commanded  to 
hear  them  under  the  penalty  of  eternal  punishment.  Do  any  of 
your  ministers  even  attempt  to  claim  for  themselves  an  authority 
coming  to  them  directly  from  the  Apostles  of  Christ  ?" 

"  None  of  those  with  whom  I  have  talked  have  ever  seemed 
to  think  there  was  any  necessity  of  making  such  a  claim,  and 
some  of  them  have  said  to  me  when  I  asked  upon  what  they  based 


824  A  SUNDAY  ON    THE  SIPSEY  RIVER. 

their  claim  to  be  able  to  teach  and  to  expound  the  Scripture,  that 
they  had  felt  in  their  hearts  the  unmistakable  inspiration  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  This  would  never  satisfy  me,  and  I  have  studied 
as  far  as  my  limited  means  would  permit  the  history  of  the  various 
denominations.  I  can  not  trace  any  of  them  back  to  the  time  of 
Christ :  I  am  told  that  some  Episcopalians  make  the  claim  of 
descent  from  the  Apostles,  but  I  do  not  think  they  can  prove  their 
claim.  But,  Father,  I  am  not  learned  enough  to  be  able  to  decide 
such  questions ;  and  the  more  I  study  the  more  I  feel  this.  But 
I  must  confess  also,  that  the  more  I  study  and  inform  myself,  the 
more  I  am  convinced  that  the  hatred  felt  towards  the  Catholic 
Church  by  my  neighbors  and  by  many  good  people  all  over  the 
country  is  caused,  at  least  to  a  great  extent,  by  ignorance." 

"  There  is  no  doubt  of  that,  my  friend,  and  there  is  no  doubt 
that  it  would  take  a  long  life-time  to  study  the  arguments  which 
are  brought  up  for  and  against  this  or  that  doctrine.  The  man 
who  disputes  with  you  will  be  often  very  much  like  '  the  Irish- 
man's flea/  just  when  you  think  you  are  sure  of  him,  off  he  goes 
and  renews  the  attack  in  an  entirely  different  place ;  and  your 
labor  is  thrown  away.  The  only  way  to  study  this  question  is 
first  of  all  with  earnest  prayer  to  beg  of  God  to  enlighten  your 
mind  and  to  pour  into  your  heart  the  spirit  of  His  love,  which 
will  make  you  willing  and  anxious  to  do  His  holy  will ;  then  take 
up  a  simple  line  of  argument  which  I  will  point  out  to  you. 
Keep  to  this  one  question :  Where  is  the  Church  which  Jesus 
founded  and  which  He  commanded  all  men  to  hear  ?  Christ  is 
God ;  He  promised  that  His  Church  should  never  fail ;  and  that 
He  would  be  with  her  all  days,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world ;  His 
word  must  be  true,  for  God  cannot  be  the  author  of  falsehood,  and 
this  Church  must  have  been  through  all  these  ages  a  visible  body 
teaching  with  authority.  Whatever  I  can  do  to  assist  you,  I  will 
do  with  all  my  heart." 

"  Thank  you  very  much,  and  I  hope  you  will  not  be  ashamed 
of  your  pupil.  But  will  you  not  preach  for  us  while  you  are 
here?  I  suppose  you  would  rather  hold  your  communion  service 
in  private ;  but  as  we  always  have  a  houseful  here  on  Sunday,  if 


A  SUNDAY  ON   THE  SIPSEY  RIl/ER.  825 

you  will  preach  for  us,  I  am  sure  that  we  can  promise  you  a  big 
congregation." 

So  it  was  agreed  upon  that  there  was  to  be  preaching  in  the 
afternoon ;  and  the  news  of  the  presence  of  a  Catholic  priest 
spread  like  wild-fire  through  the  neighborhood. 

IV. 

Sunday  morning  dawned  warm  and  sultry.  Not  a  breath  of 
air  seemed  to  stir  the  branches  of  the  trees,  and  everything  betok- 
ened a  day  of  unusual  heat.  The  summers  in  the  latitude  of  north- 
ern Alabama  are  not  by  any  means  so  warm  as  most  strangers 
expect  to  find  them,  and  at  Ingle's  Rest  there  was  rarely  a  mid- 
summer night  which  was  not  cool  and  refreshing ;  so  that  this 
sultry  morning  was  to  the  minds  of  the  weather-wise  a  sure  token 
of  an  approaching  storm. 

At  an  early  hour  the  whole  family  was  astir.  Father  Mor- 
gan was  walking  up  and  down  reading  his  breviary  or  engaged  in 
meditation ;  Mary  was  helping  to  dress  the  little  ones  in  their 
Sunday  clothes,  while  Lucy  and  her  mother  were  busy  arranging 
the  room  in  which  Mass  was  to  be  said.  As  Mrs.  Ingle  had  spent 
several  years  of  her  youth  in  a  convent  school,  she  knew  all  about 
the  requirements  of  the  sanctuary.  She  had  no  parlor  to  use  as  a 
chapel ;  for  the  best  room  in  a  log-cabin  is  generally  the  guest- 
chamber  ;  and  if  it  has  not  more  than  one  bed  in  it,  the  guest  may 
consider  himself  fortunate. 

The  room  then  assigned  to  the  priest  was  the  place  selected 
as  the  chapel  on  this  happy  occasion  ;  and  ever  after  it  was  known 
in  the  family  by  this  name.  It  was  a  large  square  chamber ; 
instead  of  being  plastered,  it  was  ceiled  with  smooth  boards  which 
had  been  painted  white.  An  ornamental  border  of  many-colored 
paneling  ran  around  the  upper  edge  of  the  side  walls  and  the  edge 
of  the  ceiling  giving  a  very  lively,  if  not  strictly  artistic,  appear- 
ance to  the  interior.  An  immense  star  with  eight  points,  each  of 
a  different  shade,  was  painted  in  the  middle  of  the  ceiling,  and 
from  the  centre  of  this  variegated  star  was  suspended  a  pretty 
hanging-lamp  used  only  on  high  and  mighty  occasions. 


826  A  SUNDAY  ON   THE  SIPSEY  RIl/ER. 

It  was  afterwards  explained  to  Father  Morgan  who,  we  must 
admit,  had  some  little  quiet  curiosity  on  the  subject,  that  the  orna- 
mentation of  this  room  was  the  work  of  a  travelling  artist  from 
New  England  who  had  spent  some  weeks  with  the  family ;  and 
feeling  the  time  hang  heavy  on  his  hands,  had  asked  permission 
to  exercise  his  skill  on  their  best  room,  with  results  highly  grati- 
fying to  his  professional  pride.  To  the  simple  country  folk  in 
the  neighborhood  it  was  a  marvel  of  beauty,  and  the  artist  had 
received  invitations  without  number  to  prolong  his  stay  among 
them. 

The  furniture  was  very  simple.  One  corner  was  occupied 
by  a  large  double  bed  ;  an  old-fashioned  wardrobe  stood  in  another 
corner.  A  bureau  of  home  manufacture,  stained  with  walnut 
juice  and  highly  polished  by  incessant  rubbing,  a  small  washstand 
and  a  few  chairs  completed  the  list  of  necessary  articles.  An 
immense  fire-place  filled  one  side  of  the  room ;  in  front  of  this 
was  a  very  tall  mantel-piece,  above  which  hung  a  sweet  picture 
of  Raphael's  Madonna  Delia  Sedia — only  a  chromo  but  a  good 
one — surrounded  by  a  wreath  of  colored  grasses.  On  either  side 
stood  china  candle-sticks  holding  wax  candles.  The  mantel-piece 
was  also  the  receptacle  of  numerous  small  articles,  books,  pictures, 
and  dainty  trifles  put  up  there  out  of  the  reach  of  destructive  baby 
fingers. 

Father  Morgan  said  he  could  manage  nicely  in  this  pretty 
room,  as  he  called  it,  to  the  great  delight  of  the  children ;  and 
early  Saturday  morning  they  were  out  scouring  the  woods  in 
search  of  flowers  to  decorate  the  altar.  Mosses,  leaves  and  blos- 
soms were  all  called  into  requisition  to  form  a  bower  of  beauty 
for  the  Guest  Who  was  to  honor  this  humble  chapel  with  His 
presence ;  and  the  good  priest  declared  that  he  had  never  seen  an 
altar  more  lovingly  prepared.  The  bureau,  which  had  a  flat  top 
and  a  movable  mirror,  was  used  ;  a  snowy  cloth,  a  crucifix,  candles, 
a  small  bowl,  a  towel,  and  two  glass  bottles  which  did  service  as 
cruets,  were  supplied  by  the  provident  housewife ;  and  the  priest, 
who  was  equipped  for  the  missions,  furnished  everything  else 
required  for  the  celebration  of  Holy  Mass. 


A  SUNDAY  ON   THE  SIPSEY  RIVER.  827 

And  before  this  humble  altar  the  family  gathered  in  the  early 
morning  to  assist  at  the  Holy  Sacrifice,  the  same  clean  oblation 
which  is  offered  up  from  the  rising  to  the  setting  of  the  sun  on  the 
grand  altars  of  marble  basilicas  or  on  rustic  altars  in  savage 
wilds,  with  the  sky  for  a  canopy  and  the  mossy  ground  for  a 
carpet. 

It  were  useless  to  attempt  to  picture  the  feelings  of  the  Cath- 
olic wife  and  mother  who  for  so  many  years  had  been  deprived  of 
the  sacred  privilege  of  hearing  Mass  and  receiving  Holy  Commu- 
nion, or  to  describe  the  reverent  awe  and  curiosity  of  the  little 
ones.  Mr.  Ingle  too  followed  the  services  with  great  respect  and 
attention,  and  two  of  the  servants  were  present. 

After  Mass,  breakfast  was  served,  consisting  of  snowy  bis- 
cuit with  fresh  honey,  golden  cornbread  and  fried  chicken ;  and 
all  did  justice  to  the  substantial  meal.  During  the  forenoon,  the 
children  had  a  half-hour's  instruction  and  the  three  younger  ones 
were  baptized.  Not  a  word  escaped  Mr.  Ingle's  attentive  ear. 
Indeed,  Father  Morgan  was  surprised  at  the  avidity  with  which 
he  seemed  to  devour  instruction,  and  many  fervent  prayers  rose 
up  from  the  heart  of  the  zealous  missionary  that  his  words  might 
bear  good  fruit  in  the  soul  of  this  honest  man. 

V. 

Before  eleven  o'clock,  a  regular  caravan  of  country  vehicles 
appeared.  It  was  amusing  to  watch  the  variety  of  turnouts. 
First  came  a  huge  market-wagon  drawn  by  a  team  of  oxen.  The 
wheels  were  made  of  sections  of  big  trees  and  the  wagon  was 
ponderous  in  the  extreme.  It  advanced  at  a  funeral  pace,  with 
mournful  creakings  and  meanings ;  but  the  clatter  of  tongues 
underneath  the  white  canvas  cover  had  a  more  festive  sound. 

This  primitive  vehicle  brought  the  family  of  John  Tucker, 
one  of  Ingle's  tenants,  who  lived  about  a  mile  from  the  home,  in  a 
cabin  in  the  bottom  lands ;  there  were  the  father,  mother,  four 
sons  and  two  daughters.  When  they  reached  the  gate,  they 
found  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ingle  there  to  welcome  them,  and  the  empty- 
ing of  the  wagon  was  accompanied  by  vociferous  "  how  d'ye's " 


828  A  SUNDAY  ON    THE  SIPSEY  RIVER. 

and  cordial  hand-shaking  on  the  part  of  the  men  and  boys,  while 
Mrs.  Ingle  and  all  the  children  affectionately  kissed  the  mother 
and  daughters. 

Scarcely  were  these  visitors  welcomed  when  Dan  and  Lucy, 
who  seemed  to  be  perpetually  stationed  on  the  outposts,  announced 
the  coming  of  "Aunt  Mattie."  A  smart-looking  double-seated 
buggy,  drawn  by  two  large  mules,  drove  up ;  and  Mr.  Ingle's 
sister,  a  fine-looking  woman  of  about  twenty-five,  and  three  small 
children  under  five  years  old,  were  handed  out  by  her  husband 
Tom  Murray,  a  young  man  of  her  own  age.  The  little  ones  were 
instantly  seized  by  their  cousins  and  a  procession  made  its  way  to 
the  house,  consisting  of  Mrs.  Ingle  carrying  the  youngest  of  the 
newly-arrived,  Mrs.  Murray  with  little  Minnie  in  her  arms,  Mary 
and  Lucy  each  bending  under  the  weight  of  a  little  cousin,  then 
the  twins  following  hand-in-hand,  looking  as  if  they  hardly  knew 
what  to  make  of  all  the  hub-bub. 

The  boys  were  off  with  their  father  and  Uncle  Tom  and  a 
colored  man  to  the  barn  to  see  to  the  welfare  of  the  live-stock ; 
and  ere  they  returned  three  more  arrivals  had  taken  place,  swell- 
ing the  number  of  self-invited  guests  to  more  than  a  score.  There 
was  another  uncle,  with  his  wife  and  two  sons,  who  came  in  a 
market-wagon  drawn  by  one  large  work-horse,  Mr.  Sykcr  *nd  his 
half-grown  son  on  an  old  gray  horse,  Mr.  Brown  with  his  wife 
and  two  daughters  in  a  two-wheeled  wagon  drawn  by  one  lone 
steer.  All  these  were  received  with  warm  and  hearty  greetings, 
while  later  in  the  day  a  large  number  of  the  farm-hands  and 
tenants  living  within  walking  distance  put  in  their  appearance, 
drawn  together  by  the  rumor  that  they  would  have  a  chance  to 
listen  to  the  preaching  of  a  Catholic  priest. 

The  married  ladies  repaired  with  Mrs.  Ingle  to  the  kitchen 
and  dining-room,  where  amid  an  endless  clatter  of  dishes  and 
tongues  the  noon-day  meal  was  prepared. 

The  boys  and  girls  gathered  together  on  the  shadiest  veranda, 
not  in  couples,  as  is  customary  in  more  civilized  parts  of  the 
world,  but  in  two  groups  :  the  girls  on  one  side,  all  huddled 
together  as  if  leaning  upon  one  another  for  support,  and  the  boys 


A  SUNDAY  ON   THE  SIPSEY  RIVER.  829 

sitting  or  standing  in  awkward,  constrained  attitudes  at  a  respect- 
ful distance.  There  was  very  little  conversation ;  now  and  then 
an  unusually  bright  remark  from  one  of  the  boys  evoked  a  titter 
of  laughter  on  the  part  of  the  girls  and  the  poor  victim  of  their 
ridicule  subsided,  hanging  his  head  and  flushing  painfully. 
Finally  some  one  ventured  to  broach  a  subject  of  universal 
interest,  the  preaching  they  expected  to  hear  from  the  Catholic 
priest  after  dinner.  A  few  whispered  remarks  as  to  the  impres- 
sion produced  upon  different  ones  by  the  appearance  of  the 
stranger  served  to  break  the  ice  ;  and  in  a  few  moments  the  more 
intelligent  of  the  young  people  were  engaged  in  an  earnest  discus- 
sion in  low  and  guarded  tones,  the  general  opinion  expressed  being 
that  it  was  a  pity  such  a  fine-looking  man  should  be  a  "  Romish  " 
priest,  and  that  it  was  strange  any  one  as  nice  as  "Aunt  Mary,"  as 
Mrs.  Ingle  was  affectionately  called  by  most  of  the  young  people, 
who  were  more  or  less  connected  with  the  family,  could  bear  to 
belong  to  such  a  "  horrid  "  Church. 

Meanwhile  the  older  men,  making  themselves  quite  at  home 
in  the  best  room,  were  getting  acquainted  with  the  priest.  They 
were  all  countrymen  of  limited  education ;  but  the  ease  and  sim- 
ple good  sense  with  which  they  conversed  was  astonishing,  the 
more  so  from  the  fact  that  in  the  presence  of  women  they  would 
have  been  awkward  and  tongue-tied. 

There  was  to  a  keen  observer  a  strained  appearance  in  their 
manner  of  greeting  the  stranger :  indeed  one  or  two  of  them  took 
no  part  in  the  conversation  merely  listening  with  evident  mistrust 
— these  were  the  pillars  of  the  local  religious  associations — but  in 
general  the  demeanor  towards  Father  Morgan  showed  a  determi- 
nation to  hide  prejudices  and  to  make  his  visit  as  agreeable  as 
possible.  Had  he  not  possessed  unlimited  tact,  it  would  have  been 
easy  to  precipitate  a  warm  and  disagreeable  religious  discussion ; 
but  with  the  skill  of  a  master  he  directed  their  talk  into  safe  and 
pleasant  channels,  effacing  himself  in  the  effort  to  draw  out  the 
best  qualities  of  his  companions.  Cunning  Father  Morgan  !  he 
was  only  biding  his  time. 

About  one  o'clock  dinner  was  announced.    The  table  stretched 


830  READING  FOR   THE  SOUL'S  COMFORT. 

to  its  utmost  limits  accommodated  only  about  half  the  guests,  so 
that  two  dinners  had  to  be  served,  and  some  of  the  young  people 
were  pressed  into  service  to  help  dispense  the  bounties  of  the 
Sunday  dinner.  The  food  was  plain,  substantial  and  plentiful. 
There  were  pot-pies  and  cold  pies  and  custard  pies,  bacon  and 
greens,  a  variety  of  fresh  vegetables,  pickles  and  preserves,  fresh 
milk  and  buttermilk,  and  home-made  beer.  The  elasticity  oi 
country  kitchens  and  country  beds  is  proverbial,  but  Father  Mor- 
gan thought  he  had  never  seen  more  hearty  and  generous  hospi- 
tality than  that  displayed  by  these  "  back-woods  "  people.  Mrs. 
Ingle  flitting  here  and  there  with  her  calico  dress  protected  by  a 
large  gingham  apron,  her  sleeves  partially  rolled  up,  arranging 
everything  with  her  own  hands- — for  she  trusted  only  the  roughest 
work  to  the  servants — was  the  picture  of  cheerful  and  cordial 
welcome,  and  the  sight  of  her  pleasant  face  and  bright  smile 
seemed  to  add  an  indescribable  flavor  to  the  good  things  prepared 
for  her  guests. 

Dinner  over,  all  adjourned  to  the  yard  in  front  of  the  house, 
where  seats  were  hastily  improvised  under  the  trees,  and  Father 
Morgan  took  his  stand  upon  the  front  porch.  The  children  were 
clustered  together  on  the  steps,  an  attentive  group,  an  occasional 
whisper  or  giggle  from  the  younger  ones  being  sternly  silenced  by 
older  sisters  and  brothers  ;  indeed  the  Ingle  babies  seemed  to  stand 
in  as  much  awe  of  Mary  as  of  their  mother,  and  the  grave,  author- 
itative air  with  which  she  accepted  the  task  of  managing  them 
sat  strangely  upon  so  young  a  girl. 


READING  FOR  THE  SOUL'S  COMFORT. 
By  the  Rev.  Thomas  Hughes,  S.J. 

II. 

r  I  AHE  direct  source  of  all  our  enlightenment  is  God  Incarnate. 

This  too  is  the  subject  of  all  our  spiritual  reading.     It  is, 

besides,  the  object  more  or  less  direct  of  all  else  that  we 

read,  know,  do,  or  suifer.     If  He  is  our  health  and  our  life,  then 


READING  FOR   THE  SOUL'S  COMFORT.  831 

all  our  desires  and  our  efforts  must  gravitate  towards  Christ.  It  is 
little  to  say  this  of  ourselves  alone.  All  who  have  ever  lived  have 
instinctively  gravitated  towards  Him,  whether  they  knew  it  or  not. 
For  in  Him  the  treasures  of  mankind  were  deposited  from  the  first, 
as  belonging  to  Him,  and  in  His  gift  to  dispense  unto  us.  All  the 
Scriptures  speak  of  Christ.  Before  He  came,  the  hearts  of  men 
turned  towards  Him,  Who  was  yet  to  come  in  the  fulness  of  grace 
and  truth ;  and,  whatever  else  they  craved,  it  was  implicitly  Him- 
self they  desired  in  all.  When  He  had  come  and  was  seen  at 
last  among  men,  all  the  New  Testament  revolved  about  Him  ;  and 
in  it  we  study  Him.  When  He  had  ascended  into  heaven,  taking 
with  Him  our  captivity  captive,  whatever  followed  and  is  to 
follow,  must  turn  to  Him,  as  the  flower  buds  forth,  and  the  world 
glows,  and  mankind  breathes  in  the  light  of  the  sun.  Thus  St. 
Gregory,  explaining  how  the  whole  Providence  of  God  over  the 
world  centres  in  Christ,  applies  happily  to  this  matter  the  beauti- 
ful scene  of  Christ's  entering  Jerusalem  on  Palm  Sunday,  when 
all  those  who  went  before  in  the  joyous  procession,  and  those  who 
pressed  around  Him,  and  the  others  who  followed,  joined  alike  in 
one  and  the  same  refrain :  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David ! 
Whether  they  will  or  no,  the  hearts  of  all  men  are  responsive 
to  only  one  melody ;  and  that  is  the  canticle  of  the  Messias 
coming,  and  of  the  Redeemer  ascending,  and  of  the  Bridegroom 
returning. 

Being  the  very  brightness  of  the  Father,  the  Mirror  of  God's 
Majesty,  and  the  Sun  of  Justice,  He  is  quite  enough  for  us ;  as 
the  sun  that  shines  in  the  skies  is  enough  for  the  light  and  the 
warmth  of  this  world.  But  that  sun  in  the  skies  does  not  shine 
upon  us,  only  with  direct  rays.  Its  beams  are  refracted  through 
creatures,  and  reflected  from  them.  It  lends  to  material  things 
various  colors  and  tints,  blending,  forming  and  changing  hues, 
with  degrees  of  lucidity  and  transparency  :  it  creates  the  beautiful 
prospect  in  the  transparent  medium ;  it  reveals  the  opaque  mass 
by  the  laws  of  perspective.  But  all  this  witchery  of  light  adds 
nothing  to  the  illumination  of  the  sun.  It* is  merely  a  derivation 
from  its  beams,  which  are  equal  to  this,  and  much  more  besides 


832  READING  FOR   THE  SOUL'S  COMFORT. 

which  can  afford  to  be  split  up,  divided  and  distributed  among 
fitting  material  subjects,  and  can  show  thereby,  how  many  tints 
and  rays  and  possible  vibrations  the  pure  white  light  contains. 
All  corporeal  creation  is  a  fitting  subject  for  this ;  since  noth- 
ing is  absolutely  black  ;  nothing  is  blank  darkness ;  which  neither 
could  be  seen,  nor  could  even  exist. 

Just  so  is  it  that  the  supernatural  Sun  of  Justice  distributes 
His  rays  amid  the  singularly  varied  forms  and  figures  of  His 
Saints.  He  finds  in  them  a  garden  to  paint  with  the  colors  of  the 
rainbow ;  He  darts  His  rays  upon  them  as  on  a  living  world  of 
winged  thought  and  love,  which  He  plays  with  and  plays  in. 
Transcendently  calm  and  tranquil  Himself  His  beams  tremble  on 
the  heaving,  uneasy  sea  of  human  activity,  and  glance  down  into 
pellucid  depths  of  interior  life ;  and  all  the  while  He  and  His 
glory  are  ever  the  same ;  while  nothing  could  be  more  changing 
with  the  hour,  yea,  and  with  the  moment,  than  these  same  created 
splendors  in  His  Saints.  On  the  side  of  man,  everything  that  is 
lends  its  part  towards  showing  off  the  light  and  love  of  God. 
Sin  is  the  least  and  last  thing  that  is ;  for  it  is  sheer  disorder  and 
perversion  in  the  immortal  soul,  which  ought  to  be  far  otherwise 
than  sin  makes  it  to  be.  Even  the  sinner's  soul  is  singularly  fair 
in  its  possibilities ;  nor  would  it  be  the  horrid  evil  it  is,  but 
because  of  its  conspicuous  capacity  to  be  different  from  what  sin 
makes  it  to  be. 

The  Sun  of  Justice,  we  speak  of,  is  the  life  of  Christ  our 
Lord,  with  its  peculiar  charm  of  being  exactly  like  our  own  life. 
He  was  made  flesh,  and  He  dwelt  among  us.  He  was  seen  among 
men,  and  conversed  with  us.  He  was  in  all  things  made  like  to 
His  brethren,  except  in  sin.  The  Saints  enjoy  the  prerogative  of 
being  most  like  Him.  In  imitation  of  Him,  their  lives  have  been 
most  successfully  raised  to  the  supernatural.  They  show  how 
this  life  of  ours  can  be  elevated  and  most  naturally  so.  Not  more 
naturally  indeed  than  our  Lord  and  His  Blessed  Mother,  still  in 
many  subordinate  ways  have  they  exhibited  the  grace  of  God,  and 
the  character  of  Christ,  and  the  power  of  an  indissoluble  divine 
life,  all  in  a  world  of  most  varied  history,  in  every  walk  of  exist- 


READING  FOR   THE  SOUL'S   COMFORT.  833 

ence,  in  every  vocation  and  avocation,  in  action  and  suffering,  in 
light  and  shade,  with  the  most  finely  blending  tints  of  virtue,  and 
in  a  maze  of  human  movements  intellectual  and  moral.  His 
chosen  souls  have  been  a  garden  of  delights  which  He  loves  to 
glance  at,  and  to  dwell  on  with  His  divine  regard,  and  to  bedeck 
with  ever-renewed  beauty  by  His  regarding  them. 

The  Saints  were  very  plain  people.  In  one  sense,  they 
became  the  more  so  the  more  saintly  they  were.  Their  lives  were 
not  spent  in  a  halo,  except  before  God.  There  is  a  good  reason 
for  this.  A  sound  judgment  and  common  sense  are  the  only  just 
and  adequate  basis  of  a  supernatural  life.  Sanctity  is  the  perfec- 
tion of  good  judgment,  of  prudence,  of  uprightness,  of  integrity, 
and  of  every  other  virtue  which  is  conceived  as  the  making  of  a 
steady,  plain  mind.  To  the  carnal  eye,  they  may  not  have 
appeared  thus.  But  the  way  they  appear  depends  largely  upon 
the  state  of  the  mind  which  views  and  judges  them.  And  the 
sensual  man  doth  not  take  in  the  things  of  God.  Besides,  the 
affairs  of  human  life  are  very  intricate ;  the  motives  of  hearts  are 
not  visible ;  nor  is  every  point  of  view  the  right  one.  Though 
the  distance  of  sufficient  time  elapsing  after  their  death  enables  us 
to  distinguish  the  greatness  of  true  Saints,  yet  while  they  live, 
their  history  has  been  but  a  tangled  web  of  actions,  and  of  suffer- 
ings. These,  at  first  ordinary,  were  done  with  a  most  pure  inten- 
tion ;  then  oftentimes  becoming  extraordinary,  they-  were  ever 
most  so  in  the  intention,  which  still  escaped  detection. 

Here  lies  the  charm  of  their  varied  form  and  feature  for  us. 
Their  actions  were  exclusively  or  largely  ordinary ;  and  so  werr 
their  sufferings.  It  was  the  most  pure  intention  which  made  them 
worthy  of  being  raised  to  something  illustrious,  at  least  in  merit 
before  God.  Who  is  there  that  has  not  the  same  capital  to  turn 
to  the  same  account  ?  Who  is  there,  that  is  put  in  so  out-of-the- 
way  a  kind  of  life  as  not  to  find  in  some  of  them  an  exact  model 
to  adore  with  his  affection,  and  to  reverence  by  his  imitation? 
For  this  purpose,  an  accurate  study  of  the  model  which  suits  each 
individual  among  us  consists  in  drawing  out  the  lessons  of  con- 
duct and  life  into  the  personal  applications,  which  the  model 


834  READING   FOR    THE  SOUL'S  COMFORT. 

suggests.  Hence  it  is  that,  as  a  rule,  not  short  biographies  or 
mere  accounts,  are  most  replete  with  grace  for  us ;  since  they 
rather  describe  what  is  extraordinary  and  unusual  in  the  pattern ; 
but  full  biographies,  which  can  afford  to  dwell  upon  particulars, 
which  can  find  time  to  admit  us  into  the  privacy  of  the  Saint's 
home  and  surroundings  and  intentions,  of  his  prudence,  his  assi- 
duity, and  the  careful  husbanding  of  his  talents,  these  are  replete 
with  enlightenment  and  with  an  energy  put  forth  to  attract  us, 
and  win  to  imitation.  Withal,  this  very  individuality  of  the 
saintly  character  has  most  of  the  charm  that  belongs  to  the 
unusual  and  the  singular. 

Besides  practical  models,  the  principles  also  of  spiritual 
science  must  be  apprehended,  in  order  to  appreciate  and  to  under- 
stand. We  cannot  imagine  a  carnal  mind,  which  has  not  learnt 
the  primary  elements  of  the  spiritual  catechism,  taking  up  a 
Saint's  life  and  making  anything  else  out  of  it,  except  perhaps 
matter  for  criticism  and  cynicism  and  sarcasm.  What  such  a 
mind  understands  not,  that  of  course  it  blasphemes  ;  as  it  has  done 
with  the  life  of  One  greater  than  any  of  His  Saints.  Principles 
must  be  apprehended  and  understood  in  the  abstract,  to  enjoy 
their  application  in  concrete  fact  and  life. 

To  mention  an  example  of  such  a  study,  every  one  knows  the 
Practice  of  Religious  Perfection,  by  Father  Rodriguez.  Nothing 
can  be  more  solid,  as  is  proved  by  the  universal  use  of  it  in  the 
religious  orders  and  among  the  faithful  at  large.  It  is  as  widely 
spread  in  its  own  line  as  the  Imitation  of  Christ ;  the  latter  being 
a  statement  in  succinct  form  of  principles,  almost  as  Holy  Script- 
ure would  speak ;  the  other  being  the  exposition  of  these  principles 
in  the  order  of  a  scientific  treatise.  A  connection  between  the 
two  may  be  discerned  in  the  Spiritual  Exercises  of  St.  Ignatius, 
as  well  in  order  of  time,  as  in  the  very  significant  fact  that  the 
Retreat  of  St.  Ignatius  introduced  into  the  science  of  principles  a 
systematic  element  of  personal  practice  and  exercise.  The  true 
abstract  treatise  on  spirituality  supposes  exercise  to  be  going 
hand-in-hand  with  the  lessons. 

In  the  same  view,  all  spiritual  reading  should  be  reflective  and 


READING  FOR   THE  SOUL'S  COMFORT.  835 

meditative.  To  read  cursorily  twenty  pages  in  an  hour  is  not 
necessarily  to  have  understood  a  bare  fraction  thereof.  In  these 
matters,  it  is  probable  that,  the  more  rapidly  one  reads,  the  less 
he  understands  in  a  way  to  favor  assimilation.  And  the  result  is, 
that  deriving  neither  fruit  nor  unction,  the  superficial  soul  will 
not  persevere  in  the  reading. 

Perhaps  the  mention  of  meditative  reading  conveys  the  notion 
of  prayer ;  since  meditation  is  a  form  of  reflective  prayer.  That 
is  so ;  and  the  more  of  a  prayerful  attitude  kept  up  by  the  mind 
when  reading,  the  richer  the  fruit  will  be.  The  very  prayer  itself 
of  meditation  is  nothing  but  ruminating  devoutly  over  principles 
which  have  been  apprehended ;  and,  according  to  the  richness  and 
fulness  of  the  principles  stored  up  in  the  mind,  will  be  the  unc- 
tion and  product  of  the  meditation.  Certainly,  substantial  reading 
matter  will  ever  fill  the  mind  with  the  unction  of  comfort  and  the 
refreshment  of  intellectual  light,  that  consolation  of  the  Scriptures 
'  whereof  the  Apostle  speaks. 

In  short,  all  the  exercises  of  the  spiritual  life  lend  one  another 
a  helping  hand,  mutual  aid  and  assistance.  No  one  of  them 
can  be  dispensed  with.  The  spiritual  exercises  are  an  integral 
system,  like  a  corporate  organism.  The  soul  is  made  up  of  many 
faculties ;  and  the  external,  personal  life,  in  which  the-  body  takes 
so  visible  a  part  becomes  subject  to  many  conditions,  if  perfection 
is  to  be  practised.  All  these  conditions  have  to  be  consulted  ;  all 
faculties  to  be  fed.  The  memory  is  to  be  stored  with  principles, 
and  with  facts  illustrating  them.  The  intelligence  must  draw  out 
and  assimilate  the  lessons  conveyed.  The  will  and  heart  should 
warm  with  the  meditation  of  divine  things,  and  apply  them  with 
a  degree  of  affection  to  the  actions  and  the  sufferings  of  life. 
There  is  that  most  important  faculty  of  the  imagination,  which 
has  to  be  tamed  and  trained  and  made  serviceable  for  the  vocation 
of  a  child  of  God.  And  the  whole  person  is  to  be  formed  to 
religious  decorum,  so  as  to  reproduce  in  the  exterior  the  spiritual 
bearing  of  the  divine  type ;  whereunto  St.  Paul's  words  may  well 
be  applied  :  I  beseech  you,  brethren,  by  the  modesty  of  Christ. 


FIRST    CHURCH    IN    SANTA    CLARA  VALLEY. 


RAMBLING   STORIES   OF  AN  OLD   MISSION. 
By  George  O'Connell,  S.J. 

STANDING  for  the  first  time  in  the  shadow  of  the 
lonely  old  Mission  Cross,  solitary  relic  of  the 
days  of  de  la  Pefia,  the  visitor  at  Santa  Clara 
finds  it  hard  to  realize  the  transformation  which 
has  been  effected  in  so  short  a  time.  The 
Mission  was  founded  only  a  hundred  and  four- 
teen years  ago,  but  what  a  history  has  been  crowded  into  those 
years  !  Ten  thousand  Indians  converted  to  Christ  by  the  patient 
Franciscans,  and  ten  thousand  Indians  utterly  exterminated  by  the 
greed  of  the  Mexican  republic  and  the  vices  of  the  white  settlers ; 
a  dozen  great  towns  and  a  hundred  flourishing  villages  grown  up 
and  enjoying  all  the  blessings  of  civilization  ;  the  Mexican  flag 
replaced  by  the  Stars  and  Stripes ;  the  Franciscans  gone  with  a 
people's  benediction,  and  on  the  site  of  their  Mission  a  Jesuit 
College  arisen  ! 

Nothing  in  the  exterior  of  church  or  college  suggests  the 
Mission  days.     Since  1851,  when  the  Jesuit,  John  Nobili,  started 

836 


838  RAMBLING  STORIES   OF  AN   OLD  MISSION. 

the  college,  under  orders  from  Archbishop  Alemany,  change  after 
change  has  been  demanded  by  the  wants  of  the  time  until  the  low- 
ceiled,  dingy  and  dusty  adobe  buildings  have  been  forced  to  yield 
to  the  beauty  and  comfort  of  modern  life.  Only  an  actual  visit 
to  the  interior  of  the  church  or  college  can  help  us  to  realize  the 
glorious  past.  In  the  church,  the  walls  are  of  the  same  drab  color 
and  are  ornamented  by  the  same  floral  designs  as  when  it  was 
built  by  the  sturdy  Father  Viader  and  his  faithful  old  Indian 
overseer,  Marcel  lo. 

Father  Viader  may  well  be  called  ".  sturdy,"  for  one  night, 
when  coming  home  late  from  a  sick-call,  he  was  set  upon  by  three 
Indians,  who  to  their  amazement  soon  found  their  heads  knocking 
together  and  their  bodies  soundly  thrashed.  The  Father  then 
lectured  them  severely  on  the  enormity  of  their  offence,  and  the 
three  became  his  very  best  friends.  One  of  them,  we  are  told, 
was  Marcello  himself.  Marcello  had  been  present  when  Father 
de  la  Pefia  first  set  up  the  Mission  Cross  on  the  banks  of  the 
Guadalupe,  and  lived  on  to  see  the  Mission  prosper,  decline  and 
be  destroyed,  and  to  die  the  last  of  his  race.  The  Mission  Church 
was  a  monument  to  his  zeal.  The  Indians  worked  at  it  under  his 
direction,  and  woe  betide  the  laggard !  Marcello's  zeal  was  great 
and  his  right  arm  powerful.  He  died  in  October,  1875,  toothless, 
deaf  and  almost  blind,  but  practising  his  religious  duties  with  the 
most  scrupulous  fidelity  to  the  end. 

Who  the  artist  was  who  painted  the  great  picture  on  the  ceil- 
ing of  the  sanctuary  is  unknown,  but  the  work  was  probably 
executed  by  the  Indians  under  directions  from  Father  Viader, 
who  had  charge  of  the  temporalities  of  the  Mission.  In  mixing 
their  paints,  the  workmen  used  the  juice  of  the  cactus  instead  of 
oil.  Their  manner  of  procuring  the  beams  which  were  to  serve  as 
rafters  in  the  church  was  decidedly  edifying.  A  gang  of  men 
went  into  the  Santa  Cruz  Mountains  with  one  of  the  Fathers,  and 
there  cut  down  with  their  axes  the  required  number  of  redwood 
trees,  the  wood  of  which  is  said  to  be  everlasting.  Then  with  the 
same  axes,  for  they  had  no  saws,  they  cut  out  the  beams  forty  feet 
long  by  one  foot  square.  After  this  they  mounted  the  beam  on 


ALTAR  AND  CRUCIFIX,  SANTA  CLARA  CHURCH. 


84O  RAMBLING  STORIES   OF  AN  OLD  MISSION. 

their  shoulders,  and,  solemnly  receiving  the  blessing  of  the  priest, 
they  carried  it  the  whole  distance  home,  over  fifteen  miles,  with- 
out once  daring  to  stop.  They  did  the  work  as  a  religious  duty, 
and  would  have  been  ashamed  to  rest  themselves  for  a  moment. 
The  present  top-piece  of  the  sanctuary-railing  is  one  of  these  old 
beams  polished  and  carved,  at  the  expense,  we  may  add,  of  more 
than  one  chisel,  so  hard  was  the  wood. 

The  life-size  crucifix  now  enshrined  in  a  modern  altar  is  a 
genuine  example  of  the  old  school  of  Mexican  work.  The  wounds 
of  our  Saviour  are  portrayed  with  awful  vividness.  It  is  to  this 
crucifix  that  the  legend  attaches  that  it  once  stretched  out  its  arms 
toward  the  saintly  Father  Magin,  as  if  to  embrace  him  as  he 
knelt  in  prayer  before  it.  Many  such  stories  are  told  of  this 
Father.  Once,  for  example,  in  the  midst  of  a  sermon,  he  suddenly 
stopped  and  asked  the  prayers  of  the  congregation  for  the  repose 
of  the  soul  of  a  man  who  was  dying  at  that  moment  in  a  hut  in 
the  mountains.  Investigation  proved  that  the  man  died  at  the 
very  moment.  He  was  several  times  seen  lifted  from  the  ground 
while  in  prayer.  It  is  even  told  of  him  that  on  one  occasion, 
despairing  of  convincing  the  Indian  women  of  the  enormity  of 
some  of  their  sins,  he  invited  them  to  enter  the  graveyard  with 
him,  and  there  made  some  of  the  dead  speak  from  their  tombs 
and  declare  their  souls  to  be  now  in  hell  for  just  such  sins. 

The  bones  of  Father  Magin  lie  buried  under  the  floor  of  the 
church  outside  the  sanctuary-railing  on  the  Gospel  side.  He  and 
Father  Murguia  are  the  only  two  of  the  long  band -of  Franciscan 
missionaries  who  died  at  Santa  Clara;  but  Father  Murguia's 
grave  has  never  been  discovered.  We  know  it  was  in  the  sanctu- 
*ary  of  the  church  he  built  at  Gerguensun,  or  the  Valley  of  the 
Oaks,  near  the  present  Broad  Gauge  station,  but  that  church  was 
destroyed  by  an  earthquake  in  1818,  and  whither  his  body  was 
removed,  if  at  all,  we  have  never  been  told.  Fathers  de  la  Peila, 
Noboa,  Fernandez,  Sanchez,  Perez,  Mercado  and  Real,  all  died  in 
Mexico,  Father  Viader  in  Spain,  and  Father  Moreno  at  the  Mis- 
sion San  Jose,  not  far  from  our  present  Alviso.  Father  de  la 
Pefia's  return  to  Mexico  from  the  beloved  Mission  he  had 


RAMBLING  STORIES  OF  AN  OLD  MISSION.  841 

founded,  and  from  the  Valley  where  he  had  first  invoked  the 
spirit  of  civilization,  is  one  of  the  most  painful  episodes  of  the 
Mission  history.  In  1786,  after  nine  years  of  unexampled  toil 
and  the  exercise  of  the  most  exemplary  virtues,  he  was  publicly 
accused  by  two  of  his  neophytes  of  having  caused  the  death  of  two 
Indian  boys  by  the  brutality  of  his  punishment.  Very  few  cred- 
ited the  assertion,  but  it  was  made  the  occasion  of  much  pain  and 
anxiety  to  the  good  Father,  so  much  so  that  his  health  broke  down 
completely  and  reason  itself  seemed  threatened.  In  1794,  Father 
Lasuen,  the  President  of  the  Missions,  felt  compelled  to  retire  him 
to  Mexico.  There  the  hoped-for  improvement  took  place,  and 
Father  de  la  Pefia  became  Guardian  of  the  college  of  San  Fer- 
nando. One  year  after  his  departure,  his  accusers  retracted  their 
charge  in  full,  and  were  only  saved  from  well-deserved  punish- 
ment by  the  intercession  of  the  Father  in  their  behalf.  It  was 
pretty  clearly  proved  that  they  were  instigated  to  their  infamous 
charge  by  the  comandante  of  the  Pueblo  San  Jose,  whose  immo- 
rality Father  de  la  Pefia  had  more  than  once  rebuked. 

The  conduct  of  these  Indians  gives  us  an  insight  into  the 
character  of  the  whole  people.  It  was  always  fickle,  and  liable 
to  break  out  at  any  moment  into  the  most  violent  excesses.  The 
lot  of  the  Fathers  was  one  of  incessant  diligence.  The  famous 
rebellions  of  Estanislao  and  of  Yoscolo  may  be  called  the  last 
expiring  efforts  of  the  savage  nature  to  reassert  itself.  The 
former  occurred  in  the  spring  of  1829,  when  Fathers  Magin  and 
Viader  were  still  in  charge  and  the  mutterings  of  secularization 
were  heard  on  every  side.  Governor  Echeandia  and  others  had 
already  begun  their  persecutions  of  the  Fathers  and  had  grievously 
undermined  their  influence  with  the  Indians.  Estanislao  was  a 
native  alcalde,  or  prefect,  from  whom  the  Stanislas  River  was 
named.  He  prevailed  upon  a  large  body  of  neophytes  from  Santa 
Clara  and  San  Jose  to  provide  themselves  with  arms  and  to  take  to 
the  mountains.  At  first  only  fifteen  men  were  sent  in  pursuit  of 
the  fugitives,  but  these  were  miserably  defeated.  Then  forty  men 
were  sent,  but  coming  upon  the  Indian  palisades,  they  too  beat  a 
retreat.  Finally  M.  G.  Vallejo  was  sent  with  a  hundred  men, 


RAMBLING  STORIES  OF  4N   OLD  MISSION.  843 

infantry,  cavalry  and  artillery.  A  shocking  butchery  of  the 
Indians  was  the  result,  even  old  women  being  shot  down  in  cold 
blood.  Estanislao  himself  escaped,  and  his  wild  project  was 
ruined.  He  was  shielded  by  Father  Duran  of  San  Jose,  who 
afterwards  secured  his  pardon.  This  Father  also  sought,  but  in 
vain,  to  have  Yallejo  punished  for  his  infamous  cruelty. 

Yoscolo's  rebellion  occurred  in  May  1831,  after  the  death  of 
Father  Magin,  and  while  Father  Viader  was  alone  in  the  Mission. 
Yoscolo — or  Goscolo — was  a  talented  young  Indian*  who  at  the 
age  of  twenty-one  had  been  made  a  sort  of  chieftain  over  all  the 
neophytes  at  Santa  Clara.  This  post  gave  him  certain  responsi- 
bilities in  the  way  of  maintaining  discipline,  in  which  he  one  day 
failed' and  was  to  be  punished  for  doing  so.  It  is  believed  he  did 
BO  purposely  to  have  an  excuse  for  his  rebellion.  He  refused  to 
be  punished  and  organized  a  band  of  five  hundred  men  to  resist. 
The  Mission  guard  of  a  dozen  soldiers  was  powerless  against 
them.  That  night  the  rebels  broke  open  the  Mission  stores  and 
abstracted  what  they  wanted,  and  then  forcibly  entered  el  monfero, 
where  the  young  women  of  the  Mission  used  to  live  till  they 
married,  and  persuaded  about  two  hundred  of  them  to  join  in 
their  flight.  This  monjero,  known  as  the  cloisters  of  Santa  Clara, 
stood  on  the  south  of  the  two  fields  now  facing  the  college 
grounds,  but  having  become  unsafe  and  disreputable  in  recent 
years  had  to  be  demolished. 

Driving  a  thousand  head  of  horses  before  them,  Yoscolo's 
band  were  soon  safe  in  the  fastnesses  of  the  Coast  Kange  Mount- 
ains. Vallejo  with  two  hundred  men  sought  in  vain  to  dislodge 
them,  and  they  might  have  been  safe  forever  if  they  had  not 
rashly  made  another  descent  on  the  Mission  and  this  time  galloped 
off  to  the  Santa  Cruz  Mountains.  These  are  but  a  few  miles  wide 
and  have  the  ocean  beyond  them,  so  that  they  afforded  but  scanty 
shelter.  Juan  Mesa,  the  captain  of  the  Mission  guard,  now 
organized  a  band  of  one  hundred  men  and  gave  chase.  On  the 
mountain  at  the  side  of  the  present  town  of  Los  Gatos,  Yoscolo's 
men  came  out  boldly  to  fight  him.  They  were  armed  only  with 
arrows  and  Yoscolo  formed  them  into  a  square  and  ordered  them 


RAMBLING   STORIES  OF  AN  OLD  MISSION.  845 

to  lie  flat  so  as  to  aim  with  greater  security.  The  battle  raged  all 
day  long,  and  the  Indians  surrendered  only  after  one  hundred  of 
their  warriors  had  been  slain  and  not  an  arrow  was  left  them. 
Nine  or  ten  whites  only  were  killed.  Yoscolo  and  half  a  dozen 
of  his  prominent  followers  were  at  once  beheaded,  according  to 
the  custom  of  the  time.  The  others  were  returned  to  the  Mission, 
where  they  led  good  lives  afterwards. 

Such  memories  as  these  attaching  to  all  we  see  in  the  Mission 
Church  help  us  to  realize  the  mighty  change  which  has  come  upon 
it.  They  differ  vastly  from  some  of  the  gentler  scenes  in  its  his- 
tory. How  few,  for  example,  of  the  many  merry  ramblers 
through  Penitencia  Canyon  of  the  City  Park  of  San  Jose,  stop  to 
inquire  whence  the  name  arose.  They  would  be  astonished  to 
learn  that  it  was  hither  the  good  old  Padres  of  the  various  missions 
used  to  assemble  regularly  to  receive  from  one  another  the  Sacra- 
ment of  Penance.  Under  the  willows  which  shade  the  bank  of 
the  little  stream  they  were  wont  to  confess  their  sins  and  to  wander 
and  recite  their  beads,  and  so  they  called  the  stream  La  Penitencia. 
The  good  taste  of  the  Fathers,  always  famous,  was  never  better 
exemplified  than  in  their  choice  of  this  spot.  Some  would  come 
riding  like  trained  vaqueros  on  horseback,  while  others  adopted 
the  odd  calesa.  This  was  a  wagon  fitted  with  windows  before  and 
on  the  sides,  but  without  glass.  It  could  seat  two  persons  and 
was  drawn  by  two  mules. 

So,  in  the  college  library  the  Jesuit  Fathers  still  cherish  the 
ancient  hymnal  out  of  which  the  Indians  were  wont  to  sing  the 
hymns  at  Holy  Mass.  There  is  many  another  ancient  tome  in  the 
library,  but  visitors  are  attracted  most  to  the  hymnal.  Some  of 
its  pages  are  almost  black  with  the  thumbing  of  so  many  hands, 
but  they  are  of  sheepskin  and  bear  well  the  passing  of  time.  It 
is  all  hand-written,  and  is  bound  in  great  leather-covered  boards 
and  bordered  round  with  solid  brass.  It  is  at  least  two  hundred 
years  of  age,  probably  much  older,  and  is  the  labor  of  love  of 
some  old  Spanish  monk.  Its  quaint  method  of  musical  notation 
would  alone  date  it  back  a  couple  of  centuries.  At  all  of  the 
missions,  one  of  the  Fathers  made  it  a  special  point  to  instruct  the 


846 


RAMBLING  STORIES  OF  AN  OLD.  MISSION. 


Indians  in  vocal  and  instrumental  music, 
which  a  fam- 
ily was  proud 
to  have  one  of 
its  members 
in  either  the 
band  or  the 
choir,  and  the 
missionaries 
found  this 
studyof  music 
one  of  their 
most  invalua- 
ble aids  in 
softening  and 
refining  the 
rude  disposi- 
tions of  their 
neophytes. 

The  Mis- 
sion bells  that 
hang  in  the 
old  owl  belfry 
are  'three  in 
number.  The 
one  that  hangs 
highest,  so  as 
to  be  scarcely 


THE    BELLS,  MISSION  SANTA  CLARA. 

(Given  to  the  Franciscans  by  the  King  ot 
Spain.) 


It  was  a  distinction  of 
visible  from 
the  street,  was 
recast  in  1864, 
but  its  mate- 
rial is  quite 
as  old  as  that 
of  the  other 
two.  It  is 
this  bell  that 
rings  out  the 
Angelus  so 
sweetly  that 
its  silvery 
tones  have 
stirred  more 
than  one  of 
our  local  poets 
to  sing  of  its 
beauty.  The 
two  other  bells 
have  a  vener- 
able appear- 
ance, which 
does  not  belie 
their  century 
of  life.  The 
largest  is  in- 


scribed :  SANTA  •  CLARA  -1798-  AVE  •  MARIA  •  P VRISIM A. 
The  second  bears  two  inscriptions  :  above,  AVE  •  MARIA  •  P VR- 
ISIMA ;  and  below,  SANTA  •  CLARA  •  R VEL AS  •  ME  •  FESIT  • 
1799.  The  bells  were  a  present  to  the  old  Mission,  being  given 
with  the  one  condition  that  they  be  rung  every  evening  as  a  call 
to  the  faithful  to  say  the  De  Prqfundis  for  the  souls  departed,  a 
custom  which  has  been  scrupulously  observed  ever  since. 


AN    ENGLISH   COUNTRY   CHURCHYARD. 
THE  GRAVE  OF  FATHER  RAWES. 

By  J.  C. 

"  Here  waits,  till  the  Resurrection, 

The  body  of 
HENRY  AUGUSTUS  RAWES,  D.D., 

Priest  of  the  Most  High  God 

And  Servant  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 

Superior  of  the  Oblates  of  St.  Charles, 

who  died  in  the  Catholic  faith 

April  24,  1885, 

aged  58  years. 

FEW  words  about  this  "Priest  of  the  Most  High 
God"  and  "Servant  of  the  Holy  Ghost"  may 
prove  interesting  to  the  readers  of  the  MESSENGER. 
Many  of  them  know  well  the  name  of  'Father 
Rawes '  through  being  themselves  '  Servants  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,'  the  Confraternity  so  called  having  been  organized 
by  him.  But  this  is  by  no  means  the  only  claim  Father  Rawes 
has  upon  our  admiration  and  affection.  His  eloquent  hymns  "  To 
the  Holy  Ghost,"  "To  Jesus  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament,"  "To 
the  Mother  of  God,"  and  others,  are  in  themselves  sufficient  to 
awaken  in  the  heart  of  every  reader  a  lively  veneration  for  the 
author.  Nor  are  these  hymns  all  we  have  from  that  gifted  and 
eloquent  pen.  Prose  that  reads  like  inspired  song,  and  poetry  that 
is  inspiration  itself,  flowed  freely  and  abundantly  from  a  heart 
filled  to  overflowing  with  love  of  God  and  His  Church.  It  is 
impossible  to  read  either  his  prose  or  poetry  without  being  drawn 
nearer  and  nearer  to  the  Source  of  all  grace,  from  which  Father 
Rawes  received  "  the  Light,  and  Life,  and  Love "  that  filled  his 
own  pure  soul. 

Through  a  Promoter  of  the  League,  who  was  one  of  the 
earliest  members  of  the  Confraternity  of  the  Servants  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  the  writer  was  permitted  to  see  some  of  the  letters  of  the 


847 


848  AN  ENGLISH  COUNTRY  CHURCHYARD. 

gifted  author  of  these  beautiful  hymns  so  familiar  to  all ;  of  "  St. 
John  the  Evangelist,  the  Beloved  Disciple,"  "  Devotions  to  the 
Holy  Souls  in  Purgatory/'  "  Septem,  or  Seven  Ways  of  hearing 
Mass,"  and  indeed  a  long  and  rich  catalogue  of  devotional  works, 
one  and  all  breathing  the  purest,  most  intense  love  of  God.  Who 
can  read  unmoved  his  "  Beloved  Disciple "?  How  touching  is 
the  expression  of  gratitude  to  St.  John  to  whom  "he  owes  all 
that  is  of  any,  even  the  very  least,  good  there  may  be  in  him." 

In  one  of  his  letters  to  E.  C.  A.,  Father  Rawes  says,  speak- 
ing of  the  spread  of  devotion  to  the  Holy  Ghost  in  England, 
France  and  America : 

"After  the  Cardinal  published  the  decree  of  the  Vicar  of 
Jesus  Christ  erecting  the  Archconfraternity,  it  seemed  as  if  count- 
less souls  caught  fire,  and  were  aflame  with  the  love  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  The  Holy  Ghost  is  the  finger  of  the  Father's  right 
hand  ;  and  it  seems  to  me  that  the  finger  of  our  Lord's  Vicar  is 
the  shadow  of  that  uncreated  Finger  of  God.  ...  As  for 
last  week,  I  never  had  such  a  week  of  God  in  my  life.  It 
seemed  to  many  and  to  me,  as  if,  having  been  with  Him  for  a 
while  on  Horeb,  we  had  come  down  to  the  voice  of  the  people 
shouting.  .  .  .  Write  to  all  to  whom  you  can  write,  and 
say  that  I  beg  them  earnestly  to  pray  without  ceasing  that  our 
Lady  may  put  it  into  the  hearts  of  the  priests  of  her  Son  Jesus  to 
erect  Confraternities." 

He  had  great  faith  in  union  of  prayers.  After  a  '  union  of 
prayer '  with  the  Confraternity,  at  St.  Mary  of  the  Angels,  Bays- 
water,  London,  we  had  a  great  desire  to  visit  the  grave  of  the 
founder  of  the  Servants  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  A  tablet  on  the  door 
of  the  church  he  loved  so  well,  bearing  his  name,  and  asking  for 
prayers  for  the  repose  of  his  soul,  made  us  feel  that  we  would  like 
to  pray  beside  his  tomb. 

It  was  out  of  London,  we  were  told,  at  the  cemetery  of  Mort- 
lake,  where  he  had  himself  expressed  a  wish  to  be  buried. 

On  Monday,  June  15,  after  Solemn  High  Mass  at  the  Pro- 
Cathedral,  on  the  occasion  of  the  Conference  of  the  Diocesan 
Synod,  we  proceeded  to  Mortlake.  It  is  only  a  short  distance 


4N  ENGLISH  COUNTRY  CHURCHYARD.  849 

from  the  metropolis.  In  less  than  an  hour  we  were  there.  On 
our  left  hand,  as  the  train  steamed  into  the  little  station,  we  beheld 
a  fine  cemetery,  with  its  white  marble  monuments  rising  among 
beautiful  trees.  It  looked  so  grand  and  imposing  that  I  felt  dis- 
appointed. 

On  asking  the  way  to  the  cemetery,  the  deaf  signal  man 
looked  at  us  for  an  instant  as  if  uncertain ;  finally  he  ejaculated 
"  which,"  in  a  rather  abrupt  tone.  "  The  Roman  Catholic/'  I 
answered.  "  There,  by  the  low  road  ;  that  narrow  lane  will  lead 
you  to  it,"  was  his  rejoinder. 

We  followed  the  narrow  lane,  but  no  indication  of  church, 
chapel  or  cemetery  was  to  be  seen. 

Some  workmen  were  repairing  the  rough  road,  and  we  asked 
one  of  them  and  he  showed  us  a  little  gate  quite  close  to  us. 
Beyond  it  was  a  hedge,  very  unpretentious,  that  stretched  a  long 
way,  high  enough  to  hide  all  within  its  boundary. 

We  approached  the  narrow  gate  and  were  at  once  enchanted 
with  the  avenue  that  it  opened  into — enchanted  with  its  country- 
like  air ;  its  perfect  neatness ;  its  cool,  shady  look  without  being 
at  all  sombre  or  oppressive.  A  few  steps  within  the  gate  we  saw 
the  village  church,  and  beside  it  a  pretty  parsonage. 

The  church  door  stood  invitingly  open,  and  we  entered. 
The  altar  and  the  tabernacle  were  the  prominent  features ;  there 
was  no  distraction  by  way  of  ornament ;  the  utmost  simplicity  and 
neatness  prevailed.  We  would  fain  have  lingered  there,  but  our 
time  was  very  limited  indeed. 

We  passed  down  the  shady  avenue.  Among  low  tombs,  and 
flower- wreathed  crosses,  green  mounds  with  simple  headstones  only 
and  a  few  rich  but  not  gaudy  tombs,  we  wandered  for  some  time. 
There  is  nothing  in  that  low-lying,  violet-suggesting  garden  of 
the  Lord  to  break  the  charm. 

Strange  to  say,  we  consulted  the  epitaphs  on  some  of  the 
richer  tombs  first,  though  we  might  have  known  better.  After 
some  useless  wandering  about,  always  farther  from  the  pretty 
church,  we  heard  a  bell  ring,  and  saw  a  priest  advancing  in  our 
direction.  We  ventured  to  approach,  and  ask  his  guidance. 


85O  AN  ENGLISH  COUNTRY  CHURCHYARD. 

"  Just  there  !"  He  pointed  to  the  corner  of  the  church,  and 
added  smiling  pleasantly :  "  That  bell  was  for  me,  or  I  would 
accompany  you  myself."  He  bowed  and  hurried  away,  while  we 
turned  towards  the  sheltered  nook,  under  the  shadow  of  the 
church-wall. 

Yes,  close  up  to  the  church- wall,  j  ust  room  enough  to  walk 
between  it  and  the  low  grave.  You  might  pass  that  tomb  a  hun- 
dred times  and  not  be  attracted  by  it,  and  yet  once  seen,  you  would 
kneel  to  read  the  inscription  on  the  polished  red  granite  stone 
under  which  "waits,  till  the  Resurrection,"  the  body  of  dear 
Father  Rawes. 

The  summit  of  the  sloping  sides  of  the  sarcophagus  is 
sculptured  in  the  form  of  a  Latin  Cross. 

"  My  Jesus,  the  Eternal 

Son  of  the  Father, 

Orders  all  things  wisely  and  well, 

E.  I.  P." 

was  the  inscription  on  the  side  of  the  stone  nearest  the  church, 
while  the  reverse  side  bore  the  lines  at  the  beginning  of  these 
pages. 

There  were  no  ornaments  at  all ;  no  gaudy  flowers.  A  few 
daisies  were  there  that  seemed  to  have  sprung  up  of  their  own 
sweet  will,  and  these  we  did  not  pluck,  though  strongly  tempted  to 
do  so,  for  love  of  the  sacred  dust  beneath  the  recumbent  red  granite 
cross. 

II. 

Kneeling  there  it  was  easy  to  remember  our  debt  to  Father 
Rawes.  For  eight  years  his  sweet  hymns  and  prayers  had  been 
in  our  hearts  and  on  our  lips.  We  had  repeated  them  in  many 
lands,  and  taught  them  to  some  whose  lips  had  repeated  them 
brokenly  and  with  foreign  accent. 

Beneath  an  iron  cross,  in  a  cold  schismatic  country  lies  the 
dust  of  one  who  took  from  the  writings  of  Father  Rawes  holy 
and  beautiful  lessons  that  helped  for  eternal  life. 

In  the  peaceful  cemetery,  facing  the  Basilica  of  Lourdes, 


AN  ENGLISH  COUNTRY  CHURCHYARD.  851 

there  is  another  grave,  whose  precious  dust  was  the  earthly  envel- 
ope of  one  of  the  purest  souls,  the  saintliest  spirits  that  ever 
brightened  this  earth  of  ours. 

She  too  loved  to  listen  to  the  sweet  English  hymns,  echoes 
from  her  own  beloved  land,  from  which  she  had  been  separated 
for  more  than  half  a  century.  Our  last  recollections  of  her  beau- 
tiful life  are  forever  linked  with  the  Hymns  of  Father  Rawes, 
which  were  part  of  our  Morning  Offering  and  our  evening  song 
of  praise,  as  well  as  recreation  in  our  walks  to  and  from  the 
Grotto,  the  Crypt,  the  Basilica,  or  Church  of  the  Most  Holy  Rosary. 
I  will  not  say  that  we  did  not  repeat  the  "  Hymn  to  the  Mother  of 
God "  on  the  summit  of  the  Calvary  of  Betharam  one  summer 
day. 

How  many  repeat  daily,  even  yet,  in  that  Pyrenean  home,  in 
memory  of  others  who  were  for  one  brief  season  gathered  under 
their  blessed  roof,  those  sweet  canticles.  Though  scattered  far 
and  wide  now,  that  little  band,  in  Russia,  England,  Italy,  America 
— who  shall  say  where  ? — those  who  still  remain  repeat  the  refrain 
of  those  melodies  in  tender  tones ;  making  of  them  a  prayer  for 
the  absent,  and  a  solemn  remembrance  of  those  happier  ones,  who, 
like  Father  Rawes  himself,  have  now  learned  to  sing  the  New 

Song  in 

"That  Sapphire  City  where  I  pray  to  be, 
The  home  of  Jesus,  where  I  long  to  be." 

But  I  wander  away  from  Mortlake  Cemetery  too  soon.  I 
must  kneel  again  by  that  revered  dust  and  think  over  the  conso- 
lation and  strength  that  came  to  me  in  many  a  dark  hour  through 
the  teaching  of  him  who  had  such  surpassing  love  for  Jesus  and 
Mary,  whose  words,  like  living  fire,  sent  a  glow  of  ecstasy  into 
hearts  dulled,  benumbed  by  the  unfruitful  cares  of  this  world. 

Pere  Didon  says  :  "  The  words  of  Jesus  Christ  shine  in  the 
human  soul  like  stars  in  a  dark  night."  Something  like  this  I 
would  say,  if  I  only  knew  how,  of  the  prayers  and  hymns  of  the 
founder  of  the  Confraternity  of  the  Servants  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
But  if  my  words  are  cold  and  dull,  not  so  the  heart,  which  fain 
would  express  its  gratitude. 


852  AN  ENGLISH  COUNTRY  CHURCHYARD. 

There  was  a  day,  perhaps  more  than  one,  when,  opening  the 
Handbook,  or  any  book  between  whose  leaves  were  hidden  those 
leaflets  that  strew  the  path  of  happy  Catholics  in  this  free  country, 
when  coming  upon  such  lines  as  these — 

"Thou  stoopest  in  Thy  deathless  love  to  me, 
Thou  fillest  all  the  House  of  God  for  me, 
Thou  crownest  all  the  years  with  grace  for  me," 

discouragement,  desolation,  doubt,  those  gloomy  intruders  on 
lonely  hearts,  would  be  dispelled  as  if  by  magic.  They  were  as 
a  trumpet-call  to  invigorate  and  arouse  the  weary  spirit. 

I  copy  from  a  memorial  card  the  last  poem  of  Father  Rawes- 
written  shortly  before  his  death. 

WHEN? 

Say  would'st  thou  be 
Alone  with  Him  Who  calleth  thee? 

Or  dost  thou  crave, 
Within  the  shadow  of  the  grave, 
Kind  faces  of  the  loved  to  see? 

Nay,  have  no  care 

When  death  may  come  to  thee,  or  where, 

If  then  God's  arm 

Be  round  thee  as  a  shield  from  harm, 
Beneath  the  hand  that  does  not  spare. 

A  pitying  eye  will  watch  thee 
When  thy  death  is  nigh  ; 

A  Heart  Divine 

Will  feel  for  every  pang  of  thine, 
In  man's  most  perfect  sympathy. 

He  will  be  near 

Who  trod  for  thee  the  pathway  drear ; 

His  kingly  power 

Will  hearten  thee  in  that  dread  hour 
By  love  that  casteth  out  all  fear. 

Jesus,  to  Thee, 

Rejoicing  in  Thy  kind  decree, 

We  leave  the  end  ! 

Thou,  Thou  wilt  help  us,  dearest  Friend, 
In  nature's  last  infirmity. 

Jesus,  Mercy  !     Mary,  Help  ! 


AN  ENGLISH  COUNTRY  CHURCHYARD.  853 

Quite  close  to  the  grave  of  Father  Rawes  we  could  not  but 
notice  a  gleaming  tent  of  pale  grey-stone,  a  striking  and  beautiful 
object  indeed !  Above  the  door  of  the  tent  arose  a  tall  white 
marble  cross  set  in  a  crown  of  thorns.  Against  the  closed  door 
rested  masses  of  crowns  and  garlands  of  rarest  flowers,  white 
roses  and  white  and  purple  orchids  mingled  in  superb  wreaths. 
On  one  side  a  great  wreath  of  laurels,  tied  with  broad  white 
ribbon,  rested  against  the  stone  portal  of  the  unfolded  tent. 

A  line  of  golden  stars  and  crescents  ran  along  the  cornice 
over  the  door,  and  above  it  arose  a  golden  star. 

Only  to-day,  June  15,  1891,  the  body  of  Sir  Richard  Francis 
Burton,  K.C.,  M.C.,  F.R.G.S.,  was  placed  in  this  tent.  A  scroll 
above  the  door  says  :  "  This  monument  was  erected  to  his  memory 
by  his  living  countrymen."  Sir  Richard  died  at  Trieste,  October 
20,  1890 ;  but  the  tomb  was  not  ready  until  now. 

We  had  barely  time  to  kneel  once  more  for  an  instant  in  the 
quiet  church  ;  to  ask  the  blessing  of  the  noble-looking  pastor,  who 
told  us  of  Father  Rawes  that  "  he  was  his  dear  friend,"  and  to  ask 
his  pardon  for  plucking  a  few  tiny  blades  of  grass  from  beside  the 
red  granite  stone. 

With  his  pardon  and  blessing  we  bade  farewell  to  Mortlake, 
repeating  in  silence  the  closing  stanzas  of  Father  Rawes' s  hymn, 
"  To  Jesus  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament " — 


O  sweetest  Jesus,  bring  me  home  to  Thee  ; 

Free  me,  O  dearest  God,  from  all  but  Thee, 

And  break  all  chains  that  keep  me  back  from  Thee 

Call  me,  O  thrilling  Love,  I  follow  Thee : 

Thou  art  my  All,  and  I  love  nought  but  Thee. 

O  hidden  Love,  who  now  art  loving  me ; 
O  wounded  Love,  who  once  wast  dead  for  me ; 
O  sun-crowned  Love,  who  art  alive  for  me ; 
O  patient  Love,  who  weariest  not  of  me — 
Alone  of  all,  Thou  weariest  not  of  me — 
Oh,  bear  with  me  till  I  am  lost  in  Thee ; 
Oh,  bear  with  me  till  I  am  found  in  Thee. 


I. 
LOVE'S   SOVEREIGNTY. 

By  John  Joseph  Mallon. 

MMORTAL  solace  for  the  sinless  mind, 

Blest  visitant  to  Margaret,  Sacred  Heart ! 
Her  soul  reposed  on  Thine, — nor  fame,  nor  art, 
Could  mould, — for  one  more  pure  Thou  scarce  could 

find ; 

Earth's  hope  and  refuge  Thou,  Heart !  self-consigned, 
Thy  rays  beam  bright,  hence  spectral    shades  depart, 
And  joy  both  human  and  divine  impart; 
Those  rays  that  transfix  souls  with  fetters  bind. 

Sweet  shrine !   thy  cherished  fane !   thy  sacred  lair ! 
That  place  has  imaged  face  and  form  of  Thee, 

Thy  sons  here  chant  their  filial  song  and  prayer, 
And  Sin's  deep  sorrowings,  forlorn  but  free, 
Thither  with  earnest  longing,  too,  repair, 

Till  Love  is  victor  and  holds  sovereignty. 

n. 
LOVE'S  HARVEST. 

*r  I  MB  time  of  garnered  fruitfulness  afield, 

The  laden  baskets  creak,  and  row  on  row 
The  sheathed  wheat  stands  in  the  Autumn  glow; 
Past  labor,  now,  in  gracious  season's  yield, 
Is  recked  not,  nor  the  swains'  delight  concealed, 
Who  pause  and  sing,  or  whistle  as  they  go ; 
But  what  care  they,  when  comes  the  frost  and  snow ! — 
The  harvest  store  shall  solace  be  and  shield. 

'Tis  Autumn  time :  slow  wanes  the  year  around, 
And  fruitful  brim  the  hearts  of  vital  breath, 

With  Love's  own  fillets  deeds  of  good  are  bound, 
The  harvest  sheaves.     .     .     .     They  twined  no  earthly  wreath, 
Whose  toil  was  joy,  since  Love  acceptance  found, 

For  Love  is  life, — the  life  that  brooks  not  death. 

St.  Joseph's  Seminary,  Troy,  N.  Y. 


854 


THE   BURSE  AND   THE   HUMERAL  VEIL. 


B1 


BURSE. 


By  the  Secretary  of  a  Tabernacle  Society. 

(ESLDES  the  sacred  vest- 
ments necessary  for  the 
celebration  of  Solemn 
Mass,  namely,  the  Chasuble, 
Dalmatic,  Stole  and  Maniple, 
there  are  yet  three  which 
follow  the  color  of  the  day 
and  are  therefore  included  in 
a  complete  set  of  vestments. 
These  are  the  Burse,  or  Cor- 
poral Case,  and  the  Chalice 
and  Humeral  Veils. 

In  all  ecclesiastical  an- 
tiquity we  find  no  mention 
of  the  Burse ;  it  dates  only 
from  the  fourteenth  century  when  the  frequency  of  private  Masses 
and  the  necessity  of  conveniently  guarding  the  sacred  linen  from 
profane  touch,  probably  gave  occasion  for  its  introduction. 

The  Burse,  as  may  be  seen  from  our  initial  cut,  is  a  flat,  firm 
pocket  varying  from  nine  to  twelve  inches  square.  A  cross  is 
usually  worked  on  the  upper  side  or  the  entire  upper  surface  may 
be  ornamented.  The  corners  are  sometimes  finished  with  small 
tassels.  The  inner  lining  is  of  linen  or  of  silk  stretched  firmly 
over  card-board  and  sewed  neatly  to  the  upper  and  lower 
material. 

In  many  of  the  handsome  imported  sets  of  vestments  we  find 
the  interior  of  the  Burse  lined  with  heavy  white  paper  which, 
though  neat,  does  not  seem  very  appropriate. 

A  gusset  widening  from  one  to  three  inches  unites  the  sides 
of  the  Burse,  or  they  may  be  joined  by  straps  of  braid.  Often 
the  sides  are  closed  entirely,  an  opening  being  left  only  at  the  top 


855 


856 


THE  BURSE  AND   THE  HUMERAL   VEIL. 


for  the  insertion  of    the  Corporal  and  Pall,  which  when  not  in 

actual  use  are   kept  within  the 

Burse. 

. 
In    former    times    the    linen, 

called  by  ecclesiastical  writers 
Corporalis  Palla,  was  much  larger 
than  at  present;  it  covered  the 
entire  altar  and  hung  down  at 
the  sides,  being  extended  by  the 
deacons  before  the  Offertory  to 
receive  the  gifts  of  the  people. 
Before  the  eleventh  century  a 
single  large  piece  of  linen  was 
used ;  it  was  so  shaped  that  a 
portion  of  it  could  be  drawn  over  the  Chalice  immediately  after 
the  Oblation ;  hence  the  name  of  Palla,  which  signifies  a  cloak  or 
covering. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century,  the  size  of  the 
Corporal  was  diminished,  and  a  second  smaller  linen  was  used  to 
cover  the  Chalice  and  guard  its  contents  from  dust.  This  is  the 
origin  of  the  present  Pall. 

When  robed  for  Mass  the  priest  prepares  the  Chalice,  plac- 
ing over  it  the  Purificator  and  the  Paten  which  contains  the 


BURSE  WITH  TASSELS. 


HUMERAL  VEIL. 


host  to  be  consecrated ;  this  he  covers  with  the  Pall  and  then  with 
the  Chalice  Veil ;  on  the  Veil  he  places  the  Burse  containing  the 


THE  BURSE  AND   THE  HUMERAL  VEIL  857 

Corporal.  The  Rubric  enjoins  that  the  opening  of  the  Burse  shall 
be  held  towards  him.  When  he  reaches  the  Altar,  he  takes  out 
the  Corporal  spreading  it  under  the  Chalice  and  places  the  Burse 
erect  on 'the  Gospel  side. 

At  Solemn  Mass,  the  ceremony  by  excellence  of  the  Church, 
the  Chalice  veiled  is  placed  on  the  credence-table  at  the  epistle 
side  of  the  altar,  and  remains  there  until  the  Offertory.  Resting 
on  the  veiled  Chalice  is  the  Burse,  and  over  all  is  the  long  scarf 
or  Humeral  Veil,  so  called  because  it  is  worn  on  the  shoulders  of 
the  subdeacon  later  in  the  Mass.  It  hangs  down  on  either  side 
of  the  table,  thus  covering  the  Chalice  entirely.  After  the  Gospel 
the  deacon  spreads  the  Corporal  for  the  Holy  Sacrifice,  and  pre- 
sents the  Paten  to  the  priest,  who  after  offering  the  host,  puts  the 


OPEN  BORDER  FOR  HUMERAL  VEIL. 

Paten  aside.  The  subdeacon  having  placed  the  Humeral  Veil 
over  his  Tunic  or  Dalmatic,  receives  the  Paten  which  he  holds 
enveloped  in  the  folds  of  one  end  of  this  silken  scarf,  before  his 
face,  until  the  Pater  Noster. 

In  many  churches  it  was  the  ancient  custom  for  an  acolyte  to 
hold  the  Paten  at  High  Mass  and  he,  not  being  in  Holy  Orders, 
could  not  lawfully  touch  the  sacred  vessels  with  uncovered  hands. 
Though  this  is  thought  by  some  to  have  been  the  origin  of  the 
introduction  of  this  Veil,  it  seems  more  probable  that  it  was 
always  used  in  the  sacred  ceremonies  and  is  indeed  but  a  continua- 
tion of  a  mark  of  respect  commanded  by  God  Himself.  We 
read  in  the  Scripture  that  the  Levites  were  only  allowed  to  touch 
the  sacred  vessels  after  they  had  been  wrapped  in  coverings.1 

1  Numbers,  iv. 


858  THE  BURSE  AND    THE  HUMERAL   VEIL. 

The  old  Sarum  Rite  makes  frequent  mention  of  the  Offertory 
or  Humeral  Veil  used  in  the  various  ceremonies  of  High  Mass. 
In  the  early  centuries  of  the  Christian  Church  the  host  was  broken 
and  consecrated  on  the  Paten,  as  we  learn  from  the  words  of  the 
Sacramentary  of  St.  Gregory  :  "  We  consecrate  and  sanctify  this 
Paten  for  confecting  in  it  the  Body  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 
The  Paten  was  then  much  larger  than  it  is  at  present,  as  it  held 
also  all  the  bread  to  be  consecrated  for  the  Communion  of  the 
people.  When  this  custom  ceased  and  the  consecration  took  place 
on  the  Corporal,  in  order  that  the  Paten  might  not  be  in  the  cele- 
brant's way,  it  was  handed  to  the  subdeacon  who  held  it,  veiled, 
at  the  foot  of  the  altar,  until  it  was  needed  again.  This  was 
plainly  in  connection  with  the  duties  of  the  subdeacon,  whose 
office  was  to  see  to  the  bread  of  oblation.  It  is  in  remembrance 
of  this  ancient  rite  that  this 
ceremony  is  observed  to-day. 

The  Humeral  Veil  is  a 
straight  scarf  about  three  yards 
long,  varying  in  width  from 
20  to  36  inches.  It  should 
harmonize  in  every  way  with 
the  sacrificial  vestments ;  it  v.siisss^^-.^T.s^w^T1^1«.»mi^^aaaaaa.. 
Should  be  lined  with  silk.  BOEDER  FOB  HUMEBAL  VEIL. 

The  centre  and  ends  may  be  ornamented  with  a  sacred  emblem,  or 
with  embroidery  or  painting.  Ribbon  strings  are  placed  about 
a  yard  apart  equally  from  the  centre ;  these  serve  to  hold  the  Veil 
in  place. 

The  Humeral  Veil  is  never  used  in  the  Solemn  Mass  of 
Requiem  ;  it  is  worn  for  all  processions  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament, 
and  for  removing  It  from  one  altar  to  another.  Its  use  is  strictly 
enjoined  at  Benediction  when  the  priest,  with  both  hands  enveloped 
in  its  folds,  takes  the  Monstrance  containing  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment to  give  the  solemn  blessing.  For  this  ceremony  the  Veil  is 
always  white  and  may  be  elaborately  ornamented ;  the  Burse, 
within  which  is  folded  the  Corporal  to  be  spread  under  the  Mon- 
strance for  the  solemn  exposition  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  is  also 
white  and  handsomely  decorated. 


THE  READER. 


859 


In  France,  red — the  symbol  of  charity — was  wont  to  be  used 
as  the  color  for  the  Blessed  Sacrament ;  for  the  same  reason  the 
Ambrosian  Kite  prescribed  red  for  the  Tabernacle  Veil.  A  red 
Humeral  Veil  is  used  for  the  solemn  benediction  given  with  a 
relic  of  the  True  Cross,  except  in  Holy  Week,  when  purple  is 
worn. 


THE   READER. 


The  MESSENGER  has  hitherto  not  admitted  advertisements 
between  its  covers,  mainly  because  of  the  additional  labor  entailed, 
though  it  has,  on  moro,  than  one  occasion,  been  solicited  to  make 
known  to  its  readers  the  various  supply-houses  where  ,their  mani- 
fold needs  could  be  satisfied.  Now,  however,  it  sees  an  advantage 
in  changing  the  resolution  it  has  observed  up  to  this  time  and, 
commencing  with  the  issues  of  both  the  MESSENGER  and  Little 
Messenger  for  January  of  the  coming  year,  it  will  accept  adver- 
tisements. 

*  * 

The  advantage  the  MESSENGER  sees  in  advertising  is  in  part 
for  itself,  but  in  greater  part  for  its  readers  and  for  the  advertisers. 
Inquiring  correspondents  are  continually  writing  to  the  MESSEN- 
GER office  asking  where  this  or  that  book,  this  or  that  statue,  this 
or  that  painting,  this  or  that  hymn,  this  or  that  medal  can  be 
obtained  ;  where  there  is  a  suitable  college  for  a  grown-up  son,  or 
a  preparatory  school  for  a  boy,  "  who  is  delicate  and  needs  special 
care — money  no  object,"  or  an  academy  for  a  daughter,  who 
"wishes  a  special  course  in  music  and  languages."  Church  pews 
and  organs,  and  school  furniture,  and  other  kindred  objects  are 
asked  about.  It  has  always  been  and  will  be  a  pleasure  to  answer 


86O  THE  READER. 

any  inquiries,  but  the  pleasure  in  many  cases  was  marred  by  being 
obliged  to  give  meagre  information  in  reply  simply  because  of  our 
ignorance.  The  advantage,  then,  to  ourselves- will  be  the  saving 
of  much  useful  time,  while  the  "Messenger  Advertiser  "  by  supply- 
ing satisfactory  information  will  be  of  incalculable  advantage  to 
readers  and  correspondents.  Advertisers  will  see  at  a  glance  the 

advantage  to  themselves. 

*  *  * 

But  what  we  wish  for  especially  is  to  make  known  all  our 
Catholic  Colleges  and  Academies.  Had  the  Reader  been  told 
some  years  ago  that  our  Catholic  people  did  not  know  where  are  our 
institutions  of  education,  notwithstanding  their  number,  he  would  not 
have  believed  it,  but  he  knows  differently  now  from  practical  per- 
sonal experience.  By  accepting  advertisements  the  MESSENGER 
can  make  itself  the  medium  of  mutual  benefit  and  information  to 
the  colleges  and  their  patrons,  and  its  very  wide  circulation 
among  the  various  classes  in  the  different  sections  of  the  country 
will  render  the  ''Messenger  Advertiser"  an  invaluable  directory 
that  is  not  merely  local.  The  advertisement  need  not  necessarily 
be  large  to  attract  due  notice  :  a  brief  statement  can  be  made 
effective  by  giving  pointed  and  direct  information.  However,  the 
Reader's  experience  prompts  him  to  advise  that,  where  colleges  and 
academies  have  "  specialties,"  these  should  be  mentioned.  Secular 
colleges  and  academies  occupy  a  large  space  in  the  advertising  col- 
umns of  the  various  magazines :  this  would  seem  to  indicate  the 
value  of  making  themselves  known  outside  of  local  limits.  Can- 
not our  Catholic  colleges  and  academies  learn  a  profitable  lesson 
from  this  ?  The  Reader  would  like  to  see  every  Catholic  college 
and  academy  in  the  "Messenger  Advertiser." 

*  *  *  * 

In  connection  with  the  first  article  in  this  number  on  the 
"  Helpers  of  the  Holy  Souls "  it  may  be  gratifying  information 
to  many  to  know  that  an  association  of  Honorary  Members  exists 
in  this  country.  From  a  leaflet  before  us  we  take  this  extract : 

"  With  the  consent  of  the  Very  Rev.  Mother-General  of  the 
Society,  an  Association  of  Honorary  Members  of  the  Helpers  of 
the  Holy  Souls  was  formed  during  the  lifetime  and  with  the  per- 
mission of  His  Eminence,  Cardinal  McCloskey. 


THE  READER.  861 

"  This  Association  continues  with  the  cordial  approbation  of 
His  Grace,  Archbishop  Corrigan,  D.D.,  and  it  is  hoped  that 
through  its  means  a  Foundation  of  a  Convent  of  Helpers  may  be 
made  in  our  midst. 

"  There  are  over  eight  thousand  Honorary  Members  of  all 
classes  inscribed  on  the  Register,  and  all  Catholics  are  invited  to 
join  its  ranks,  and  thus  become  participators  in  this  truly  holy 
work  for  the  benefit  of  the  Poor  Souls. 

"  Names  for  enrolment  and  offerings  for  the  Helpers  of  the 
Holy  Souls  may  be  sent  to 

"  Miss  ADELE  LE  BRUN,  Sec'y  and  Treas., 
"Assoc'n  of  Hon.  Mems.  of  H.  H.  S., 

«  245  West  23d  St.,  New  York. 
"  Rt.  Rev.  Thomas  S.  Preston,  V.G., 
Spiritual  Director" 

Benziger  Brothers,  New  York,  have  just  issued  another  vol- 
ume of  the  Manuals  of  Catholic  Philosophy,  published  by  the 
Fathers  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  at  Stony  hurst,  England.  This 
volume  treats  of  Natural  Theology.  We  commend  this  book  to 
our  serious  readers  who  wish  to  see  in  clear  and  forcible  English 
the  proofs  of  the  Existence  of  God,  the  meaning  of  the  Divine 
Attributes  and  how  they  differ  the  one  from  the  other,  and  what 
is  the  Action  of  God  upon  this  World.  This  last  part  particu- 
larly— God's  Providence — not  only  teaches,  but  it  teaches  in  a 
way  that  satisfies  the  mind  and  heart.  The  Schism  of  the  West, 
and  The  Freedom  of  Papal  Elections,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Brann,  rector 
of  St.  Agnes'  Church,  New  York,  issued  by  the  same  publishers, 
is  a  scholarly  pamphlet  on  an  interesting  historical  subject.  The 
Reader  would  give  this  advice  to  a  friend  :  Take  this  pamphlet  to 
some  quiet  corner  where  you  can  be  undisturbed  and  then  read  it 

from  cover  to  cover. 

****** 

We  are  glad  the  London  Month  has  reprinted  in  pamphlet 
form  its  article  of  September,  "Among  the  Otchipwes,"  by  Father 
Edward  J.  Devine,  S.J.,  of  the  Central  Direction  of  the  League 
in  Canada.  The  title  would  not  lead  one  to  suspect  that  there  is  so 
much  entertainment  and  instruction  as  Father  Devine's  sprightly 
and  observant  pen  gives  in  the  short  space  of  fifteen  pages. 


GENERAL   INTENTION 

FOR  NOVEMBER,    1891. 

Designated  by  His  Holiness,  Leo  XIII.,  with  his  special  blessing,  and  given  to  His 
Eminence  the  Cardinal  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda — the  Protector  of  the 
League  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  called  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer — for  recom- 
mendation to  the  prayers  of  the  Associates. 

THE   INDO-CHINESE   MISSIONS. 

r  I  ^HE  most  easterly  of  the  three  great  peninsulas  of  southern 
Asia  is  called  Indo-China.     A  more  general  name,  how- 
ever, for  all  the  territory  between  the  Bay  of  Bengal  and 
the  China  Sea,  is  Farther  India.     Its  whole  extent  from  north  to 
south  is  somewhat  more  than  2000  miles,  and  its  greatest  breadth, 
east  and  west,  is  1 200  miles  ;  whilst  in  some  parts  of  Lower  Siam 
and  the  Malay  peninsula  it  scarcely  averages  100  miles.     The 
population  is  computed  to  be  about  35,000,000. 

I. 

The  name  Indo-China  implies  that  in  this  land  of  which  we 
are  to  treat  there  is  something  of  India  and  something  of  China. 
What  that  something  is  may  best  be  estimated  by  recounting  the 
chief  political  divisions  of  Farther  India.  They  are :  the  British 
possessions  in  the  North,  Burmah,  Siam,  the  country  of  the  Laos, 
in  the  interior,  and,  to  the  extreme  East,  the  Empire  of  Annam, 
as  it  is  called,  comprising  Tong-King  and  Cochin-China.  Of  the 
people  who  inhabit  these  lands  it  may  be  said  that  their  customs, 
the  style  of  their  architecture  and  their  Buddhism  show  a  rela- 
tionship between  them  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  eastern  mainland 
and  the  centre  of  Asia.  But  they  are  plainly  of  races  widely 
different  from  the  people  of  Hindostan  and  bear  a  closer  resem- 
blance to  the  Chinese.  Moreover,  all  the  States  of  the  whole 
peninsula,  excepting  Burmah  and  the  British  possessions,  have,  at 
one  time  or  another,  acknowledged  themselves  to  be  more  or  less 
tributary  to  the  Chinese  Empire.  It  may,  therefore,  be  said  that 

862 


GENERAL  INTENTION.  863 

they  are — pardon  the  words — topographically  Indian  and  ethnolog- 
ically  Chinese. 

In  fertility  of  soil,  mineral  resources,  plants,  spices,  precious 
woods,  variety  of  animals  and  game,  Indo-China  has  much  to 
attract  the  cupidity  of  the  trader.  Accordingly,  the  daring  Portu- 
guese navigators  of  the  fifteenth  century  made  their  way  into  that 
land  and  gathered  much  commercial  gain  from  their  enterprise. 
But  the  people  were  buried  in  the  darkness  of  paganism  and  the 
gloom  seemed  almost  too  thick  for  the  light  of  Christianity  to 
pierce  through.  However,  a  heroic  Jesuit  missionary,  Father 
Francis  Buzomi,  ventured,  in  1615,  to  enter  this  benighted  region 
and  to  plant  the  standard  of  Jesus  Christ  upon  its  soil.  He  was 
realizing  what  the  great  Francis  Xavier  so  much  longed  for,  and 
towards  which  tending  he  gave  up  his  great  soul  on  the  island  of 
San-Chan.  Father  Buzomi,  it  is  true,  did  not  enter  the  Chinese 
Empire,  but  as  Annam  was  its  tributary  and  its  people  of  the 
Chinese  race,  he  was  workiog  his  way  unto  the  completion  of  the 
great  missionary's  hope.  He  was  received,  at  first,  with  every 
mark  of  confidence  and  kindness,  but  the  jealousy  of  the  pagan 
priests  was  not  slow  in  stirring  up  hostility  against  him.  One 
man  of  great  influence,  however,  took  him  under  his  special  pro- 
tection. This  was  the  governor  of  Pulo-Cambi.  One  instance  of 
his  kindness  is  thus  related  by  the  companion  of  Father  Buzomi : 
"  Turning  to  us,  the  governor  desired  that  we  would  determine  a 
place  for  a  church,  that  he  might  give  orders  for  setting  it  up. 
We  showed  him  a  place  and  he,  approving  of  it,  went  away  to  his 
palace.  Before  three  days  were  over,  news  was  brought  us  that 
the  church  was  coming.  We  went  out  with  great  joy,  and  no  less 
curiosity,  to  see  how  a  church  should  come."  The  fact  was  that 
the  materials  had  all  been  prepared,  bases,  pillars,  capitals,  beams, 
planks,  and  so  forth.  A  thousand  men,  headed  by  an  architect, 
carried  them  to  the  selected  spot  and  there,  working  with  order 
and  earnestness,  they  actually  put  up  the  whole  structure  in  one 
day.  From  such  an  opening  as  this  a  rich  harvest  of  souls  might 
have  been  looked  for.  Yet  strange  to  say,  there  has  not  been  a 
country  of  the  whole  world  where  persecution  has  been  so  bar- 


864  GENERAL   INTENTION. 

barous,  so  relentless,  so  continuous,  as  in  this  very  one  in  which 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  began  under  such  favorable  auspices. 

II. 

Tong-King  and  Cochin-China  are  names  closely  identified  with 
savage  onslaughts  upon  Christianity.  The  spirit  of  persecution 
has  been  in  them  like  a  ruinous  volcano,  sometimes  dormant,  as  if 
to  gather  new  strength,  and  anon  bursting  forth  in  fitful  violence 
and  pouring  its  destructive  lava  with  ,the  vehemence  of  an  irre- 
sistible torrent.  The  result  |of  this  is  that  the  missionaries  and 
Christians  live  in  the  greatest  insecurity,  not  knowing  at  what 
moment  there  may  be  a  new  and  sudden  outbreak  more  disastrous 
than  the  preceding  one.  And  thus  it  has  been  from  the  beginning, 
even  to  our  own  day.  In  1852  one  of  the  Fathers  writes :  "A 
price  is  set  upon  the  head  of  every  missionary,  and  when  one  is 
found  he  is  put  to  death  instantly."  One  manner  of  execution 
was  to  have  them  beaten  to  death  slowly.  Sometimes  they  were 
tied  together  and  thrown  into  the  river.  Others  were  trampled 
to  death  by  elephants :  or  cast  into  vile  dungeons  where  their 
flesh  was  torn  piecemeal  with  hot  pincers.  They  were  shut  up  in 
cages,  branded  with  hot  irons,  lashed  and  scourged  until  the  flesh 
was  stripped  from  the  bone,  compelled  to  kneel  on  a  plank  studded 
with  sharp  nails.  And  from  all  these  atrocities  they  were  offered 
release  on  one  condition ;  viz.,  trampling  on  the  Cross  of  Christ ! 

It  would  be  impossible  to  give  here  a  detailed  account  of  the 
various  sieges  of  persecution,  or  even  to  make  any  comparison  as 
to  their  degrees  of  violence.  The  history  of  the  missions  of  Indo- 
China  presents  the  ghastly  record  of  almost  continuous  or,  at 
least,  little-interrupted  savagery  of  the  minions  of  the  devil 
towards  the  soldiers  and  servants  of  Jesus  Christ.  Listen  to  what 
Father  Venard  writes  from  his  hiding  place,  in  1860.  "Here  we 
are,  three  missionaries,  lying  side  by  side,  day  and  night,  in  a 
space  of  about  a  yard  and  a  half  square,  our  only  light  and  air  com- 
ing through  a  few  holes,  about  the  size  of  the  little  finger,  made 
in  the  mud  wall.  If  the  dog  barks  or  a  stranger  passes,  we  must 
be  ready  to  go  down  into  a  cellar  hollowed  out  beneath.  Oh,  the 


GENERAL   INTENTION.  865 

painfulness  and  weariness  of  such  a  situation  !  To  be  always  shut 
up,  between  two  walls,  with  spiders  and  rats  and  toads  as  our  com- 
panions, and  then  to  hear  continually  of  the  torture  and  death  of 
our  brother  priests,  of  the  destruction  of  our  missions,  of  the 
exile  of  our  pupils  and,  worse  yet,  of  the  failure  of  some  under 
torture  !  It  is  only  a  special  grace  that  keeps  us  from  utter  dis- 
couragement and  despair.  We  are  like  poor  plants  in  cellars 
stretching  out  their  rank,  sickly  stalks  towards  the  light  and  air. 
When  I  put  my  mouth  close  to  the  door  which  guards  our  retreat, 
I  own  tha.t  I  have  sometimes  a  feeling  of  envy  towards  those 
who  are  free  to  enjoy  God's  fresh  air  and  sunlight." 

III. 

Associates  of  the  Holy  League  it  is  for  such  heroic  brethren 
you  are  invited  to  pray.  With  your  prayers  go  up  the  merits 
and  pleading  of  the  many  martyrs  who  won  their  crowns  in  that 
land  where  the  blood  of  Christians  is  still  the  seed  of  Christianity. 
In  the  persecution  of  May  and  June  1862,  in  central  Tong-King 
alone,  no  less  than  16,000  died  for  the  faith,  among  them  being 
three  bishops  and  thirty-six  priests.  One  splendid  evidence  of 
Christian  heroism  in  this  persecution  is  worthy  of  special  men- 
tion. A  man  of  thirty-five  years  of  age,  after  having  undergone 
many  suiferings  in  prison,  was  branded  across  the  face  with  the 
words  :  "  false  religion  of  Jesus."  He  resented  this  great  indig- 
nity to  his  religion  and,  not  being  able  to  prevent  the  branding, 
he  prevailed  on  a  fellow-prisoner  for  the  faith  to  cut  out  of  his 
flesh  all  the  words,  except  the  Holy  Name  of  Jesus !  That 
remained  as  the  badge  of  his  triumph. 

OFFERING  FOE  THE  INTENTIONS  OF  THE  MONTH. 

O  Jesus,  through  the  Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary,  I  offer 
Thee  all  the  prayers,  work,  and  sufferings  of  this  day  for  all  the 
intentions  of  Thy  Divine  Heart,  in  union  with  the  Holy  Sacrifice 
of  the  Mass,  in  reparation  for  all  sin,  and  for  all  requests  pre- 
sented through  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer :  and  in  particular  for 
the  self-sacrificing  missionaries  and  brave  Christians  of  Indo- 
China.  Amen. 


A   CORRECTION   AND  CAUTION. 

ONE  of  our  esteemed  Catholic  weeklies,  which  has  had  many 
a  sterling  article  in  its  pages  in  the  cause  of  truth,  pub- 
lished last  month  a  laudatory  notice  of  the  Holy  League 
and  encouraged  enrolment  in  it.  So  far  so  good,  and  we  are 
grateful  for  its  commendatory  words ;  but  when  the  writer 
attempted  to  explain  the  conditions  of  membership  and  the  duties 
of  the  Associates,  the  attempt  was  a  sad  and  pitiable  failure.  We 
say  sad  and  pitiable,  because  it  was  evident  the  writer  was 
prompted  by  the  best  of  motives,  and  because  many,  to  their  own 
detriment,  may  possibly  be  misled,  and  perhaps  the  writer  himself 
is  unconsciously  losing  the  benefits  of  the  League.  Here  is  what 
was  said : 

"All  that  is  required  of  persons  wishing  to  join  the  League 
of  the  Sacred  Heart  is  to  give  their  names  to  a  promoter  or  any 
of  the  clergy.  The  duties  are  but  two  in  number.  First,  to 
recite  daily,  in  honor  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  the  Our  Father,  the 
Hail  Mary  and  the  Apostles'  Creed,  together  with  a  small  ejacula- 
tion to  the  Sacred  Heart ;  second,  to  pass  one  hour  before  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  on  any  one  day  of  the  year  selected  by  the 
member  on  joining  the  association,  that  hour  to  be  spent  in  prayer 
in  reparation  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  sins  of  the  world. 
These  duties  do  not  bind  otherwise  than  under  forfeiture  of  the 
indulgences." 

This  is  all  wrong.  Not  one  single  sentence  is  correct.  To  be 
an  Associate«of  the  League  it  is  not  "  enough  to  give  one's  name 
to  a  Promoter  or  any  of  the  clergy."  For  membership  in  the 
League  two  conditions  must  be  complied  with  :  1°.  A  Certificate 
of  Admission  must  be  received,  and  not  any  kind  of  Certificate 
of  Admission,  but  one  which  has  been  issued  by  the  Head 
Director,  who  alone  has  the  authority  to  print  it.  2°.  Each 
Associate  must  have  his  name  entered  on  the  Register  of  a  Local 
Centre.  A  Local  Centre  is  a  parish  or  community  which  has  been 
canonically  aggregated  by  a  diploma  signed  by  the  Head  Director. 

866 


A   CORRECTION  AND   CAUTION.  867 

The  priest  in  charge  of  a  Local  Centre  is  the  Local  Director,  and 
he  alone  and  the  Promoters  regularly  appointed  in  connection 
with  a  Local  Centre  have  authority  to  enrol  in  the  League. 

These  two  conditions  are  absolutely  essential  for  valid  mem- 
bership in  the  League. 

Again,  the  duties  of  the  League  are  not  two,  but  one :  this  is 
the  daily  practice  of  the  Morning  Offering.  Article  IV.  of  the 
Statutes  says  :  "  To  gain  the  Indulgences  granted  to  the  Apostle- 
ship  of  Prayer,  the  Associates  must  add  to  their  morning  prayers, 
which  they  will  by  no  means  omit,  an  offering  of  the  prayers, 
work,  and  sufferings  of  the  present  day  for  the  intentions  with 
which  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  offers  Himself  in  the  Holy  Sacrifice 
of  the  Altar."  This  Morning  Offering  is  the  sole  necessary  con- 
dition to  enable  the  Associates  to  share  in  the  great  spiritual 
treasures  of  the  League.  It  is  this  daily  morning  consecration 
of  prayers,  work,  and  sufferings  which  makes  the  League 
what  it  is — a  praying  Association,  an  Apostleship  of  Prayer. 
And  it  is  fidelity  to  this  Morning  Offering  that  entitles  the  Asso- 
ciates to  a  daily  share  in  the  prayers  of  all  the  Associates,  now 
numbering  twenty  millions.  Without  this  "  mutual  prayer  "  the 
League  might  be  an  Association,  but  it  would  not  be  the  League 
of  the  Sacred  Heart.  To  pray  for  the  Intentions  of  the  Sacred 
Heart  and  for  the  Intentions  of  the  Associates  is  an  essential 
feature  of  the  League. 

But  the  League  has  Three  Degrees  of  practice. 

Besides  the  Morning  Offering,  which  is  the  1st  Degree  and 
must  be  practised  by  all,  the  Associates  may  undertake  the  addi- 
tional practice  of  a  Daily  Decade  of  the  Beads,  which  forms  the 
2d  Degree,  or  the  practice  of  a  monthly  or  weekly  Communion 
of  Reparation,  which  constitutes  the  3d  Degree. 

The  2d  and  3d  Degrees  are  optional,  but  the  practice  of  either 
or  both  presupposes  the  daily  Morning  Offering. 

The  daily  recital  of  an  Our  Father,  Hail  Mary,  and  the 
Apostles'  Creed,  with  the  ejaculation  "  Sweet  Heart  of  my  Jesus, 
make  me  ever  love  Thee  more  and  more,"  is  the  duty  of  members 
of  the  Archcoufraternity  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  which  is  distinct 
from  the  Holy  League  and  totally  independent  of  it. 


868  A   CORRECTION  AND   CAUTION. 

"  To  pass  one  hour  before  the  Blessed  Sacrament  on  any  one 
day  of  the  year  selected  by  the  member  "  is  a  duty  neither  of  the 
Holy  League  nor  of  the  Confraternity. 

It  is  against  this  confusion  of  ideas  concerning  the  League — 
its  "  mixing  up "  with  other  associations  as  one  of  our  Bishops 
once  termed  it — that  we  have  been  striving,  lo  !  these  many  years. 
Where  the  official  Handbook  and  the  MESSENGER — the  League's 
official  mouth-piece — circulate,  this  confusion  soon  changes  into 
clearness. 

In  connection  with  the  above  remarks,  we  have  to  call 
attention  to  a  section  of  the  official  letter  written  by  the  Director 
General  of  the  League  of  the  Sacred  Heart  to  the  Head  Director 
of  the  United  States  concerning  the  printing  and  publication  of 
leaflets  relating  to  the  League  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  The  Director 
General  says : 

"We  approve  all  your  publications,  whether  periodical  or 
not  (Handbook,  pamphlets,  LEAFLETS,  &c.),  as  expressing  the  true 
spirit  of  our  Holy  League,  and  we  earnestly  desire  that  they  should 
be  placed  in  the  hands  of  all  our  dear  Associates  of  the  United 
States. 

"  It  is  well  also  that  it  should  be  everywhere  known  that  you 
alone  have  right  and  mission,  for  the  English-speaking  Catholics 
of  the  United  States  : 

"1°.  To  publish  either  the  periodical  organs  of  the  work  or 
the  Handbook  and  LEAFLETS,  and  in  particular  the  Certificates 
of  Admission  which  every  Associate  should  receive.  This  power, 
indeed,  is  reserved  by  the  Director  General — in  virtue  of  the 
powers  given  him  by  the  Statutes  of  the  work  and  the  Pontifical 
Briefs — exclusively  to  the  Head  Directors  who  take  his  place  in 
each  country. 

"  From  the  publication,  made  without  lawful  right,  of  Certifi- 
cates of  Admission  and  other  LEAFLETS  bearing  the  name  of  our 
work,  the  result  has  been,  in  the  United  States,  that  numbers  of 
such  Certificates  and  leaflets  have  been  spread,  containing  grave 
errors  and  inaccuracies,  confounding  works  altogether  distinct  and 
separate — such  as,  on  the  one  side,  our  Holy  League,  and  on  the 
other,  the  Archconfraternity  of  the  Sacred  Heart  or  the  Living 
Rosary,  &c. 

"  2°.     To  you  alone  it  belongs — for  the  English-speaking 


THE  LEAGUE  AND  TEMPERANCE.  869 

Catholics  of  the  United  States — where  there  is  no  Diocesan 
Director  instituted  by  ourselves,  to  sign  the  Diplomas  of  aggregation 
for  parishes  or  communities,  and  the  Diplomas  of  Local  Directors 
and  Promoters.  Even  where  there  exists  a  Diocesan  Director 
instituted  by  us,  it  is  from  you  alone  that  this  Diocesan 
Director  should  obtain  his  Diplomas  of  aggregation,  of  Local 
Directors  and  Promoters,  as  well  as  the  Certificates  of  Admission, 
which  he  is  not  allowed  to  print  of  himself. 

"As  to  those  parishes  which  have,  as  their  only  title  of  aggre- 
gation, a  Diploma  sold  by  some  bookseller  with  the  stereotyped 
signature  of  the  Director  General,  they  can  not  lay  claim  to  an 
aggregation  which  is  evidently  null  and  void ;  and  in  such  cases 
there  is  for  the  faithful  a  loss  of  Indulgences  to  be  regretted  in 
the  extreme.  It  is  the  same  for  the  Promoters  who  have  not 
Diplomas  signed  by  your  Reverence  or  by  the  legitimate  Diocesan 
Director." 


The  Head  Director  has  authorized  no  one  to  print  leaflets, 
blanks,  etc.  Nor  could  he  authorize  any  one  even  if  he  would,  for 
the  simple  reason  that  he  has  no  authority  to  delegate  his  "  right 
and  mission  to  publish  League  matter." 


THE   LEAGUE   AND   TEMPERANCE. 
"THE  HEROIC  OFFERING." 

"npHE  HEROIC  OFFERING  "is  proposed  only  to  those 
who  have  been  free  from  the  danger  of  intemperance. 
Chosen  souls  they  must  be  that  will  take  upon  them- 
selves this  work  of  expiation,  to  make  reparation  and  atonement 
for  the   multiplied  sins  of  intemperance  that  daily  provoke  God's 
wrath. 

The  Heroic  Offering  is  as  follows  : 

"  For  Thy  greater  glory  and  consolation,  O  Sacred  Heart  of 
Jesus,  for  Thy  sake,  to  give  good  example,  to  practise  self-denial, 
to  make  reparation  for  the  sins  of  intemperance  and  for  the  con- 
version of  excessive  drinkers,  I  will  abstain  for  life,  from  all 
spirituous  drinks." 


87O  THE  LEAGUE  AND   TEMPERANCE. 

This  Offering  is  for  the  greater  glory  of  God  since  it  is  a 
work  of  Christian  mortification  tending  directly  to  appease  God's 
anger  and  to  obtain  the  conversion  of  sinners.  It  will  console  the 
Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  so  deeply  wounded  by  the  manifold  sins  of 
intemperance  daily  committed. 

It  is  a  work  of  reparation,  of  atonement  for  sin,  a  Christian 
practice  of  the  virtue  contrary  to  the  sin  which  it  atones  for.  If 
we  believe  that  sin  wounds  the  Heart  of  Jesus,  that  mortal  sin 
renews  the  Crucifixion  of  Christ,  we  shall  be  eager  to  atone  for 
these  sins  when  the  means  of  atonement  is  pointed  out  to  us.  The 
Heroic  Offering  is  one  of  these  means,  deriving  its  power  from  its 
union  of  self-denial  with  the  perpetual  Sacrifice  of  our  altars,  the 
perfect  reparation  daily  renewed  by  the  Eternal  High  Priest, 
Jesus  Christ. 

But  besides,  the  zeal  manifested  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
consolation  given  the  Sacred  Heart  by  those  who  make  this  Offer- 
ing, charity  for  our  neighbor  is  not  forgotten.  Precept  and 
counsel  have  due  force,  but  the  power  of  example  moves  far  more 
strongly.  Many  of  our  Associates  might  doubtless  number  among 
their  acquaintance,  and,  perhaps,  among  their  kinsfolk  some  who 
are  victims  of  intemperance.  These  persons  have  been  spoken  to 
again  and  again,  they  have  been  warned  of  the  evils  that  are  cer- 
tain to  follow  from  their  present  course,  good  advice  has  been 
freely  given  them  and  yet  little  good  has  resulted.  What  was 
wanting?  Was  the  good  advice  enforced  by  good  example? 
Did  they  see  that  what  they  were  counselled  to  do  could  be  done  ? 
Did  the  conduct  of  their  friends  convince  them  that  the  interest 
taken  in  them  was  real  and  sincere  ? 

Ah,  but  if  those  who  are  sinning  by  intemperance  are  nearer 
and  dearer  to  us  than  mere  acquaintance  or  distant  kinsfolk  will 
not  the  claims  of  this  Offering  appeal  to  us  with  redoubled  force  ? 
Pained  at  the  grief  the  sins  of  these  loved  ones  cause  the  Sacred 
Heart  we  shall  be  only  too  willing  to  offer  this  sacrifice  that  we 
may  assuage  this  sorrow.  And  if  we  remember  that  we  can  gain 
great  graces  for  our  loved  ones,  by  this  continued  act  of  self- 
denial,  we  shall  gladly  make  the  Heroic  Offering  and  keep  it. 


HOW  TO   TRAIN   CHILDREN. 

FATHER  VICTOR  ALET,  S.J.,  one  of  the  Sacred  Heart's 
most  devoted  Promoters,  who  has  just  gone  to  receive,  as 
we  hope,  his  reward  for  a  long  life  of  laborious  zeal,1  leaves 
behind  him  these  few  words  on  the  training  of  children  : 

To  speak  practically :  What  ought  we  to  aim  at  in  all  that 
we  do  for  them  ? 

1.  A  solid  knowledge  of  their  faith  and  of  their  duties,  as 
far  as  their  age  permits. 

2.  The  formation  of  their  conscience,  by  familiarity  with 
the  example  of  the  Infant  Jesus.      No  little  child  finds  this 
hard. 

3.  The  habit  of  praying,  and  praying  from  the  heart,  sweetly 
and  gently  taught. 

4.  The    habit    also    of    confessing    often,  regularly,  and 
willingly  to  a  priest  who  takes  a  real  interest  in  his  little  peni- 
tents. 

5.  The  preparation,  which  grows  gradually  more  earnest  as 
the  time  approaches,  for  the  First  Communion,  so  that  the  thought 
of  it,  and  desire  of  it,  take  possession  of  the  child's  mind  and 
heart. 

6.  And,  in  order  to  attain  all  this  the  better,  to  form  the 
little  people  into  a  small  Sodality  of  the  Holy  Angels  or  of  St. 
Aloysius. 

After  the  First  Communion,  the  work  becomes  more  serious. 
Therefore, 

7.  When  the  First  Communion  has  been  made,  to  take  all 
care  that  the  second  is  not  put  off  too  long.    Nothing  in  the  world 
is  more  fatal  than  neglect  on  this  point :  for  thus  is  too  often  lost 

1  He  died  in  the  middle  of  the  Lenten  Sermons  which  he  was  preaching 
this  year  in  Paris.  His  funeral  at  Saint  Sulpice  was  a  touching  manifestation  of 
the  love  and  veneration  of  the  people.  Father  Alet  twice  filled  the  office  of  Cen- 
tral Director  of  the  Apostleship.  His  last  words  were  :  All  for  the  Sacred  Heart, 
all  with  the  Sacred  Heart,  all  by  the  Sacred  Heart ! 

871 


872  HOW  TO   TRAIN  CHILDREN. 

the  most  favorable  moment  of  life  to  fix  in  the  heart  the  piety 
and  personal  affection,  which  makes  religion  a  pleasure  for  ever 
after.  It  is  by  frequent  Communion  that  this  gift  is  obtained. 

8.  At  this  tender  age,  when  our  Divine  Lord  is  permitted  to 
enter  into  a  child's  heart,  now  innocent  or  purified,  He  is  able  to 
establish  the  reign  of  His  grace  in  the  inclinations  and  feelings  of 
the  child.  It  is  only  the  Bread  of  Angels,  the  Bread  of  the  strong, 
the  Bread  of  life,  which  can  work  this  transformation  in  the  heart, 
namely,  Frequent  Communion. 

Can  we  expect  such  a  change  from  Communions  seldom  or 
irregularly  made?  Assuredly  not.  We  may  judge  of  this,  as 
the  Church  distinctly  teaches  us  to  do,3  by  the  effect  of  bodily 
food.  Communions  made  only  four  or  five  times  a  year  have  only 
a  passing  effect,  notwithstanding  all  the  virtue  of  this  divine 
food. 

How  well  I  know,  how  often  I  have  heard,  the  objections, 
which  some  propose  against  this  doctrine.  They  say,  the  children 
will  grow  accustomed  to  the  Holy  Communion,  and  make  no  effort 
to  prepare  themselves. 

I  answer,  that  where  this  danger  may  arise,  it  becomes 
necessary,  no  doubt,  for  the  confessor  to  watch  over  it ;  and  expe- 
rience proves  that  his  zeal  easily  succeeds  in  planting  the  desire, 
which  makes  the  whole  difference  in  the  child. 

At  this  age,  it  is  commonly  true,  that  frequent  Communion 
is  the  only  safeguard  of  innocence,  the  only  remedy  of  the  injury 
which  innocence  may  have  already  suffered,  the  only  means  of 
mastering  the  concupiscences  which  are  beginning  to  develop  in 
the  heart. 

Alas,  enough  is  not  thought  of  what  Jesus  Himself  can  and 
will  do,  when  He  is  admitted  into  the  soul.  There  is  much  fear 
of  too  great  familiarity ;  there  is  not  enough  fear  of  strangerhood 
and  neglect. 


*  Ad  Parochos,  pars  ii.  cap.  iv.  n.  60. 


THE    PAPAL  BENEDICTION. 

ANY  of  our  Directors,  who  have  instituted  the  Apostleship 
of  Study  in  the  school,  find  themselves  called  upon  occa- 
sionally to  exercise  their  powers  of  imparting  the  Papal 
Benediction. 

Not  a  few  among  them  complain  that  the  formula  is 
extremely  long,  burdensome  for  the  priest,  tedious  for  the  audi- 
ence. This  was  undeniable ;  but  there  was  nothing  in  the  Acta 
Sanctce  Sedis  to  authorize  an  alteration  of  the  rubric.  What  could 
we  do? 

It  is  now,  however,  authentically  declared  that,  for  a  reason- 
able motive  (for  example,  lest  the  ceremony  should  be  unduly  pro- 
longed, or  because  the  Rescript  has  been  often  read  before),  it  is 
lawful  to  omit  reading  the  document  by  which  the  powers  are 
granted. 

It  is,  however,  expedient  that  the  announcement  should  be 
made,  that  the  Benediction  is  given  by  virtue  of  powers  expressly 
granted  by  the  Holy  See.1 

It  may  be  worth  while  here  to  recall  the  privilege  that  a 
Plenary  Indulgence  and  the  Papal  Benediction  may  be  gained  at 
the  hour  of  death  by  a  scholar  who  has  received  even  only  one  of 
the  Decorations. 

This  privilege  differs  from  the  one  granted  by  the  Sixth  (the 
highest)  Decoration,  which  is  conferred  only  when  the  pupil  has 
finished  his  school  course.  A  scholar  who  receives  the  Sixth 
Decoration  is  entitled  to  a  Plenary  Indulgence  and  the  Papal 
Benediction  both  on  the  day  of  its  reception  and  at  the  hour  of 
death — a  privilege  which  extends  also  to  his  parents,  brothers  and 
sisters. 

The  faculty  of  imparting  the  Papal  Benediction  and  apply- 
ing the  Plenary  Indulgence,  besides  being  conferred  on  Local 
Directors,  is  conferred  likewise  on  the  scholar's  confessor. 

The  Decorations  conferred  on  pupils,  who  have  merited 
them  in  the  judgment  of  the  Council  with  the  ratification  of  the 
Local  Director,  are  those  authorized  by  the  Head  Director. 

1  Beringer,  S.J.  Les  Indulgences,  leur  Nature  et  leur  Usage,  1890.  Paris  : 
Lethielleux,  tome  ii.  p.  424.  Edition  approved  and  declared  authentic  by  a 
Decree  of  the  Sacred  Congregation  of  Indulgences. 

873 


APOSTLESHIP      mmmn  NOTICES 


EECENT  AGGREGATIONS. — To  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer, 
League  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  (September  12  to  October 
12,  1891). 

(Name  of  diocese  in  italics,  before  parish  or  community  aggregated.) 

Brooklyn,  New  York :  St.  Charles  Borromeo's  Church,  and 
Visitation  B.  V.  M.  School  (Sisters  of  St.  Joseph),  Brooklyn. 

Buffalo,  New  York :  St.  John  Baptist's  Church,  Lockport ; 
Annunciation  School  (Sisters  of  St.  Mary),  Buffalo. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio :  Church  of  the  Atonement,  Cincinnati ; 
Convent  of  Mercy,  Hamilton. 

Cleveland,  Ohio:  St.  Ann's  School  (Ursuline  Sisters),  Brier 
Hill. 

Davenport,  Iowa :  St.  Patrick's  Church,  Burlington ;  St. 
Joseph's  Convent  (Sisters  of  Humility  B.  V.  M.),  Ottumwa. 

'Dubuque,  Iowa :  Presentation  Convent,  Farley. 

Green  Bay,  Wisconsin :  St.  Mary's  Church,  South  Kaukauna ; 
St.  Nicholas'  Church,  Sagole. 

Kansas  City,  Missouri:  Convent  of  the  Good  Shepherd, 
Kansas  City. 

Leavenworth,  Kansas :  Assumption  B.  V.  M.  Church,  Topeka. 

Nesq-ually,  Washington :  Visitation  Convent,  Tacoma. 

Newark,  New  Jersey :  St.  Agnes'  Church,  Paterson. 

New  York,  New  York :  Church  of  Our  Lady  of  Good  Coun- 
sel, Church  of  the  Holy  Innocents,  St.  Rose's  Church,  and  St. 
Mary's  Academy  (Sisters  of  Charity),  New  York ;  Church  of  St. 
Rose  of  Lima,  West  New  Brighton ;  St.  Matthew's  Church, 
Hastings. 

Oregon,    Oregon:    Church  of   St.   Francis  of    Assisi,   East 

874 


APOSTLESHIP  NOTICES.  875 

Portland ;  Mount  Angel  College  (Benedictine  Fathers),  Mt. 
Angel. 

Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania :  St.  Vincent's  Church  (Lazarist 
Fathers),  Germantowu. 

Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania :  St.  Joseph's  Church,  Derry ;  St. 
Martin's  Church,  New  Derry  ;  St.  Vincent's  Church,  Beatty. 

Richmond,  Virginia :  Assumption  B.  V.  M.  Church,  Keyser 
(West  Virginia). 

St.  Joseph,  Missouri :  St.  Mary's  Orphan  Asylum  (Sisters  of 
St.  Joseph),  St.  Joseph. 

Syracuse,  New  York :  St.  John's  Church,  Utica. 

THE  TEEASUEY  OF  THE  SACEED  HEAET.    • 

Associates  can  gain  100  days'  Indulgence  for  each  action  offered  for  the 
Intentions  of  the  League. 

The  good  works  that  are  to  be  marked  on  the  Treasury 
blanks  are  those  that  have  been  offered  expressly  for  the  Intentions 
of  the  League.  Only  works  that  have  been  done  or  seriously 
promised  are  to  be  marked.  This  express  offering  of  good  works 
is  a  very  great  help  to  the  development  of  the  apostolic  spirit 
that  should  animate  all  Associates  of  the  Holy  League  since  they 
love  the  Sacred  Heart  and  are  desirous  of  consoling  and  comfort- 
ing the  best  of  Friends  Whose  love  is  met  by  so  much  ingratitude. 
The  little  Treasury  blank  is  a  silent  reminder  that  love  is  shown 
by  deeds.  The  Indulgence  granted  for  each  good  work  done  for 
the  Intentions  of  the  League  is  applicable  to  the  souls  in  Pur- 
gatory. This  thought  should  make  us  especially  zealous,  to 
increase  the  number  of  our  good  works  during  this  month  of  the 
Holy  Souls. 

Offerings  for  the  Intentions  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  received  from  September  12 
to  October  12,  1891. 

No.  or  TIKIS.  No.  OF  TIMZB. 

1.  Acts  of  Charity  ....  274,504  11.  Masses  Heard    ....  118,335 

2.  Beads 226,930  12.  Mortifications    ....  272,901 

3.  Stations  of  the  Cross     .  28,750  13.  Works  of  Charity     .    .  95,784 

4.  Holy  Communions    .    .  52,323  14.  Works  of  Zeal  ....  231,333 

5.  Spiritual  Communions  .  221,909  15.  Prayers 5,783,782 

6.  Examens  of  Conscience  118,725  16.  Charitable  Conversation  38,032 

7.  Hours  of  Labor  ....  920,640  17.  Sufferings  or  Afflictions  39,565 

8.  Hours  of  Silence    .    .    .  502,797  18,  Self-Conquest     ....  96,252 

9.  Pious  Reading    ....  60,272  19.  Visits  to  B.  Sacrament  140,970 
10.  Masses  Celebrated     .    .  1,298  20.  Various  Good  Works   .  464,738 

Total 9,689,850 

The  above  returns  represent  five  hundred  and  ninety-seven  Centres. 


ALL  YDU  THAT  LABOURING  ARE  BURDENED 


IN  THANKSGIVING   FOR  GRACES   OBTAINED. 

TOTAL  NUMBER  OF  THANKSGIVINGS  FOE  LAST  MONTH,  100,873. 

And  they  called  upon  the  Lord  Who  is  merciful    .     .     .    and  the  Holy  Lord 

God  quickly  heard  their  voice  (Ecclesiasticus,  xlviii.  22). 

ST.  PAUL,  MINNESOTA,  SEPTEMBER  12. — I  wish  to  return 
thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  return  of  my  father  to  the 
Church.  I  have  been  sending  intentions  for  him  since  last 
November  and  promised  to  return  thanks  through  the  MESSENGER. 
My  father  received  the  Sacraments  last  month  for  the  first  time 
in  forty  years.  Will  all  those  who  read  this  please  help  me  to 
thank  the  Sacred  Heart? 

BOSTON,  SEPTEMBER  12. — On  Friday  evening  my  sister  and 
I  asked  the  Sacred  Heart  to  send  us  some  nioney  which  we  had 
loaned  a  year  ago  and  of  which  we  were  now  in  need.  On  Satur- 
day afternoon  the  person  to  whom  it  had  been  loaned,  of  whom 
nothing  had  been  heard  during  the  year,  called  upon  us  and  paid 
us  a  large  portion  of  the  money  :  the  rest  of  it  was  paid  the  follow- 
ing week.  Thanks,  too,  for  unexpected  employment  speedily 
obtained  in  answer  to  prayer. 

ASBURY  PARK,  NEW  JERSEY,  SEPTEMBER  13. — Grateful 
thanks  are  returned  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  restoration  of  my 
mother's  health.  Since  she  was  recommended  to  the  League,  her 
improvement  has  been  wonderful. 

TROY,  NEW  YORK,  SEPTEMBER  14. — Work  was  very  slack 
in  a  laundry  in  which  a  large  number  of  girls  is  employed.  A 


876 


IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES  OBTAINED.  877 

Promoter  suggested  a  novena  in  honor  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of 
Jesus,  and  promised,  should  it  bring  better  work,  to  acknowledge 
the  favor  in  the  MESSENGER.  Before  the  novena  ended,  tnere  was 
a  rush  of  orders,  and  full  time  once  more,  and  there  has  been  no 
"  slack  "  since.  A  woman  who  for  forty  years  ignored  her  duties 
as  a  Catholic,  only  saying  a  daily  prayer  to  our  Blessed  Mother, 
went  to  confession  and  received  Communion  at  Easter.  A  negligent 
father  and  mother  attended  a  mission  and  complied  with  the  obli- 
gations necessary  for  obtaining  all  of  its  spiritual  benefits.  These 
cases  had  all  been  "  put  in  the  basket,"  as  the  League  lore  has  it, 
and  all  of  their  blessing  is  gratefully  attributed  to  the  unfailing 
goodness  and  mercy  of  the  Sacred  Heart. 

,  KENTUCKY,  SEPTEMBER  15. — The  prayers  of  the 

League  were  asked  for  means  to  free  a  church  from  debts  con- 
tracted seven  years  ago.  Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart,  our  church 
is  out  of  debt  now. 

ATCHISON,  KANSAS,  SEPTEMBER  16. — A  young  man  not  a 
Christian  and  unwilling  to  meet  a  priest  was  dying.  Thanks  to 
the  mercy  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  when  the  priest  called  a  second 
time  the  young  man  asked  to  see  him,  was  baptized,  received 
Extreme  Unction  and  the  Viaticum  and  died  happily. 

TROY,  SEPTEMBER  17. — I  wish  to  express  my  thanks  to 
the  Sacred  Heart  and  the  Blessed  Virgin  for  the  very  singular 
deliverance  of  a  child  from  spasms.  When  medical  attendance 
had  failed  to  afford  help  a  prayer  to  the  Sacred  Heart  and  the 
application  of  a  medal  of  our  Lady  suddenly  and  completely 
relieved  the  child. 

LINCOLN,  NEBRASKA,  SEPTEMBER  18. — Grateful  thanks  are 
returned  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  reformation  of  a  husband 
who  was  addicted  to  drink.  Thanks  also  for  employment 
obtained  by  two  men  who  had  been  idle  a  long  time,  both  inten- 
tions were  recommended  twice  to  the  League,  according  to  promise 
I  publish  my  thanks  in  the  MESSENGER. 

POMFRET,  MARYLAND,  SEPTEMBER  19. — I  desire,  in  fulfil- 
ment of  my  promise,  to  return  thanks  through  the  MESSENGER  to 
the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  and  His  Immaculate  Mother  for  the 


878  IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES  OBTAINED. 

recovery  of  my  son  who  had  been  severely  injured.  His  physi- 
cians thought  that  his  injuries  would  prove  fatal.  A  League 
Badge  was  placed  upon  his  breast,  and  the  last  Sacraments  admin- 
istered. He  improved  rapidly  and  is  now  nearly  restored.  I  beg 
each  of  the  MESSENGER  readers  to  make  an  act  of  thanksgiving 
for  me. 

SCRANTON,  PENNSYLVANIA,  SEPTEMBER  21. — My  father 
purchased  a  piece  of  land  and  paid  nearly  one  hundred  dollars  on 
account  for  it,  he  had  been  trying  for  almost  eight  years  to  get  the 
deeds  of  the  property  but  could  not  obtain  them  and  we  were 
daily  expecting  that  our  home  would  be  taken  from  us.  During 
the  month  of  June,  I  "abstained  from  meat  for  three  weeks  in  honor 
of  the  Sacred  Heart  and  promised  a  thanksgiving  in  the  MES- 
SENGER if  this  favor  were  granted  us.  Last  month  my  father 
received  the  deed,  thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of  our  dear  Lord. 

MILWAUKEE,  WISCONSIN,  SEPTEMBER  22. — Thanks  are 
returned  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  conversion  to  the  faith  of  a 
man  who  was  so  prejudiced  against  our  holy  religion  that  his  case 
seemed  hopeless.  Through  the  prayers  of  the  League,  grace 
finally  triumphed.  He  was  received  into  the  Church  on  his  death- 
bed, and  died  happily,  fortified  by  all  the  rites  of  the  Church. 

PUEBLO,  COLORADO,  SEPTEMBER  22. — I  wish  to  return 
thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus,  for  the  gradual,  but  steady 
and  marked  improvement  in  my  health,  following  an  illness  from 
two  haemorrhages  of  the  lungs  in  the  spring  of  1890.  Also  for 
the  manifold  kindness  of  friends  during  and  since  that  time,  and 
for  a  situation  most  opportunely  found  in  a  strange  city  ;  all  these 
temporal  blessings  I  attribute,  with  an  abiding  conviction,  to  the 
prayers  of  the  League  of  the  Sacred  Heart. 

NEW  YORK,  SEPTEMBER  23. — Thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart 
and  Blessed  Margaret  Mary  for  the  cure  of  my  brother,  who  for 
three  years  suffered  from  a  very  painful  disease.  Last  October,  a 
Promoter  gave  him  a  relic  of  Blessed  Margaret  Mary  to  wear,  and 
has  sent  this  intention  to  the  League  each  month,  promising  a 
thanksgiving  if  the  favor  were  granted.  He  is  entirely  cured  and 
in  thanksgiving  will  have  a  Mass  offered  for  the  intentions  of  the 
Sacred  Heart  every  month  for  one  year. 


IN   THANKSGIVING   FOR   GRACES  OBTAINED.  879 

FORT  RANDALL,  SOUTH  DAKOTA,  SEPTEMBER  24. — I  wish 
to  make  a  special  thanksgiving  for  a  temporal  favor  which  I 
almost  despaired  of  obtaining.  I  promised  to  acknowledge  my 
obligation  in  the  MESSENGER  and  show  my  gratitude  openly. 

CHICAGO,  SEPTEMBER  25. — Thank  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the 
wonderful  conversion  of  an  uncle  who  at  the  age  of  eighty-jive 
years  made  his  peace  with  God.  From  early  youth  when  his  par- 
ents died  until  recently  he  had  practised  no  religion.  Many  peti- 
tions were  make  for  him  and  many  Rosaries  and  Communions 
offered  in  thanksgiving  for  the  relief  of  the  Holy  Souls.  Thanks 
also  for  two  very  special  temporal  favors  obtained  through  the 
intercession  of  dear  St.  Joseph, '"  Friend  of  the  Sacred  Heart." 

BOSTON,  SEPTEMBER  26. — I  had  been  out  of  employment 
for  eight  months ;  encouraged  by  the  many  favors  granted  by  the 
Sacred  Heart,  I  recommended  my  intention  to  the  prayers  of  the 
League,  and  promised  St.  Joseph  that  if  he  would  obtain  from 
the  Sacred  Heart  a  position  for  me  I  would  have  it  mentioned  in 
the  MESSENGER.  I  succeeded  in  securing  a  lucrative  position, 
which  I  had  heard  of  before,  and  had  prayed  that  I  might 
obtain. 

DANBURY,  CONNECTICUT,  SEPTEMBER  28. — A  Promoter 
returns  thanks  for  speedy  relief  from  severe  pain.  The  favor 
was  granted  as  soon  as  the  promise  to  give  public  thanks  in  the 
MESSENGER  had  been  made.  A  similar  favor  was  granted  to 
another  Associate. 

NEW  YORK,  SEPTEMBER  29. — I  was  taken  sick  on  the  Satur- 
day before  the  First  Friday  of  this  month  and  the  illness  seemed 
so  to  baffle  the  efforts  of  the  doctor,  as  to  cause  those  around  me 
almost  to  despair  of  my  recovery.  Yet,  one  of  my  friends  who 
trusts  devotedly  in  the  Sacred  Heart,  and  had  already  begun  the 
novena  preparatory  to  the  First  Friday,  assured  me  that  on  that 
day  the  Sacred  Heart  would  cure  me. 

He  desired  me  to  promise  in  case  of  recovery  that  I  would 
offer  a  Communion  and  a  novena  of  thanksgiving,  and  acknowledge, 
through  the  MESSENGER,  the  goodness  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  I 
made  the  promises,  and  thanks  to  the  most  loving  Heart  of  our 


880  IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES   OBTAINED. 

Lord,  I  am  now  in  perfect  health.  The  last  trace  of  the  illness 
disappeared  shortly  after  midnight  of  the  First  Friday. 

,  CALIFORNIA,  OCTOBER  4. — I  desire  to  return  my  most 

heartfelt  thanks  for  a  favor  received  through  the  Sacred  Heart :  it 
was  the  successful  removal  of  a  cancer. 

VIRGINIA  CITY,  NEVADA,  OCTOBER  7. — A  worthy  Catholic 
man  who  had  been  given  but  ten  or  twelve  hours  to  live  by  sev- 
eral eminent  doctors,  and  had  no  earthly  hope  of  release  from  a 
terrible  disease  was  restored  to  health  six  hours  after  he  was 
enrolled  in  the  Holy  League.  Three  of  his  relatives  vowed  to 
perform  certain  pious  works  in  honor  of  the  Sacred  Heart  and 
our  Local  Director  asked  the  favor,  promising  if  it  were  granted 
to  give  thanks  through  the  MESSENGER. 

SCRANTON,  PENNSYLVANIA,  OCTOBER  12. — I  wish  to  return 
thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  for  my  recovery  from  a  dis- 
ease, the  cure  of  which  was  considered  hopeless. 

VARIOUS  CENTRES. — Thanksgivings  are  offered  to  the 
Sacred  Heart. — For  permission  granted  to  establish  the  League  in 
our  schools  and  in  the  parish. — For  the  conversion  of  a  brother 
who  had  been  two  years  away  from  the  Sacraments. — For  employ- 
ment obtained  in  unexpected  ways. — For  the  payment  of  a  debt 
due  several  years  and  looked  upon  as  hopeless. — For  the  conversion 
of  a  young  man  and  a  young  woman  to  the  true  faith.  For  the 
return  of  one  to  the  Sacraments  which  had  been  long  neglected. — 
For  a  great  spiritual  favor  bringing  peace  of  mind  and  a  clear 
conscience. — For  the  conversion  of  my  brother  who  for  twelve 
years  neglected  all  religious  duties.  His  only  prayer  said  at 
times  was  "  Jesus,  Mary  and  Joseph,  may  I  die  a  happy  death." 
He  received  the  Sacraments  several  times  during  the  three  last 
months  of  his  life. — For  the  recovery  of  my  mother  who  was 
seriously  ill.  Immediate  improvement  followed  on  my  promise 
to  publish  my  thanks  in  the  MESSENGER. — For  the  cure  of  a  baby 
in  danger  of  death :  a  League  Badge  was  placed  upon  it. — For 
the  return  of  a  man  to  the  practice  of  religious  duties,  which  he 
had  neglected  forty-five  years. 


(Design  from  the  Studio  of  Gagliardi.) 


THE  MESSENGER 


SACRED  HEART  OF  JESUS 


VOL.  YI  (xxvi).         DECEMBER,  1891. 


No.  12 


MARY  IMMACULATE. 

URE  as  the  crystal  bright, 
Pure  as  the  Seraph's  light, 

Mary  was  ever. 
Stained  by  a  shade  of  sin, 
Even  where  lives  begin, 

Never  !   no,  never  ! 

The  Spouse  of   th'  Anointed  Son — 
God's  own  Church,  true  and  one — 

Said  in  her  might : 
Semper  purissima, 
Semper  castissima, 

Heaven's  delight ! 

She  has  our  Ransom  borne ; 
She,  by  our  passions  torn, 

Stood  by  the  Cross. 
Now,  'midst  the  flaming  Thrones, 
Stands  she,  with  sweetest  tones, 

Praying  for  us. 


Copyright,  1891,  by  Rev.  R.  S.  Dewey,  S.  J.    All  rights  reserved.] 


881 


THE   PROPHET  OF   CHRISTMAS. 


CHILDREN  are  never 
y^y  out  of  place  at  Christ- 
mas time.  They  grace 
its  gayest  festival,  and  sweeten 
its  homeliest  story.  Their 
innocent  faces  are  never  so 
engaging  as  when  lit  up  by 
the  beauty  of  the  Babe  in  the 
Crib,  or  moved  to  wonder  at 
the  marvels  of  His  Birth. 

We  need  not  be  sur- 
prised then  that  the  Great 
Prophet  Isaias  should  have 
had  a  child  with  him  when 
uttering  his  signal  Christmas 
prophecy.  We  should  rather 
admire  the  fitness  of  the  com- 
panion whose  person  was  an 
image  and  whose  name, — 
pleasanter  to  us  in  mean- 
ing than  in  sound, — was  a 
reminder  of  the  subject  of 
that  prophecy.  The  child 
was  his  son  Jasub,  or  Shear 
Jasub,  and  he  was  so  named 
to  mean,  the  remnant  shall  be 
saved. 

Isaias  went  abroad  that  day  with   full    instructions    from 
above.     His  road  and  company  and  mission  were  all  appointed. 
Go  forth  to  meet  Achaz,  the  Lord  had  said  to  him,  thou  and  Jasub 
thy  son  that  is  left,  at  the  end  of  the  conduit  of  the  upper  pool,  in 
the  way  of  the  Fuller's  field.1     The  fullers  had  a  bleaching  ground 
1  Isaias,  vii.  3. 
882 


"GLORY  ro  GOD  IN  THE  HIGHEST.' 


THE   PROPHET   ISA.IAS. 
(Bartolommeo.) 


884  THE  PROPHET  OF  CHRISTMAS. 

near  what  is  now  called  Birket-el-Mamillah,  the  open  reservoir  or 
water-supply  west-north-west  of  the  city. 

What  was  King  Achaz  doing  there?  Driving  in  his  chariot, 
perhaps,  for  pleasure  on  that  broad  road  which  led  from  Joppa  gate 
close  to  his  palace  ?  Or  mounting  the  wall  to  look  towards  Olivet 
and  revel  in  the  glories  of  his  royal  city  ?  No,  he  was  too  preoc- 
cupied that  day  for  pleasure  or  self-complacency.  The  more  his 
eye  might  gladden  in  the  gay  walls  of  the  palace  and  vast  courts 
of  the  Temple,  the  more  his  spirits  drooped  under  the  cares  of 
protecting  palace  and  Temple,  city  and  throne,  from  the  wrath  of 
Rasin,  King  of  Syria,  and  of  Phacee,  son  of  Romelia. 

The  King  has  grave  reasons  for  tarrying  about  Fuller's  Field. 
That  pool  below  there  is  the  only  water-supply  for  the  citadel ;  it 
stands  in  the  easiest  approach  to  the  city,  and  the  walls  are  weak 
at  that  very  point :  houses  must  be  broken  down  to  fortify  the 
wall,  and  a  ditch  dug  between  the  walls  to  draw  the  water  from 
the  exposed  reservoir.5  It  is  high  time  for  this  solicitude,  when 
Rasin  has  carried  off  to  Damascus  huge  spoil  from  every  Judaean 
city;  when  Phacee  of  Israel  has  slain  one  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand  Jews,  and  now  both  kings  have  conspired  to  besiege  and 
sack  Jerusalem,  rob  Achaz  of  his  throne  and  put  the  son  of 
Tabeel  reigning  in  his  stead. 

A  graver  problem  than  the.  material  fortifications  drew  Achaz 
from  his  court  that  morning.  He  had  resolved  to  keep  his  king- 
dom without  the  help  of  God.  The  impious  king  had  sown  an 
idolatrous  seed  in  Juda,  had  burned  his  own  son  in  the  fires  of  the 
idols,  and  had  sacrificed  and  burnt  incense  in  the  high  places  and 
on  the  hills  and  under  every  green  tree.3  The  threatened  siege 
was  God's  swift  vengeance  on  the  faithlessness  of  His  vicar  king. 
Already  for  Joatham's  perversity  the  Lord  had  begun  to  send  the 
hostile  kings  into  Jerusalem ;  but  they  had  come  up  separately  in 
petty  warfare  only.  The  Lord  would  have  stayed  the  avenging 
armies,  but  Achaz  had  decided  to  walk  in  the  ways  of  the  kings 
of  Israel  and  cast  statues  for  Baalim.4  So  the  people  kept  falling 
and  going  away  backwards*  until  their  king  had  come  to  plan  a 

*Ibid.,  xxii.  11.  *2  Paralipomenon,  xxviii.  2. 

s  IV.  Kings,  xvi.  3,  4.  6Isaias,  i.  4. 


886  THE  PROPHET  OF  CHRISTMAS. 

final  and  formal  desertion  of  the  God  of  his  fathers.  That  how- 
ever is  a  secret  of  his  conscience  which  we  could  not  learn  with- 
out Isaias'  help  and  revelation. 

The  Prophet  who  will  disclose  this  dark  secret  is  no  solitary. 
He  has  lived  all  his  life  in  the  king's  court,  a  member  of  his 
family.  As  he  moves  along  with  his  boy,  the  highest  and  lowest 
treat  him  with  respect,  not  for  his  years  or  gray  hairs, — he  is  little 
more  than  thirty ;  but  for  his  noble  birth,  his  dreaded  office  and 
his  exalted  character.  Well  they  know  he  reads  the  scoffing 
thought  concealed  under  that  show  of  respect.  Tears  have  been 
his  bread  day  and  night  as  these  men  say  to  him  daily,  Where  is 
thy  God  ?"  Let  Him  make  haste,  and  let  His  work  come  quickly, 
that  we  may  see  US  He  is  sad  for  them,  too  :  they  know  not  what 
they  say.  O  my  people,  they  that  have  called  thee  blessed,  the  same 
have  deceived  thee  and  destroy  thy  ways.s  And  he  foresaw  the 
awakening  from  that  deceit,  when  they  should  be  as  an  oak  whose 
leaves  are  falling  off,  and  as  a  garden  without  water.  And  their 
strength  as  the  ashes  of  tow,  and  their  work  as  a  spark,  and  both 
shall  burn  together  and  there  shall  be  none  to  quench  it.9 

No  solitary  is  Isaias,  but  a  jealous  lover  of  his  nation.  Its 
thoughts  and  ways  he  knows  and  deplores,  and  its  destiny  is  his 
only  concern.  Above  all,  true  statesman  that  he  is,  he  champions 
its  right  government,  with  God  its  Supreme  Ruler,  and  the  king 
His  vicar ;  and  all  who  would  betray  God's  empire  find  in  him 
their  most  relentless  opponent. 

Achaz  is  the  solitary  now.  Neither  wall  nor  water-supply 
draws  him  from  the  court  with  half  the  force  of  his  desperate 
design  to  save  Juda  without  God.  While  the  sight  of  men  like 
Isaias,  faithful  in  the  sight  of  God,10  rebuked  him,  his  heart  sick- 
ened at  seeing  the  throng  of  reckless  devil- worshippers  whom  his 
own  idolatry  had  encouraged,  and  whose  godless  influence  was  now 
driving  him  to  abandon  God.  Yes,  he  will  dig  the  ditch  for  the 
water  and  never  look  up  to  the  Maker  thereof.  The  hills  about 
echoed  to  him  the  Psalmist's  assurance :  As  the  mountains  are 

6 Psalm  xli.  4.  8Ibid.,  iii.  12.  10 Ecclesiasticus,  xlviii.  25. 

'Isaias,  v.  19.  9Ibid.,  i.  30,  31. 


THE  PROPHET  OF  CHRISTMAS. 


887 


round  about  Jerusalem :  so  the  Lord  is  round  about  His  people, 
from  henceforth  now  and  forever  ;n  but  Achaz  was  utterly  rebel- 
lious in  spirit.  He  spurned  the  aid  and  safety  for  which  he  would 
have  had  to  submit  to  the  just  chastisement  of  his  idolatries. 
Bather  will  he  sell  God's 
kingdom,  frustrate  God's 
plan  of  a  divine  and  uni- 
versal empire,  and  con- 
tribute to  Tiglathpeleser's 
vain  ambition  for  the  mas- 
tery of  the  world. 

To  shake  that  dark 
rebellious  spirit  no  ordi- 
nary message  could  suffice. 
The  Prophet  who  will 
utter  it  must  bring  more 
than  mere  reputation  for 
prophetic  gifts.  He  must 
be  the  very  incarnation  of 
prophecy  to  vanquish  this 
man  in  league  with  divin- 
ers and  pythonical  spirits. 
He  must  discern  the 
secret  treachery,  declare 
the  future  with  no  falter- 
ing tones,  and  have  at 
beck  the  power  of  signs 
from  God  to  prove  his 
mission. 

And  all  this  and  more 
was  the  gift  of  Isaias. 
We  value  now  the  fitness 
of  his  child's  company.  The  boy's  name  would  remind  Achaz 
that  Isaias'  name  and  person  and  very  being  all  were  pro- 
phecy. What  sounds  to  us  Isaias  would  ring  Salvation  of  the 

11  Psalm  cxxiv.  4. 


"ONE    OF    THE   SERAPHIM    FLEW    TO   ME." 

(Angelo.) 


888  THE  PROPHET  OF  CHRISTMAS. 

Lord  in  Hebrew  to  Achaz,  and  the  man  who  bore  the  name,  who 
mixed  with  men  and  knew  his  times  more  familiarly  than  the 
king,  seemed  to  live  entirely  in  the  future,  his  eyes  straining  for 
distant  objects  and  his  ears  open  for  sounds  from  another  world ; 
basing  his  motives  on  a  promised  salvation  as  if  it  were  actually 
at  hand,  proclaiming  redemption  and  exulting  in  its  triumph  as 
though  the  long-desired  Messias  had  come  to  rule  His  people. 

A  worthy  foretype  of  the  Christmas  Saviour,  this  man  who 
comes  unbidden  to  advise  the  king,  to  read  his  inmost  thought 
and  warn  him  :  See  thou  be  quiet ;  fear  not,  and  let  thy  heart  be  not 
afraid  of  what  Isaias  calls,  in  contempt,  the  two  tails  of  these  fire- 
brands,™ Rasin  and  Phacee.  A  bold  intrusion  this,  to  tell  a 
monarch  he  fears  mere  braggarts  !  Bold  surely  to  rashness, 
unless  the  speaker  could  maintain  his  message  with,  Thus  saith 
the  Lord  God:  It  shall  not  stand,  and  this  shall  not  6e.ls  The  son 
of  Tabeel  they  will  never  make  king  in  your  place  :  //  you  do  not 
believe,  you  shall  not  continue.1* 

Strange  that  Achaz,  who  meant  to  abandon  God,  should  have 
suffered  God's  Prophet  to  encounter  him  thus  !  Still  Isaias  had 
foretold  only  the  safety  of  his  throne,  and  how  did  Achaz  know 
but  it  might  come  about  without  his  perfidy  and  base  alliance 
with  the  Assyrian?  Perhaps  Isaias  does  not  know  this  project 
of  his? 

Isaias  knew  the  project  too  well ;  his  mission  is  to  have 
Achaz  abandon  it,  to  confide  in  God  rather  than  in  man.  To 
nerve  him  to  forsake  it,  he  will  prove  God's  readiness  to  continue 
the  house  of  David  by  challenging  the  king :  Ask  thee  a  sign  oj 
the  Lord  thy  God,  either  unto  the  depth  of  hell  or  unto  the  height 
above.1"  Here  is  a  test-proffer  of  divine  grace.  No  limit  is  set  to  the 
king's  choice ;  God's  minister  is  not  like  his  court  diviners,  crafty 
and  arbitrary,  but  open  and  willing  that  he  should  name  his  own 
terms.  And  Achaz  knew  that  Isaias  would  meet  his  terms ;  he 
knew  it  so  well  that  he  feared  to  name  any.  He  had  committed 
himself  so  far  to  the  Assyrian  alliance  that  he  could  not  recede, 
and  he  cared  not  to  have  Isaias  denounce  his  declared  infidelity. 

"Isaias,  vii.  4.  ISIbid  ,  7.  "Ibid.,  9.  15Ibid.,  11. 


"THE   HONOR   OF   OUR   PEOPLE. 


89O  THE  PROPHET  OF  CHRISTMAS. 

I  will  not  ask,  is  his  arrogant  rejection  of  God's  grace,  and  I  mil 
not  tempt  the  Lord,1*  even  though  He  command  what  I  choose  to 
consider  tempting  Him. 

Already  the  Prophet's  discernment  is  furnishing  us  with 
more  figures  of  Christmas  than  his  name  and  person.  How  like 
when  Herod  was  troubled  and  all  Jerusalem  with  him  is  Achaz 
and  the  alarm  of  his  idolatrous  city !  And  how  like  Herod's 
angry  slaughter  to  destroy  the  sign  of  our  salvation  is  this  man's 
proud  rejection  of  the  proffered  sign  !  The  Babe  Which  Simeon 
will  pronounce  set  for  the  ruin  and  resurrection  of  many  is  already 
a  sign  of  contradiction,  and  we  have  something  of  a  Christmas 
tragedy  seven  hundred  years  before  Christ  comes. 

Before  Christ  comes  !  Isaias  seems  to  know  of  neither  before 
nor  after  that  Coming.  It  is  real  enough  to  be  a  sign  to  him,  and 
through  him  the  Lord  makes  it  a  sign  for  Achaz,  or  rather  for  the 
deceived  nation  whose  ways  Achaz  would  pervert,  grievous  to  men 
as  he  was  grievous  to  my  God  also.17  Behold  a  virgin  shall  con- 
ceive and  bear  a  Son,  and  His  name  shall  be  called  Emmanuel.1* 

That  is  a  sign  from  the  Lord,  and  how  magnificently  He 
avenges  the  refusal  to  let  His  prophet  prove  His  word  !  Achaz 
would  have  asked  something  worldly,  some  new  quest  of  ambition 
or  cushion  of  luxury,  only  he  denied  himself  and  sacrificed  his 
pride  and  curiosity  to  keep  the  Almighty  from  displaying  His 
power.  Now  it  is  displayed  in  spite  of  him,  in  a  sign  transcend- 
ing all  that  Achaz  could  have  asked,  and  the  sign  is :  The 
promised  One  shall  come,  He  shall  come,  as  I  have  told  this 
people  over  and  over  again,  of  the  house  of  David,  of  his  seed, 
whether  you  Achaz  hold  or  lose  the  throne.  And  that  you  may 
know  I  am  the  Lord  Who  speaks,  and  that  I  would  have  kept 
you  had  you  listened  to  My  Prophet,  behold  I  give  him  now, 
whom  you  know  for  a  Prophet,  the  glory  of  foreseeing  and  fore- 
telling the  beautiful  manner  of  the  Messias'  Coming,  of  a  Virgin 
Mother,  and  I  let  him  make  known  His  true  name  Emmanuel. 

It  is  the  Great  Prophet's  Annunciation.  Like  Gabriel  cen- 
turies after  bringing  God's  message  to  Mary,  the  great  spirit  of 

16  Ibid.,  12.  "Ibid.,  13.  18  Ibid.,  14. 


THE    ANNUNCIATION. 
(Statuary,  Eheims'  Cathedral.) 


892  THE  PROPHET  OF  CHRIST 'MAS. 

Isaias  already  beholds  a  virgin  conceiving  and  bringing  forth 
Emmanuel  as  one  looking  at  the  mystery  whereof  he  spoke,  with 
the  image  and  full  evidence  in  his  mind.  St.  Matthew  will  tran- 
scribe the  prophecy,  and  interpret  for  us  Emmanuel,  God  with  us.li 
The  other  Gospel  and  Epistle  writers  will  appeal  to  the  Prophet's 
own  development  of  it  as  offering  so  many  glorious  traits  to 
recognize  and  study  in  the  Child  born  in  Bethlehem.  And  even 
Mary  will  recall  in  her  magnificent  outburst  of  praise  the  hymn 
Isaias  sang  as  he  gradually  read  the  Lord's  design  :  Behold  God 
is  my  Saviour,  I  wilt  deal  confidently  and  will  not  fear :  because  the 
Lord  is  my  strength,  and  my  praise,  and  He  is  become  my  salva- 
tion. Sing  ye  to  the  Lord,  for  He  hath  done  great  things. 20 

For  all  through  the  Prophet's  career  the  message  keeps 
growing.  What  Achaz  hears  privately  in  outline,  the  people  will 
hear  in  startling  detail  burdening  every  strain  of  the  holy  seer. 
Emmanuel  will  be  poor,  and  acquainted  with  infirmity,  forced  to 
eat  butter  and  honey,  in  a  land  that  should  run  with  the  fruit  of 
the  grape  and  wave  with  golden  harvests ;  and  He  will  experience 
what  it  is  to  know  to  refuse  the  evil  and  choose  the  good?1  The 
same  Emmanuel  the  Prophet  will  write  down  in  a  great  book  and 
write  in  it  with  a  man's  pen,™  where  those  who  run  may  read,  and  the 
writing  will  swell  like  a  germ,  and  grow  into  the  fruitful  message  : 
For  a  Child  is  born  to  us  and  a  Son  is  given  to  us,  and  the  govern- 
ment is  upon  His  shoulder :  and  His  Name  shall  be  called  Wonder- 
ful, Counsellor,  God  the  Mighty,  the  Father  of  the  world  to  come,  the 
Prince  of  Peace.  His  empire  shall  be  multiplied,  and  there  shall 
be  no  end  of  peace,  He  shall  sit  upon  the  throne  of  David,  and  upon 
His  Kingdom  to  establish  it,  and  strengthen  it  with  judgment  and 
with  justice,  from  henceforth  forever  the  zeal  of  the  Lord  of  hosts 
will  perform  this.'23  So  plain  and  confident  are  the  announcements 
that  one  almost  listens  for  the  angelic  chorus :  Glory  to  God  in 
the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace  to  men  of  good  will!"  Nor  do  we 
listen  altogether  in  vain.  In  Isaias  we  hear  at  least  the  antiphon 
to  that  strain.  All  his  prophecies  aim  at  making  men  know  and 

19 St.  Matthew,  i.  22.  « Ibid.,  15,  16.  *3  Ibid.,  ix.  6,  7. 

*> Isaias,  xii.  2.  "Ibid.,  viii.  1.  "St.  Luke,  ii.  14. 


THE   PROPHET   OF  CHRISTMAS. 


893 


glorify  God  as  not  far  off,  nor  on  a  journey,  but  as  present  in 
their  midst.     Abraham  had  told  them  of  Jehovah's  providence, 


"DROP    DOWN    DEW,   YE    HEAVENS     .     .      .      LET    THE    CLOUDS    RAIN    THE   JUST." 

(Grimani  Breviary.) 

and  Moses  ot  Adonai,  their  God  a  Sovereign ;  Isaias  tells  them  ot 
the  immense  and  omnipresent  God,  Whose  delight  to  be  with  the 
children  of  men  is  so  great,  that  He  will  dwell  in  our  midst,  God 


894 


THE  PROP  HE!    OF  CHRISTMAS. 


with  us,  true  God  and  perfect  Man.  As  a  flower  He  will  rise 
from  the  root  of  Jesse,  Mary  His  Virgin  Mother.  He  will  come 
to  rule,  this  Prince  of  Peace,  to  judge  the  poor  with  justice,  and 
reprove  with  equity  for  the  meek  of  the  earth™  And  the  fruits  of 
His  rule  are  peace  :  The  wolf  shall  dwell  with  the  kid  . 
the  calf  and  the  lion  and  the  sheep  shall  abide  together  and  a  little 
child  shall  lead  them.36 

So  near  at  hand  is  the  Desired  of  Israel  that  the  sound  of 


"  BEHOLD    A    VIRGIN   SHALL    CONCEIVE." 

(Isaias  and  Achaz,  from  a  print  of  1735.) 

the  new  name  given  Him  by  Isaias  fills  the  land  with  visions  of 
His  appearance  and  with  longing  and  prayer  for  His  Coming. 
Isaias  is  always  the  type,  the  spokesman,  the  embodiment  of  the 
people's  expectation.  Now  he  calls  on  the  clouds  to  rain  down  the 
Just  One,  as  dew  from  heaven  •"  again  he  points  Him  out :  Behold 
our  God,  Him  Whom  we  longed  for,  He  will  save  us.™  "The  Lord 
will  come.  Let  us  go  out  to  meet  Him."  It  is  the  same  message 
the  Church  has  in  the  Office  of  the  Feast  of  the  Expectation. 
"  Tell  all  the  peoples  our  Lord  and  Saviour  will  pome."  Though 
"Isaias,  xi.  4.-  *  Ibid.,  6,  7.  27  Ibid.,  xlv.  8.  s8  Ibid.,  xxv.  9. 


THE   SEAL   OF   THE   PROPHET'S .  TESTIMONY. 
(15th  century  print.) 


896 


THE  PROPHET  OF  CHRISTMAS. 


at  times  few  hearken  to  him,  though  he  is  a  voice  crying  out  in 
the  desert,29  he  is  still  the  singer  of  the  nation's .  hopes,  a  witness 
to  their  infidelity,  but  oftener  a  witness  to  the  truth  of  their 
longings. 

Isaias  sealed  his  glorious  testimony  by  his  blood,  tradition 
tells  us,  having  been  sawed  in  two  by  order  of  the  impious 
Manasses.  In  this  again  he  was  a  type  of  the  Redeemer  Whose 
Death  he  predicted  in  the  same  clearness  as  he  had  foretold  His 
Birth.  We  cannot  leave  the  holy  Prophet  out  of  our  meditations 
now  that  we  are  awaiting  the  glad  tidings  from  Bethlehem  any 
more  than  the  New  Testament  writers  could  omit  their  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  references  to  his  wonderful  pages.  Nor  should 
we  overlook  him  if  we  could.  We  need  his  spirit  of  hopefulness 
now  as  much  as  the  Jews  of  his  own  time.  His  vindication  of 
prayer  when  Achaz  disdained  to  pray ;  his  confidence  in  a  plenti- 
ful redemption ;  his  blind  trust  in  his  fellowmen,  who  were  all 
gone  astray,  and  become  unprofitable  together ;  his  loyalty  to 
their  cause  and  faith  in  their  final  regeneration,  when  their  valiant 
and  fairest  men  were  falling  in  battle,  the  beauty  of  their  women 
turned  to  squalor  and  their  gates  lamenting  and  mourning  as  the 
city  sat  desolate  on  the  ground ;  all  his  true-hearted  sentiments 
complete  the  prefiguration  of  the  Messias  begun  in  his  name.  As 
his  prophecy  pointed  to  Christ's  Coming,  to  His  Life  and  Death,  so 
these  great  personal  traits  of  his  point  to  the  most  perfect  revela- 
tion vouchsafed  us  in  these  latter  days  of  the  divine  virtues  of  the 
Heart  of  Jesus  Christ. 


» Ibid.,  xl.  3. 


A   SUNDAY   ON   THE   SIPSEY   RIVER. 

By  the  Author  of  "Old  Black  Jo,"  "A  Story  of.  Old  Virginny," 
"Poor  Little  Dick,"  "Joseph's  Dream,"  etc. 

VI. 

S  Father  Morgan  rose  to  commence  his  discourse  a 
strange  scene  presented  itself  to  his  eyes.  In 
the  distance  lay  the  quiet  hills  and  valleys ; 
drawn  to  one  side  of  the  road  just  outside  the 
gate  was  a  heterogeneous  collection  of  vehicles, 
while  a  few  rods  below  the  house  was  the  barn- 
yard, where  the  horses  and  oxen  lazily  munched  their  food  and 
switched  away  the  tormenting  flies  ;  at  his  feet  the  little  ones  with 
wide-open  eyes  watched  him  intently,  and  a  little  further  off  were 
numerous  groups  arranged  in  picturesque  carelessness  under  the 
wide-spreading  trees,  seated  on  chairs,  benches,  buggy-seats  or  the 
gnarled  roots  of  trees,  eagerly  waiting,  some  with  curiosity,  some 
with  distrust  and  half-concealed  defiance  in  their  eyes,  some  with 
a  look  of  kindly  tolerance  born  of  their  native  generosity  and 
respect  for  their  kindly  hostess. 

The  priest  had  never  faced  exactly  such  an  audience,  and 
for  a  moment  the  scene  swam  before  his  eyes  as  he  realized  the 
task  before  him.  Just  then  he  heard  a  slight  movement  at  his 
elbow,  and  turning  round  he  found  that  Mr.  Ingle  had  placed  on 
a  small  stand  beside  him  a  pitcher  of  water  and  a  glass,  also  a  well- 
worn  Bible  belonging  to  Mrs.  Ingle,  and  had  quietly  seated  him- 
self beside  his  wife  in  a  shady  corner  of  the  porch.  Mrs.  Ingle 
sat  with  her  hands  lightly  clasped  in  her  lap ;  her  eyes  were 
lifted,  not  to  the  face  of  the  preacher  but  above  and  beyond,  to 
the  blue  sky,  and  a  rapt  expression  as  of  prayer  lighted  up  her 
features. 

Father  Morgan  opened  the  Bible  at  the  Gospel  of  the  day, 
and  began  almost  mechanically  :  "  My  dear  brethren,  the  portion 
of  the  holy  Gospel  which  the  Church  appoints  to  be  read  on  this, 

897 


898  A  SUNDAY  ON    THE  SIPSEY  RII/ER. 

the  fourteenth  Sunday  after  Pentecost,  is  taken  from  the  sixth 
chapter  of  St.  Matthew,  from  the  24th  to  the  33d  verse."  Mrs. 
Ingle  and  her  husband  rose  to  their  feet  as  the  text  was  announced, 
and  the  greater  number  of  those  outside  followed  their  example 
without  hesitation,  and  remained  standing  until  at  the  close  of  the 
passage,  the  priest  with  a  smile  motioned  them  to  be  seated. 

This  little  incident  had  the  effect  of  diverting  him  from  the 
momentary  embarrassment  under  which  he  had  labored.  He 
repeated  slowly  and  emphatically  the  verse  which  closes  the 
Gospel  of  the  day  :  Seek  ye  therefore  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and 
His  justice,  and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you.  He  spoke 
of  what  was  meant  by  sincerely  seeking  the  kingdom  of  God, 
striving  to  do  His  Will.  He  reviewed  the  duty  of  a  Christian 
and  showed  how  the  knowledge  of  God  and  of  His  law  had  been 
preserved  in  the  Church  established  by  Christ,  how  the  books  of 
the  Bible  had  been  preserved  and  brought  down  to  us  by  the 
Church  to  which  He  gave  the  power  and  mission  to  teach  all 
men ;  and  he  spoke  of  the  necessity  of  hearing  and  obeying  that 
Church.  He  asked  them  all  to  pray  earnestly  every  day  for  the 
light  to  find  God's  will  and  the  grace  to  fulfil  it,  that  He  Who 
knew  all  their  wants  whether  of  soul  or  body  might  bestow  upon 
them  all  things  necessary  for  salvation. 

Several  times  during  the  sermon  one  or  another  of  the  list- 
eners said  :  "  That's  so,  Brother,"  "Amen,  amen  !''  and  such  like 
ejaculations,  but  they  were  in  subdued  tones  and  did  not  discon- 
cert him  nor  amuse  any  of  the  audience  except  the  young  people 
who  were  glad  of  an  excuse  to  smile. 

Immediately  after  he  concluded  speaking,  hurried  prepara- 
tions for  departure  were  made,  for  the  storm  which  had  been 
gathering  threatened  to  burst  upon  them  by  night  and  all  wished 
to  reach  home  as  soon  as  possible.  There  was  hurried  hitching 
up  of  teams  and  "  piling  into  the  wagons,"  as  they  expressed  it ; 
and  all  departed  after  many  words  of  thanks  and  hopes  that  the 
good  man  would  preach  for  them  again. 

As  evening  approached,  the  sky  grew  dark  and  the  atmos- 
phere became  stifling.  Mountainous  black  masses  skirted  the 


A  SUNDAY  ON    THE  SIPSEY  RI^ER.  899 

horizon,  lighted  up  momentarily  by  blinding  flashes.  The  cattle 
bellowed  uneasily  and  hurried  to  shelter ;  the  pigs  squealed  dis- 
mally, and  here  and  there  a  belated  young  one  could  be  seen 
scurrying  along  with  a  mouthful  of  dried  leaves ;  the  poultry 
retired  long  before  their  usual  time  and  seemed  unusually  rest- 
less ;  indeed  even  to  one  unaccustomed  to  the  portents  of  a 
storm,  it  was  evident  that  some  unusual  event  was  about  to  take 
place. 

What  a  storm  it  was !  How  the  rain  poured,  the  wind 
howled  and  the  giant  trees  swayed !  The  lightning  glared  and 
the  heavy  thunder-peals  seemed  to  shake  the  house.  Now  and 
then  there  was  a  deafening  crash  as  a  large  tree  near  the  house 
was  torn  up  by  the  roots  or  robbed  of  its  heaviest  branches.  Mrs. 
Ingle,  who  had  a  nervous  dread  of  storms,  sat  pale  and  quiet, 
the  little  ones  huddled  close  around  her.  One  of  them  said : 
"  Mamma,  hadn't  we  better  light  a  blessed  candle  ?"  She  joyfully 
assented,  and  Mr.  Ingle  quickly  lighted  one  of  the  candles  which 
had  been  used  on  the  altar,  and  placed  it  before  the  crucifix. 

"  My  husband  has  great  faith  in  blessed  candles,"  said  she  to 
the  priest. 

"  I  do  not  know  that  it  is  faith,"  said  Mr.  Ingle,  "  but  I  con- 
fess it  gives  me  a  feeling  of  peace  and  comfort  in  the  midst  of  a 
storm.  That  steady  little  flame  reminds  me  of  God's  love — and 
then  too  if  there  is  any  good  in  prayer,  and  we  all  believe  there 
is,  I  understand  that  prayers  have  been  said  for  the  safety  and 
preservation  of  those  who  devoutly  use  these  things." 

"We  could  not  ask  a  more  rational  appreciation  of  holy 
things  from  the  best  kind  of  a  Catholic,"  said  the  priest  approv- 
ingly. "And  now  suppose  we  say  our  evening  prayers  together ; 
and  perhaps  when  we  have  finished  the  storm  will  be  over." 

Very  devoutly  they  united  with  Father  Morgan  in  saying 
the  evening  prayers,  and  the  responses  to  the  familiar  litany  seemed 
to  drown  the  noise  of  the  raging  elements.  As  they  hoped,  the 
fury  of  the  storm  was  soon  spent,  but  the  rain  continued  to  pour 
in  torrents.  They  retired  early  and  slept  soundly  after  the 
unwonted  experiences  of  the  day,  the  night  being  so  cool  that 


9OO  A  SUNDAY  ON    THE  SIPSEY  RIVER. 

open  doors  and  windows  would  have  been  really  uncomfort- 
able. 

In  ordinary  weather,  the  creek  about  a  mile  below  Ingle's 
Rest  was  easily  forded,  the  bottom  being  of  solid  rock  and  the 
water  rarely  more  than  three  feet  deep,  the  banks  having  a  gradual 
ascent  on  either  side ;  but  a  violent  storm  could  change  this  lazy 
little  stream  into  a  mountain  torrent,  flooding  the  bottom  lands 
and  tearing  along  in  its  channel  like  a  fury,  boiling  and  raging, 
and  tossing  to  and  fro  everything  which  came  within  its  grasp. 
This  was  the  condition  of  Sipsey  River  on  the  morning  following 
the  storm  ;  and  soon  after  breakfast,  word  was  brought  that  all 
the  bridges  within  ten  miles  were  washed  away. 

It  was  then  impossible  for  Father  Morgan  to  return  to  the 
railroad  camp  until  the  river  had  resumed  its  usual  safe  condition, 
which  might  be  in  two  or  three  days.  Mr.  Ingle  said  that  it 
usually  took  at  least  twenty-four  hours  for  the  waters  to  subside, 
but  this  being  an  unusual  freshet  might  last  longer.  It  did  in 
fact  continue  until  Wednesday,  when  the  ford  was  at  last  consid- 
ered safe,  and  Mr.  Ingle  himself  accompanied  his  guest  part  of 
the  way  on  his  journey  home. 

On  Monday  afternoon,  a  party  of  neighbors  visited  the  house 
and  requested  the  priest  to  preach  again  for  them.  He  did  so, 
and  the  request  was  repeated  and  acceded  to  on  the  following  day. 
Meanwhile  he  had  many  pleasant  talks  with  his  kind  host,  and  a 
warm  friendship  sprang  up  between  the  two  men.  Mr.  Ingle 
promised  to  continue  his  investigations,  and  Father  Morgan 
promised  on  his  side  to  pray  for  him  and  to  send  him  some  books 
to  read.  They  parted  with  much  regret,  both  wondering  under 
what  circumstances  they  would  meet  again. 

VII. 

John  Ingle's  life  had  been  an  eventful  one.  When  quite 
young  he  had  heard  from  afar  the  cry  that  called  the  young 
Southron  to  arms,  and,  without  giving  a  thought  to  the  future,  he 
had  responded.  With  his  brothers  and  relatives  he  had  gone 
forth,  leaving  the  old  homestead  in  the  care  of  his  parents  who 


A  SUNDAY  ON    THE  SIPSEY  RII/ER.  9O1 

had  to  contest  against  both  friend  and  foe.  They  were  pillaged 
again  and  again  by  Confederates,  "Tories"  and  Union  troops. 
The  farm  horses  and  other  live-stock  were  carried  off;  and  had 
not  the  old  people  taken  the  precaution  of  burying  all  the  money 
they  could  get  together,  early  during  the  war,  they  would  have 
been  left  penniless. 

As  it  was,  they  bravely  held  possession  of  the  little  home, 
though  many  a  time  starvation  seemed  looking  through  the 
unglazed  windows  or  striding  in  at  the  rickety  doorway.  Fortu- 
nately their  grim  fortitude  carried  them  safely  through  these 
dreadful  days  until  the  boys  came  back,  broken  down,  ragged  and 
penniless,  but  alive  and  whole. 

John  was  sick  at  heart.  What  was  to  be  done  with  a  big 
farm,  two  lame  mules  and  a  number  of  broken  ploughs  ?  Fences 
were  down,  and  old  fields  were  full  of  young  pine  saplings ; 
while  there  was  little  left  of  the  habitation  save  its  bare  walls, 
and  all  around  breathed  of  ruin  and  devastation. 

Some  of  the  old  family  servants,  lingering  about  the  place, 
offered  to  work  with  his  brothers  on  shares,  and  John  went  with 
a  party  of  comrades  prospecting  in  the  West.  Nine  of  them 
started  out ;  two  returned.  John  was  one  of  the  survivors  ;  and 
if  he  returned  with  gold  and  silver  in  his  pockets,  he  also  brought 
back,  what  lasted  longer  than  either,  horrible  memories  seared 
into  his  brain  :  memories  of  days  and  nights  of  agonizing  hunger 
and  thirst,  of  pitiful  death-bed  scenes  in  a  small-pox  camp ;  of 
wild  hopes  and  cruel  disappointments  crowned  at  last  by  success 
which  came  like  a  mockery  when  hope  and  ambition  seemed  dead. 
Mechanically  he  wended  his  way  homeward,  broken  in  health  and 
spirits ;  but  the  old  home  scenes  revived  his  hopes. 

His  brothers  had  married  and  wanted  farms  to  themselves ; 
his  parents  needed  him  and  agreed  to  settle  the  homestead  upon 
him  if  he  would  assist  his  brothers  in  building  their  new  houses. 
So  he  found  his  life  full  of  duties  and  cares  ;  and  later  on  a  happy 
marriage  anchored  him  safe  at  home  no  longer  a  wanderer. 

His  wife  was  much  younger  than  himself.  He  had  met  her 
when  she  was  visiting  relatives  in  an  adjacent  county,  a  convent- 


9O2  A  SUNDAY  ON   THE  SIPSEY  RIVER. 

bred  girl,  with  no  special  fancy  for  literature  or  the  fine  arts,  but 
pretty,  warm-hearted,  intelligent,  and  sincerely  but  unaffectedly 
pious.  Why  she  gave  her  hand  and  heart  to  this  serious  man,  a 
stranger  to  her  faith,  we  cannot  say.  It  was  only  the  old  story  : 
they  loved  one  another,  he  was  good  and  kind  and  would  not  inter- 
fere with  her  religion  ;  and  so  the  good  parish  priest  at  her  home 
had  to  marry  them ;  and  if  she  had  shed  many  a  hidden  tear  and 
suffered  many  a  bitter  pang,  she  had  at  least  made  the  best  of  it 
and  done  her  duty  nobly.  By  kindness,  patience  and  fidelity, 
she  had  kept  the  love  of  her  husband  and  won  the  respect  and 
affection  of  his  relatives,  who  at  first  disliked  her  on  account  of 
her  religion. 

Early  in  her  wedded  life  she  realized  that  for  her  husband 
simply  not  to  interfere  with  her  religion  was  a  very  low  ideal  of 
Christian  happiness ;  and  while  she  felt  grateful  for  his  kindness 
and  tolerance,  she  never  ceased  praying  fervently  for  his  conver- 
sion, begging  God  to  bestow  the  gift  of  faith  upon  him  at  any 
cost  to  herself. 

VIII. 

After  the  deluge  came  weeks  of  hard  work  to  save  the 
damaged  crops ;  then  the  decaying  vegetation  under  the  scorching 
September  sun  gave  rise  to  malaria,  and  there  was  much  sickness, 
so  that  everybody's  hands  were  full  and  time  flew  by  almost 
unheeded.  Before  they  realized  it  at  the  farm,  two  winters  sped 
by,  two  years'  crops  were  planted  and  gathered,  and  mid-summer 
was  once  more  at  hand. 

But  these  short  years  in  their  swift  flight  had  wrought  many . 
changes.  The  coming  of  the  wonderful  steam-horse  into  a  rural 
neighborhood  changes  the  face  of  the  earth  ;  it  brings  a  new  but 
not  always  a  better  class  of  people  into  the  vicinity ;  it  widens 
the  views  and  in  a  measure  revolutionizes  the  pursuits  of  the 
farmers ;  for  with  the  chance  of  cheap  transportation,  they  imme- 
diately begin  to  cater  to  the  tastes  and  wants  of  the  dwellers  in 
the  nearest  cities.  Large  farms  are  divided  into  smaller  tracts, 
and  small  farmers,  or  "truckmen,"  who  have  heretofore  been 


A  SUNDAY   ON    THE  SIPSEY  RIVER.  9O3 

looked  down  upon  by  their  neighbors,  loom  up  into  the  impor- 
tance of  successful  money-making  men. 

The  genus  tramp  makes  his  appearance  upon  the  highways, 
and  ere  long  fear  and  distrust  take  the  place  of  the  freedom  and 
fearlessness  which  marked  the  journeyings  of  the  simple  back- 
woodsmen in  the  goed  old  times,  when  the  prowling  wild-cat  and 
the  venomous  snake  were  the  only  enemies  they  expected  to  meet 
in  a  sixty  miles'  journey,  and  the  innocent  "howd'ye,"  the  invari- 
able greeting  of  the  wayfarer,  betokened  good  will  to  all  the 
world. 

All  these  changes  gradually  came  over  the  vicinity  of  Ingle's 
Rest.  The  mineral  hunters,  too,  had  come  swooping  down  upon 
the  land  and  bought  up  thousands  of  acres ;  for  it  became  known 
that  in  these  hillsides  were  openings  to  mines  of  coal  and  iron  and 
other  valuable  deposits.  Many  of  John  Ingle's  broad  acres  had 
changed  hands,  and  he  was  now  known  as  one  of  the  richest  men 
in  the  county. 

But  increasing  wealth  did  not  seem  to  bring  him  surcease  of 
care.  There  were  deep  lines  coming  upon  his  face,  a  growing 
stoop  in  his  shoulders,  and  a  pallor  and  languor  about  him  that 
alarmed  his  friends.  A  severe  attack  of  fever  had  left  him  .very 
weak  and  it  seemed  impossible  for  him  to  regain  his  strength. 
Spells  of  illness  followed  each  other  more  and  more  frequently, 
until  he  became  a  confirmed  invalid. 

At  first,  after  an  attack  of  several  days'  duration,  he  would 
arise,  dress  himself,  saddle  his  horse  and  ride  all  over  the  planta- 
tion giving  directions,  coming  home  to  sink  into  his  chair  helpless 
from  exhaustion ;  and  for  days  at  a  time  he  would  go  through  the 
same  thing,  keeping  himself  up  by  sheer  will-power  and  blinding 
those  around  him  to  the  real  condition  of  his  health.  But  the 
time  came  at  last  when  the  iron  will  was  broken  and  the  over- 
wrought strength  exhausted.  Then  he  stood  face  to  face  with  the 
grim  tyrant  whose  coming  no  human  skill  can  avert.  He  realized 
before  any  one  else  did  that  his  days  were  numbered. 

One  day  in  the  early  fall  he  called  his  wife  and  said  to  her : 
"  Dearest,  do  you  think  Father  Morgan  would  come  to  see  me,  if 
you  were  to  send  for  him  ?" 


9O4  A  SUNDAY  ON   THE  SIPSEY  RIYER. 

"  Certainly,"  she  answered.  "  I  will  write  to  him  at  once. 
When  shall  I  ask  him  to  come  ?" 

"Ask  him  to  come  to  me  as  soon  as  possible.  I  wish  to  be 
received  into  the  Church  before  it  is  too  late." 

Then  seeing  the  startled  look  upon  her  face,  he  added  earn- 
estly :  "  My  only  regret  is  that  there  is  so  little  left  for  me  to 
offer  to  God.  To  think  of  my  wasted  youth  and  manhood  ! 
There  seems  to  me  something  mean  in  coming  to  Him  at  the 
eleventh  hour.  But  He  is  merciful — He  will  not  reject  the 
penitent  heart.  And  then  I  can  offer  Him  what  is  dearer  to  me 
than  life—" 

Mrs.  Ingle  fell  upon  her  knees  at  his  side  sobbing  from  excess 
of  emotion.  Joy  and  sorrow  struggled  for  mastery.  For  the 
first  time,  she  saw  clearly  the  hopelessness  of  his  condition,  and 
at  the  same  instant  she  realized  the  sincerity  of  his  conversion. 
Her  prayer  was  answered,  and  yet  at  what  a  sacrifice  !  To  win 
that  precious  soul  for  God  had  been  her  most  ardent  desire,  and 
yet  it  seemed  hard  to  yield  him  up  to  God  at  the  very  moment 
the  victory  was  won.  Ah !  how  she  had  dreamed  of  the  happy 
years  they  would  spend  together  when,  united  in  faith,  their  lives 
should  glide  along  in  an  unbroken  stream  of  perfect  harmony  and 
congeniality.  And  now  to  lose  him  when  the  ideal  approached 
completion,  to  lose  her  staff,  her  comfort,  her  friend,  the  father  of 
her  little  ones ! 

She  glanced  up  and  saw  his  pale  face  drawn  with  pain,  while 
large  tears  wrung  from  his  heart  by  the  bitterness  of  her  grief 
streamed  down  his  cheeks ;  and  her  conscience  smote  her  for  hav- 
ing given  way  to  her  feelings. 

"  O  John,  forgive  me  for  grieving  you,"  she  said,  "  I  must 
be  crying  for  joy  to  think  of  your  conversion.  Thank  God,  we  are 
one  at  last  in  faith.  I  must  hurry  and  write  to  Father  Morgan ;" 
and  with  a  bright  smile  she  kissed  the  tears  from  his  face  and 
hastened  from  the  room. 

When  the  first  deep  sorrow  of  life  comes  upon  an  undisci- 
plined heart,  there  is  an  impulse  to  escape  it,  to  fly  somewhere, 
anywhere,  only  to  be  out  of  reach  of  the  weight  that  crushes  the 


A  SUNDAY  ON    THE  SIPSEY  RIl/ER.  9O5 

soul  with  such  unutterable  anguish.  And  so  the  poor  soul  flutters 
wildly  to  and  fro,  like  a  frightened  bird,  bruising  the  weak  wings 
that  will  not  try  to  soar,  until  perchance  it  comes  to  rest  at  last 
at  the  foot  of  the  Cross  ;  and  there  alone  it  finds  solace  and 
strength. 

Thus  it  was  with  the  poor  little  wife,  when  she  left  her  hus- 
band's presence  and  reached  a  room  where  she  could  hide  herself 
and  give  way  to  the  expression  of  her  grief.  Long  she  wrestled 
with  bitter,  rebellious  thoughts  which  strove  for  mastery,  pacing 
up  and  down  the  room  with  the  wild,  mad  impulse  to  fly  from 
the  revelation  which  had  come  to  her. 

Finally  she  cast  herself  at  the  foot  of  the  crucifix  and  cried 
out :  "  O  God,  save  me,  save  me,  I  cannot  pray !"  Then  she 
remembered  that  One  before  her  had  drained  the  chalice  of  human 
woe  and  His  words  came  into  her  heart :  My  Father,  if  it  be 
possible,  let  this  chalice  pass  from  Me.  Nevertheless  not  as  I 
will,  but  as  Thou  wilt.  She  repeated  the  words  over  again  and 
again  until  the  tempest  of  her  heart  was  stilled  and  the  victory 
won.  Then  she  wrote  the  promised  letter  and  returned  to  her 
husband  with  a  placid  face.  If  his  quick  eye  detected  the  signs 
of  the  conflict,  he  made  no  remark. 

Every  leisure  moment  after  that  was  devoted  to  preparing 
Mr.  Ingle  and  the  children  for  Father  Morgan's  hoped-for  visit; 
and  she  discovered,  to  her  great  joy,  that  the  seeds  of  faith  had 
found  a  rich  soil  and  promised  to  bring  forth  abundant  fruit  in 
the  heart  of  the  fervent  convert. 

IX. 

It  was  Sunday  morning  once  again  and  the  bright,  slanting 
beams  of  the  rising  sun  lighted  up  a  strange  scene -in  the  old  home 
on  Sipsey  River. 

The  "  priest's  room  "  was  the  place  selected  for  John  Ingle's 
first  Holy  Communion.  There  was  the  same  old-fashioned  furni- 
ture, the  same  sweet  Madonna  and  her  infant  Son  smiled  down 
from  above  the  lofty  mantel,  and  the  same  prettily  decorated  altar 
awaited  the  celebration  of  the  Holy  Sacrifice.  A  soft,  bright 


906  A  SUNDAY  ON   THE  SIPSEY  RIVER. 

colored  carpet  covered  the  floor,  and  the  ornaments  of  the  altar 
were  a  little  more  elaborate  than  of  old,  among  them  being  a 
snowy  cloth  edged  with  lace,  the  work  of  Mary's  nimble  fingers. 

Father  Morgan,  robed  in  the  quaint,  time-honored  vestments 
of  the  Church,  approached  to  begin  Mass,  and  little  John  with 
reverent  air  took  his  place  as  altar  boy. 

The  invalid  had  been  wheeled  into  the  room  in  an  arm-chair. 
His  face  was  pale  and  emaciated,  his  long,  slender  hands  were 
smooth  and  white.  He  was  too  weak  to  read  his  prayer-book, 
but  with  clasped  hands  and  absorbed  gaze  he  devoutly  followed 
every  word  and  motion  of  the  priest.  On  one  side  of  his  chair 
knelt  Mary  in  spotless  white,  with  a  wreath  and  veil  upon  her 
head ;  on  the  other  side  knelt  Mrs.  Ingle,  her  attention  divided 
between  the  solemn  service  and  the  little  group  around  her.  By 
her  side  knelt  the  younger  children,  and  behind  them  some  of  the 
farm-hands. 

It  was  interesting  to  see  how  quiet  and  respectful  the  little 
ones  were,  and  how  intently  they  watched  their  father,  looking 
from  him  to  Father  Morgan  with  wondering  eyes  as  if  they  were 
trying  to  understand  the  meaning  of  the  sacred  Mysteries  being 
enacted  before  them.  As  the  time  of  the  Elevation  approached, 
Mr.  Ingle  attempted  to  rise  and  kneel,  but  he  was  unable  to  do 
so ;  and  with  a  faint  sigh  he  bowed  his  head  upon  his  breast  and 
remained  absorbed  in  adoration  until  the  moment  for  Holy  Com- 
munion arrived. 

John  and  Mary  received  their  First  Communion  at  the  same 
time  with  their  father,  and  very  radiant  the  children  looked  in 
their  happy  innocence.  After  Mass  was  over,  the  priest  dismissed 
all  the  family  except  the  communicants,  and  recited  aloud  with 
them  fervent  prayers  of  thanksgiving. 

John  Ingle,  happy  but  exhausted  by  the  varying  emotions  of 
the  morning,  was  taken  back  to  his  room  and  lifted  gently  from 
the  chair  to  the  bed.  It  was  his  last  Holy  Communion  as  well  as 
his  first,  and  he  seemed  to  realize  this  fact.  All  day  long  friends 
and  neighbors  came  thronging  to  his  bed-side  and  he  would  not 
refuse  to  see  any  of  them,  but  to  each  he  gave  a  cheering  word. 


ONE  IRISH  EDUCATOR'S   WORK.  9O7 

He  seemed  so  happy  and  resigned  that  they  went  home  awed  and 
wondering.  Towards  evening  he  grew  alarmingly  ill,  and  after 
a  night  of  semi-consciousness,  in  which  he  suffered  no  pain,  he 
quietly  expired  just  at  sunrise  on  Monday  morning. 

Father  Morgan  was  at  his  bed-side,  and  Mrs.  Ingle,  John, 
Mary,  Lucy  and  Dan  were  there  also.  In  an  interval  of  con- 
sciousness, a  few  moments  before  he  died,  he  placed  his  hand  upon 
John's  head  telling  him  to  take  care  of  his  mother  and  the  child- 
ren. Then  his  gaze  wandered  lovingly  from  one  to  another  of 
the  little  group  until  he  saw  Father  Morgan,  when  he  whispered 
"  Bless  me  again,  Father,"  and  closed  his  eyes  forever  on  earth. 
The  last  object  to  reach  his  waning  sight  was  the  crucifix  in  the 
priest's  hand,  the  last  sound  to  fall  upon  his  dulled  hearing  was 
the  prayer  for  the  dying,  recited  by  Father  Morgan  in  a  gentle  but 
distinct  voice.  He  died  like  a  child  falling  to  sleep  in  its  mother's 
arms,  and  a  look  of  perfect  peace  and  happiness  settled  upon  his 
quiet  features. 

Need  we  follow  him  farther?  He  has  reached  the  blessed 
country  which  lies  beyond  this ;  his  eyes  are  fixed  upon  a  Vision 
which  no  man  may  see  and  live  ;  and  his  ears  have  opened  to  har- 
monies unknown  to  this  lower  life.  We  may  not  follow  him — at 
least,  not  yet. 


ONE   IRISH    EDUCATOR'S  WORK. 
REV.  WILLIAM  BYRNE,  OF  KENTUCKY,  1780-1832. 

I. 

1 T  a  small  convivial  party  a  gentleman  gave  as  his  toast : 
"  Ireland  !  The  land  that  educated  the  American 
potato  and  brought  it  into  fashion." 

The  droll  sentiment  was  applauded  and  enjoyed 
by  all  but  one,  an  Irish  lady  who  colored  indignantly, 
and  gave,  when  her  turn  came — 


908  ONE  IRISH  EDUCATOR'S   WORK. 

"  Erin  !  the  land  that  drilled  the  American  brain  into  schol- 
arship." 

The  hit  was  rapturously  applauded  ;  by  none  more  heartily 
than  by  the  offending  gentleman.  Protesting  that  he  had  not 
meant  to  belittle  Ireland's  educational  ability,  he  made  reparation 
by  running  over  the  names  of  a  crowd  of  Irish  teachers,  who,  in 
the  early  days  of  our  country,  had  held  high  rank  in  teaching 
the  'young  idea  how  to  shoot.' 

When  attention  is  turned  to  this  subject,  the  share  that  Ire- 
land has  had  in  the  educational  life  of  the  United  States  seems 
almost  incredible.  While  other  nations  stand  in  the  foreground, 
she  occupies  a  very  obscure  corner.  Yet  family  traditions  should 
surround  her  name  with  glory,  for  it  is  certain  that  the  labors  of 
her  sons  and  daughters  have  been  no  less  zealous  and  constant  in 
education  than  in  religion.  As  for  her  priests,  they  have  never 
separated  these  twin  enlighteners.  Yet  while  every  one  is 
ready  to  quote  their  sacerdotal  zeal,  how  few  think  of  their 
untiring  energy,  their  ingenious  efforts,  in  promoting  learning  and 
science ! 

II. 

Rev.  William  Byrne,  of  Kentucky,  was  one  of  these 
unknown  benefactors  of  the  mind.  Of  Catholics  who  even  take 
an  interest  in  these  subjects  not  one  in  a  hundred,  probably,  has 
ever  heard  of  him,  though  his  wonderful  zeal,  perseverance 
and  sacrifices  are  vividly  pictured  in  Dr.  Spalding's  Sketches 
of  Kentucky  and  Mr.  Webb's  Centenary  of  Catholicity  in  Ken- 
tucky. 

He  was  born,  we  are  told,  in  County  Wicklow,  Ireland, 
about  the  year  1780,  his  parents  being  hard-working  people, 
esteemed  by  their  neighbors  for  virtue  and  probity.  William,  as 
the  eldest  of  a  large  family,  was  inured  to  labor  from  his  child- 
hood, and  after  his  father's  death  became  the  main  support  of  his 
mother,  her  consoler  and  help  in  the  care  of  the  fatherless  little 
ones.  With  an  innate  love  of  study,  and  aspiring  from  his  ear- 
liest years  to  the  priesthood,  he  yet  gave  himself  to  the  toilsome 
round  of  duty  year  by  year. 


ONE  IRISH  EDUCATOR'S   WORK.  9O9 

When  he  had  reached  his  twenty-fifth  year,  he  was  free  to 
come  to  America,  and  his  first  thought  was  to  apply  to  George- 
town College  in  the  hope  of  pursuing  the  studies  that  would 
qualify  him  for  ordination.  The  want  of  education  hindering  his 
admission  there,  he  next  applied  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  and, 
encouraged  by  his  Grace,  sought  Mount  St.  Mary's  College  at 
Emmittsburg,  where  he  was  kindly  received.  There  the  toil-worn 
candidate  for  Holy  Orders  patiently  applied  himself  to  the  element- 
ary studies  so  distasteful  to  his  age  and  holy  ambition,  while  at 
the  same  time  he  faithfully  performed  the  duties  of  a  position 
assigned  him  in  the  college.  His  superiors  were  well  satisfied 
with  him  in  all  respects.  He  was  thirty  years  old  when  he  began 
his  Latin  studies.  His  perseverance  and  evident  vocation  finally 
obtained  for  him  admission  into  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  in  Baltimore, 
as  a  student  of  theology. 

In  due  time  Mr.  Byrne  took  the  first  step  in  his  longed-for 
career,  by  being  ordained  as  subdeacon.  By  what  afterwards 
seemed  to  be  an  ordering  of  Providence,  he  left  the  seminary  not 
long  after  this,  and  was  received  into  Bishop  Flaget's  seminary  at 
Bardstown,  where  he  completed  his  studies.  He  was  ordained 
priest  on  the  18th  of  September,  1819.  How  entirely  he  possessed 
the  confidence  of  the  saintly  Flaget  was  shown  by  his  almost 
immediate  appointment  to  take  the  place  of  the  great  Father 
Nerinckx,  when  the  latter  went  to  Europe  in  1820.  From 
St.  Charles'  Church,  in  Marion  county,  the  principal  seat  of  that 
mission,  there  were  six  neighboring  congregations  to  be  attended, 
and  stations  scattered  all  over  Kentucky.  Father  Byrne  attended 
to  them  as  faithfully  as  had  his  predecessor. 

But  this  imperfect  sketch  does  not  presume  to  dwell  on  his 
merits  as  a  priest.  It  has  to  do  rather  with  his  career  as  an  edu- 
cator, in  which,  perhaps,  he  might  serve  as  a  model  in  our  own 
times. 

Father  Nerinckx,  before  his  departure  for  Europe,  had  pur- 
chased some  land  with  the  intention  of  founding  what  would  now 
be  called  an  Industrial  School,  under  the  charge  of  a  religious 
brotherhood,  "competent  to  give  instruction  to  boys  in  letters, 


91O  ONE  IRISH  EDUCATOR'S   WORK. 

Christian  doctrine  and  certain  of  the  useful  trades."  His  trip  to 
Europe,  in  fact,  was  to  obtain  not  only  pecuniary  means,  but  com- 
petent instructors  for  this  object.  He  had  called  the  place  Mount 
Mary,  and  no  doubt  had  encouraging  previsions  of  the  good  it 
would  do. 

But  no  one  servant  of  God,  however  holy,  can  carry  out  all 
His  purposes. 

Father  Byrne,  the  assistant  and  strength  of  a  widowed  mother 
in  training  a  family  amid  the  thousand  difficulties  of  respectable 
poverty,  thought  little  of  industrial  education  as  a  co-partner  with 
mental.  Probably  he  thought  it  bore  a  suspicious  relationship  to 
worldly  piety.  As  soon  as  he  saw  the  "  Mount  Mary  Farm,"  as 
it  was  called,  he  conceived  the  idea  of  erecting  an  academy,  which 
in  due  time  would  become  St.  Mary's  College.  He  hastened 
to  seek  the  consent  of  Bishop  Flaget.  We  are  not  told  how 
the  Bishop  received  this  apparently  wild  proposal.  Perhaps  it 
may  be  inferred  from  a  similar  project  of  after  years,  which  is 
related  thus : 

"  Speaking  one  day  to  Bishop  Flaget  of  this  project  of  his, 
that  prelate  raised  the  objection  that  he  had  no  money  with  which 
to  carry  out  his  design.  '  Little  will  be  needed,  Bishop/  he 
answered  ;  '  I  think  I  can  manage  the  business  with  a  horse  that 
I  can  call  my  own,  and  ten  dollars  in  money.' "  It  is  natural  to 
draw,  with  Mr.  Webb,  the  conclusion  that  he  "  was  not  provided 
with  a  more  extravagant  capital  when  he  laid  the  foundation  of 
the  present  St.  Mary's  College." 

However,  the  good  priest  had  on  the  Farm  something  for  a 
"  start,"  viz.,  "  an  old  stone  distillery  house  of  fair  dimensions." 
This  served  him  instead  of  money,  and  as  soon  as  willing  hands, 
along  with  his  own,  had  put  it  in  repair  "and  fitted  it  up  with  the 
roughest  of  school  furniture,"  he  announced  from  St.  Charles' 
pulpit  the  opening  of  St.  Mary's  Academy.  It  was  speedily 
crowded  with  pupils,  and  new  buildings  soon  became  a  necessity. 
How  to  erect  them  without  money  was  no  hard  problem  with 
Father  Byrne.  He  contracted  with  the  farmers  and  workingmen 
of  the  vicinity  to  supply  goods  and  labor  for  pay  of  their  boys' 


ONE  IRISH  EDUCATOR'S   WORK.  911 

schooling  in  advance  ;  the  labor  helped  to  put  up  the  buildings  ; 
the  goods,  sold  partly  for  cash,  partly  exchanged  for  other 
things  needful,  helped  on  the  work  speedily.  There  was  but  one 
thing  needed — the  cross  that  would  be  its  crown.  The  good  God 
did  not  let  this  be  lacking.  Mr.  Webb  will  tell  us,  in  his  touch- 
ing and  beautiful  style,  what  happened : 

"  When  these  [the  buildings]  were  about  ready  for  occupancy 
Father  Byrne  posted  himself  off  to  Louisville,  to  lay  in  a  supply 
of  groceries  and  certain  house  furnishings  that  were  not  to  be  had 
in  the  neighborhood.  He  came  back  to  find  but  ashes  and  fire- 
defaced  walls  where  he  had  left  a  stately  edifice.  Another  in  his 
place  might  have  given  way  to  such  depression,  as  to  render  him- 
self incapable  of  even  attempting  to  repair  the  disaster  which  had 
befallen  him.  Not  so  this  patient,  Christian  priest.  He  appeared 
to  accept  the  misfortune  as  a  test  of  his  fidelity.  Without  per- 
mitting a  single  day  to  intervene,  between  his  resolve  and  its 
execution,  he  went  again  to  work,  and  a  few  months  later  the 
building  was  to  be  seen,  resurrected  from  its  ashes.  A  prosper- 
ous career  attended  the  school  for  a  number  of  years.  The  debts 
of  the  establishment  were  paid  off,  and  a  new  wing  to  the  main 
building  had  just  been  completed  when  another  disaster,  similar 
to  the  first,  involved  the  good  Father  in  unlooked-for  trouble. 
In  the  darkness  of  the  night,  the  building  took  fire  and  was 
burned  to  the  ground.  Burdened  now  with  a  debt  of  $4,000,  his 
position  was  in  no  wise  enviable ;  but  no  murmuring  word  escaped 
his  lips,  and  when  morning  dawned  he  repaired  to  the  altar, 
and  there  offered  up  the  Holy  Sacrifice  in  thanksgiving  to  God, 
for  having  spared  the  main  building.  He  succeeded  very  soon 
afterwards  in  replacing  the  burnt  wing  by  one  that  was  much 
larger ;  and  after  a  few  years  of  prosperous  activity,  not  only  was 
the  institution  free  from  debt,  but  it  was  regarded  everywhere, 
and  by  all,  as  an  honorable  fixture  among  the  educational  institu- 
tions of  the  State." 

Dr.  Spalding,  who  was  one  of  his  pupils,  states  that  Father 
Byrne  was  at  first  unassisted  in  managing  his  school.  "  He  was 
president  of  the  institution,  sole  disciplinarian,  sole  prefect  and 


912  ONE  IRISH  EDUCATOR'S   WORK. 

almost  sole  professor."  He  was  quick,  however,  in  discerning 
the  talents  of  his  pupils,  and  "it  was  not  long  before  he  was 
able  to  form  a  corps  of  teaching  assistants  from  their  ranks." 

We  are  also  told  that  twelve  hundred  youths  were  educated 
either  wholly  or  in  part  at  St.  Mary's  during  the  twelve  years 
that  Father  Byrne  remained  at  its  head ;  that  the  school  was 
popular  all  through  the  State,  partly,  no  doubt,  from  its  low 
charges,  which  barely  covered  expenses,  but  mainly  from  the 
confidence  felt  by  parents  that  their  sons  would  return  to  them 
"  not  only  with  capacities  improved,  but  with  souls  uncontami- 
nated." 

With  all  this  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  priest  was  lost 
in  the  educator.  "  He  found  time  for  everything,"  we  are  told. 
"His  rest  was  often  interrupted  by  sick-calls,  and  his  waking 
hours  by  other  ministerial  duties."  Death  found  him  faithfully 
pursuing  the  exhausting  duties  of  the  priesthood. 

III. 

Towards  the  close  of  1831,  two  Jesuit  Fathers  arrived  from 
France,  by  invitation  from  Bishop  Flaget  to  their  Provincial. 

Father  Byrne  availed  himself  of  their  presence  to  take  a 
long-meditated  step.  The  deficiencies  of  his  education  were  more 
visible  to  himself,  probably,  than  to  the  best  informed  of  those 
with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  His  solid  virtues,  his  zeal  and 
success  in  whatever  he  undertook,  might  blind  others  to  his  lack 
of  learning,  but  he  was  conscientiously  awake  to  the  defects  of  his 
improvised  system  of  instruction,  so  inadequate  to  the  require- 
ments of  the  age  and  country.  He  thereupon  gave  to  these 
Fathers  the  entire  ownership  and  control  of  the  institution 
which  he  had  truly  made  a  power  in  the  land.  At  their  request  he 
consented  to  remain  for  a  time  as  president  of  the  college,  pur- 
posing then  to  establish  in  the  western  part  of  the  State  or  in  Ten- 
nessee a  similar  institution.  It  was  for  this  contemplated  under- 
taking that  he  desired  the  "extravagant  capital"  spoken  of  above. 

But  his  two-fold  work,  as  priest  and  educator,  was  done, 
and  ready  to  receive  its  fitting  recompense — a  martyr's  crown. 


ONE  IRISH  EDUCATOR'S   WORK.  913 

The  cholera  was  lurking  in  Kentucky  during  1832,  but  in 
the  following  year  it  ravaged  the  neighborhood  of  St.  Mary's,  and 
called  for  the  highest  exercise  of  Father  Byrne's  charity  and  zeal. 
On  the  3d  of  June  he  was  sent  for  to  give  the  rites  of  the  Church 
to  a  colored  servant,  about  five  miles  from  the  college.  After 
administering  the  last  Sacraments  he  returned.  On  visiting  the 
house  on  the  following  day,  he  found  her  dead. 

"  Returning  late  at  night,  with  the  seeds  of  the  disease  in 
his  own  system,  he  retired  at  once  to  bed ;  but  he  rose  betimes 
in  the  morning  of  the  5th,  and,  though  weak  and  suffering,  he 
repaired  to  the  altar  and  offered  up,  for  the  last  time,  the  great 
Sacrifice  of  the  New  Law  for  the  living  and  the  dead.  From 
that  altar  he  was  borne  to  his  bed ;  and  eight  hours  later,  he  had 
entered  into  the  rest  after  which  he  had  been  striving  from  the 
hour  he  had  been  capable  of  discerning  the  end  of  his  creation." 

"  There  was  not  a  blot  of  selfishness  in  his  nature."  How 
truthful  is  this  rare  eulogy  is  proved  by  the  testimony  of  the 
Jesuit  Fathers :' 

"  During  the  two  years  that  Father  Byrne  remained  at  St. 
Mary's  after  his  proffer  of  the  house  and  farm  to  the  Society,  hi& 
whole  course  of  action  was  but  an  exhibition  of  Christian  disinter- 
estedness towards  those  who,  after  a  brief  while,  were  to  succeed 
him  in  the  ownership  and  control  of  the  institution.  While  arrang- 
ing to  pass  over  the  farm  and  college  to  us,  he  continued  to  spend 
all  the  surplus  money  he  received  in  improving  the  college  build- 
ings, apparatus  and  accessories.  He  did  everything  as  though  he 
were  himself  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  labors.  He  did  this,  too, 
in  the  face  of  the  fact,  that  dispossessing  himself  of  his  property 
and  means,  he  was  literally  casting  himself  on  the  care  of  Provi- 
dence, .in  his  old  age,  which  was  fast  approaching,  without  any 
human  provision  for  his  maintenance.  No  better  proof  than  is 
here  recorded,  could  be  given  of  the  truly  apostolic  character  of 
this  good  man.  He  led  a  most  austere  life,  and  he  was  as 
remarkable  for  his  devotedness  to  duty,  as  for  his  perseverance 
and  energy." 

1  From  the  archives  of  the  Society  of  Jesus. 


THE   BLIND  MADONNA.1 

By  J.  H.  L. 


PRAYER. 


OTHER  .'Mother! 

Art  thou  sleeping, 
Art  thou  blind  when 
I  am  weeping? 
Mother !  Mother ! 
I've  repelled  thee, 

Scorned  thee  when  I  should  have  held  thee 
As  the  jewel  of  my  soul. 


Mother !  Mother ! 
Ope  thine  eyes. 
Mother !  Mother ! 
Far  I've  wandered, 
Journeyed  sick  at  heart,  and 

squandered, 
Mother !  Mother ! 
All  I  prize. 

Mother !  Mother ! 

Shattered,  shaken 

At  thy  throne  to  reawaken 

Love  within  thy 

Lightless  eye. 

Mother !  Mother ! 

I  am  kneeling, 

All  my  tortured  spirit  reeling, 

All  my  soul  in 

Agony. 


Mother !  Mother ! 

Oh,  forgive  me  ! 

Lift  me  from  my  sins:  reprieve 

me, 

Snatch  me  from  the 
Threatening  goal. 


Mother !  Mother ! 

Look  upon  me, 

Press  me  to  thy  bosom ;  own  me 

As  thy  wilful, 

Wayward  child. 

Mother !  Mother ! 

Round  about  thee 

All  is  bliss,  but,  oh !  without  thee, 

All  is  dark  and 

Weird  and  wild. 


1  See  description  in  December  Pilgrim. 


914 


THE  BLIND  MADONNA. 


915 


RESPONSE. 


Tears,  sweet  tears ! 

Oh,  you  have  brought  him 

— God  !  my  God  !  how  long 
I've  sought  Him — 

Weeping,  praying 

To  my  shrine. 

Tears,  sweet  tears  ! 

What,  though  in  flowing, 

You  have  quenched  the  liv- 
ing, glowing 

Light  within  these 

Eyes  of  mine. 


Blind  am  I, 

Because  I  love  thee  ! 

Blind,  for,  oh  !  the  clouds  above 

thee, 

Grimly  gathering, 
Told  thy  doom. 
Blind,  my  child, 
And  blind  forever 
To  the  past.     The  future  never 
Shall  be  darkened 
By  its  gloom. 


Sweet  my  child  ! 

By  deep  contrition 

Altered  is  thy  soul's  condition. 

Joy  forever 

Be  its  lot. 


Sweet  my  child ! 

A  golden  morrow 

Shall  succeed   this   night 

sorrow ; 

All  the  past  shall 
Be  forgot. 


of 


L'ENVOI. 

Blind  Madonna ! 

Mother,  Maiden, 

Blind  to  sins  when  sorrow-laden, 

Sinners  to  thine 

Altar  go ; 

Though  their  sins 

Be  red  and  glowing, 

Like  the  blood  in  murderflowing, 

They  shall  be  as 

White  as  snow. 


AMONG  THE   CROW   INDIANS. 

SAINT  XAVIER'S  MISSION,  MONTANA. 

By  a  Missionary. 

AINT  XAVIKR'S  MISSION,  named  for  the 
"Apostle  of  tlit:  Indies"  whose  feast  we  cele- 
brate this  month,  is  pleasantly  situated  in  the 
Big  Horn  Valley  of  Montana,  near  a  river  of 
the  same  name,  which  flows  in  a  northerly 
direction  through  the  entire  length  of  the 
valley  and  empties  into  the  Yellowstone.  Looking  south  it 
commands  a  distant  but  picturesque  view  of  a  range  of  mount- 
ains, which  also  bears  the  name  of  Big  Horn ;  while  toward  the 
north  in  the  direction  of  Fort  Ouster,  a  level  plain  extends  as  far 
as  the  eye  can  reach.  The  Mission  is  distant  from  the  Fort 
twenty-three  miles  and  about  an  equal  distance  from  the  Crow 
Agency. 

Before  the  Mission  was  permanently  established  among  the 
Crows,  Father  Peter  Barcelo,  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  who  was  the 
first  priest  to  visit  these  Indians,  made  periodical  visits  among 
them.  At  his  first  visit,  which  was  in  the  year  1880,  he  baptized 
one  hundred  and  fourteen  children:  From  that  time  up  to  the 
year  1887,  the  Indians  were  visited  by  different  Fathers  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus,  who  instructed  and  baptized  many  of  them. 
Father  Barcelo  labored  earnestly  at  the  work  to  which  he  had 
been  called,  undergoing  many  trials  and  tribulations  to  win  souls 
to  God.  Worn  out  by  the  many  privations  to  which  he  was  sub- 
jected, having  to  sleep  in  the  open  air  at  night  and  to  half-starve 
himself  during  the  day,  he  lost  his  health  and  was  obliged  to  give 
up  his  missionary  labors  and  retire  to  Spokane  Falls,  where  he 
died  on  the  first  day  of  November,  1888.  This  is  in  brief  what 
preceded  the  final  establishment  of  Saint  Xavier's  Mission.  It 
occupied  a  period  of  seven  years  and  was  an  arduous  task  for  the 
Fathers  who  were  engaged  in  it. 

916 


918  AMONG    THE  CROW  INDIANS. 

It  was  on  the  twenty-first  of  February,  1887,  that  Father 
Peter  Paul  Prando,  S.  J.,  and  a  companion  took  up  their  permanent 
abode  among  the  Crow  Indians.  They  consumed  considerable 
time  in  reaching  their  destination,  owing  to  the  severity  of  the 
weather.  After,  enduring  many  hardships,  they  at  last  arrived  at 
the  place  which  had  been  selected  the  previous  year  by  Fathers 
Urbano  Grassi,  S.J.,  and  Peter  Paul  Prando,  S.J.,  as  the  site  of 
the  new  Mission.  On  reaching  this  spot  the  Fathers  cleared  a 
place  in  the  snow  and  erected  their  first  habitation,  a  small  tent, 
which  served  for  all  purposes :  church,  reception-room,  and 
kitchen.  The  Indians  came  in  great  numbers  to  welcome  the 
strangers  and  showed  themselves  very  friendly.  For  their  better 
accommodation  the  Fathers  erected  two  other  tents  and  in  this 
uncomfortable  manner  the  remainder  of  the  winter  was  passed. 
The  following  spring  the  contract  for  a  wooden  structure,  40  by 
60  feet,  two  stories  and  a  half  high,  to  be  used  as  a  school-house, 
was  given  out.  By  September  the  new  building  was  completed. 

On  the  first  of  October,  1887,  the  Sisters,  who  were  to  take 
charge  of  the  school,  three  in  number,  arrived,  but  not  without 
experiencing  an  adventure.  At  the  time  of  their  coming  the 
Crow  Indians  were  in  a  state  of  excitement,  owing  to  the  decep- 
tions of  one  of  their  medicine  men,  who  professed  himself  capable 
of  exterminating  all  the  white  soldiers.  He  had  a  sword  and  a 
package  of  dust.  With  the  sword,  he  claimed  he  could  knock 
all  the  white  men  down  from  their  horses,  and  by  scattering  the 
dust  before  them  he  could  blind  them  all.  Many  of  the  young 
braves  credited  his  powers  and  a  great  number  of  them  joined 
him.  On  the  night  of  the  arrival  of  the  Sisters  at  the  Agency, 
the  medicine  man  with  his  adherents  had  gathered  around  the 
Agency  quarters  in  a  threatening  manner.  They  made  no  attack, 
but  at  dusk  growing  bolder  they  fired  several  shots  into  the 
government  buildings,  terrifying  the  employes  and  their  families 
but  injuring  no  one. 

Such  was  the  first  experience  the  Sisters  had  when  entering 
upon  their  apostolic  labors  among  the  Crow  Indians.  On  the 
following  day  the  Indians,  learning  of  the  arrival  of  the  Sisters  at 


92O  AMONG    THE  CROW  INDIANS. 

the  Agency  the  preceding  evening,  came  up  to  the  Agency,  in 
spite  of  their  hostile  attitude  towards  the  government,  shook 
hands  with  the  Sisters,  and  not  only  allowed  them  to  proceed  on 
their  journey,  but  a  number  of  their  warriors  accompanied  them 
as  an  escort  on  their  way  to  the  Mission,  twenty-three  miles  from 
the  Agency.  Arriving  safely  at  their  destination,  the  Sisters  began 
the  laborious  work  of  preparing  the  newly-erected  building  for 
the  coming  of  the  children.  By  their  diligent  efforts  everything 
was  put  in  readiness  and  in  a  few  days  twenty  children  entered 
the  school.  As  the  Indian  trouble  was  not  yet  at  an  end,  the 
children  remained  but  a  short  time,  and  the  school  was  left  for  a 
little  while  without  a  pupil.  It  was  not  until  the  death  of  the 
medicine  man  that  the  difficulty  with  the  Indians  was  terminated. 
Then  the  children  began  to  return  to  the  school  and  towards 
Christmas  about  fifty  children  had  entered.  The  school  was  now 
found  too  small  for  their  accommodation,  and  accordingly  an 
addition,  100  feet  long  by  24  wide  and  of  equal  height  with  the 
former  structure,  was  built.  A  church  was  also  constructed,  75 
feet  by  36  in  dimensions,  and  both  buildings  were  completed  in 
December,  1888.  The  building  thus  enlarged  was  capable  of 
accommodating  a  greater  number  of  pupils.  It  was  impossible, 
however,  to  persuade  the  majority  of  the  Indians  to  send  their 
children  to  the  school.  However  much  they  liked  the  priests, 
they  could  not  be  induced  to  part  with  their  little  ones.  It  was 
necessary  for  the  Agent,  Major  Wyman,  to  use  means  to  compel 
them  to  send  their  children  to  school.  The  result  of  his  inter- 
ference was  a  flocking  of  children  to  the  different  schools  on  the 
reservation.  Saint  Xavier's  School  received  its  quota,  increasing 
the  number  of  pupils  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  and  forty.  The 
pupils  at  present  at  the  school  do  not  fall  far  short  of  that  number. 
The  Mission  work  is  carried  on  now  by  Fathers  Crimont, 
Bandini,  and  Prando.  There  are  besides  two  scholastics,  a  brother 
and  a  lay  teacher,  to  take  charge  of  the  boys.  The  school  is  in  a 
flourishing  condition  and  in  this  third  year  of  its  existence  has 
accomplished  much  towards  the  advancement  of  the  children  in 
the  paths  of  virtue  and  knowledge.  The  children  are  not  unlike 


922  AMONG    THE  CROW  INDIANS. 

white  children  in  intellect,  and  many  of  them  show  great  aptitude 
for  the  studies  to  which  they  are  applied.  Their  memories  are 
very  bright.  There  is  about  an  equal  number  of  girls  and  boys. 
The  girls  seem  to  be  more  talented  than  the  boys,  and  are  more 
advanced.  They  are  cared  for  by  the  Ursuline  Sisters,  and  are 
taught,  besides  their  regular  school  exercises,  how  to  sew  and 
to  attend  to  domestic  concerns.  The  Sisters  have  labored  assid- 
uously in  their  work,  and  it  is  due  to  their  untiring  efforts  that  the 
school  has  attained  its  present  standing. 

When  one  considers  the  condition  in  which  these  poor  Indian 
children  were  four  years  ago,  buried  as  they  were  in  the  midst  of 
the  worst  kinds  of  vice,  and  compares  their  condition  then  with 
what  they  are  now,  he  cannot  but  be  gratified  at  the  results  that 
have  been  accomplished.  Separated  from  their  homes  and  the 
vicious  surroundings  with  which  their  young  minds  were  daily 
brought  in  contact,  they  thrive  under  the  powerful  influence  of 
grace.  It  is  a  great  consolation  to  see  them  every  Sunday 
approaching  the  Altar  to  receive  the  Adorable  Body  and  Blood  of 
our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  to  see  them  every  morning  at 
Mass,  and  to  hear  them  as  they  offer  their  prayers  to  God.  It 
makes  one  imagine  himself  in  a  civilized  community.  And  not 
only  among  the  children  is  this  good  work  going  on,  but  it  is  also 
carried  on  among  the  older  Indians  with  strenuous  efforts,  and  has 
succeeded  thus  far  in  making  a  number  of  them  believers  in  the 
true  faith  of  Christ.  Nor  are  they  believers  in  appearance  only, 
but  they  have  an  earnest  faith  in  the  truths  which  have  been 
revealed  to  them.  I  shall  relate  something  that  occurred  at  the 
Mission  Church. 

On  one  occasion  a  chief,  who  had  received  Holy  Communion, 
asked  permission  to  make  a  speech.  Standing  up  before  the  altar- 
railing,  he  spoke  as  follows,  showing  the  earnestness  of  his  belief : 

"  O  God !  I  believe  all  Your  words  the  Black  Gown  has 
been  teaching  me.  O  God !  when  after  a  long  life  on  earth  I 
shall  die,  I  want  You  to  take  the  key  of  heaven  and  open  the 
door,  so  I  can  get  in  and  see  Your  face.  O  Virgin  Mary !  I 
love  you.  I  like  to  see  you  in  heaven.  O  God  !  pity  us  ;  we  are 


AMONG    THE  CROW  INDIANS.  923 

poor  people.  Let  the  grass  grow  high,  our  ponies  be  fat,  our 
*cows  have  many  calves,  the  potatoes  be  big,  and  keep  away  from 
us  the  lightning  and  small-pox.  I  finish." 

This  is  but  one  of  the  instances  that  could  be  cited  to  show 
the  faith  of  the  Indian.  Under  such  favorable  circumstances, 
the  outlook  for  an  entire  Christianizing  of  the  Crows  is  encour- 
aging. They  already  give  evidence  of  what  they  may  be  led  to 
by  the  grace  of  God,  showing  themselves  capable  of  heroic  deeds 
and  of  zeal  in  the  service  of  God.  I  shall  give  a  few  examples : 
An  old  man,  the  brother  of  a  chief,  being  slapped  in  the  face  by 
another  Indian,  did  not  take  revenge  on  him — he  did  not  even 
make  any  remonstrance  with  him,  but  patiently  suffered  the 
blow, — because  he  had  received  his  God  in  Holy  Communion  on 
that  day,  and  wished  to  put  in  practice  these  words  of  the  Our 
Father,  "As  we  forgive  them  that  trespass  against  us." 

There  are  other  Indians  who  abstain  from  smoking  for  a 
whole  year  to  show  their  devotion  to  the  Blessed  Virgin.  Others 
abstain  from  meat  on  Friday,  when  they  have  scarcely  a  morsel  of 
any  other  kind  of  food  to  keep  them  from  starving. 

A  good  number  comes  to  church  every  day  for  Mass  and 
instruction,  even  in  the  cold  and  snow  of  the  severest  period,  of 
winter,  while  their  people  are  asleep  in  their  tepees  ;  or  they  come 
through  rain  from  a  great  distance,  in  order  not  to  omit  their 
First  Friday's  Communion.  They  show  great  eagerness  too  in 
learning  Christian  truths  and  prayers.  Old  people  blessed  with 
but  little  memory  are  willing  to  be  kept  for  hours  in  the  church 
repeating  prayers. 

With  all  these  gratifying  proofs  of  earnestness  in  the  faith 
of  Christ,  there  is  still  a  vast  field  of  labor  for  the  zealous  worker 
in  evangelizing  the  remnant  of  the  tribe.  For,  although  many 
Indians  do  not  embrace  Christianity  themselves  and  turn  a  deaf 
ear  to  any  advances  made  to  them  in  that  direction,  they  neverthe- 
less willingly  permit  their  children  to  be  baptized  and  instructed 
in  the  Catholic  faith.  Such  dispositions  as  these  are  good  signs 
and  give  prospect  of  great  expectations  in  the  future  from  the 
influence  of  the  children.  The  Indians  have  a  great  love  for 


924  AMONG    THE   CROW  INDIANS. 

their  children.  It  is  not  a  Christian  love  however.  It  is  merely 
a  natural  affection.  It  springs  from  the  pleasure  they  receive  in 
enjoying  the  presence  of  the  child.  Yet  their  love,  such  as  it 
is,  will  be  of  great  help  in  bringing  about  their  conversion. 
In  fact  many  of  the  children  have  already  persuaded  their 
parents  to  become  Christians.  The  children  are  very  zealous  and 
desire  the  baptism  of  all  the  Crows.  Whenever  they  hear  of  the 
death  of  any  one  of  their  tribe,  they  will  put  the  question  :  "  Was 
he  baptized  ?" 

There  has  been  canonically  established  the  Sodality  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  divided  into  three  branches ;  one  under  the 
patronage  of  St.  Joseph  for  married  people,  another  under  the 
patronage  of  St.  Aloysius  for  the  boys  and  young  men,  and  a  third 
under  the  patronage  of  St.  Lucy  for  the^irls ;  and  as  the  Indians 
are  captivated  by  show,  to  attract  them  and  aid  still  further  the 
work  of  the  Mission,  the  older  members  of  the  Sodality,  who 
have  shown  themselves  most  zealous,  are  dressed  in  a  long  red 
gown  with  a  yellow  sash,  and  go  by  the  name  of  "  Red-Gowns." 
It  is  amusing  to  see  how  dignified  they  show  themselves  among 
the  other  Indians.  Many  wish  to  become  Red-Gowns,  but  all 
are  not  received.  The  female  sodalists  wear  a  long  black  cloak, 
with  a  hood  of  the  same  color,  becoming  thus  the  objects  of 
attention  to  their  sex.  One  of  the  Red-Gowns,  seeing  a  scholastic 
with  a  biretta,  asked  to  have  a  red  hat  like  it  to  match  his  gown, 
promising  to  put  it  on  only  in  the  church  \vhen  he  wore  his 
gown.  Being  told,  after  asking  several  times,  that  they  were 
worn  only  by  priests,  he  seemed  satisfied  and  asked  no  more 
for  it. 

In  the  Register  of  Baptisms,  from  the  opening  of  the  Mission 
up  to  June,  1891,  there  are  recorded  one  thousand  and  fifty-five 
baptisms.  This  is  nearly  half  the  number  of  the  Crow  tribe. 
The  greatest  obstacles  to  the  conversion  of  these  Indians  are 
their  sensualism,  superstitious  fear  of  the  supernatural  world, 
ignorance,  and  human  respect  which  enslaves  them  to  the 
opinions  of  others.  Several  young  men  said  that  they  were 
afraid  of  the  crucifix,  because  it  was  "too  strong  a  medicine." 


11 


.^     CO 


926  AMONG    THE  CROW  INDIANS. 

Besides  the  Saint  Xavier's  Church  located  in  the  central  part 
of  the  Reservation,  there  is  now  another  chapel  at  Pryor's  Creek 
for  the  western  camps  of  Crow  Indians ;  and  in  a  few  months' 
time  a  third  one  will  be  erected  at  the  Crow  Agency  for  the  con- 
venience of  the  Indians  who  have  settled  on  the  Little  Horn 
River,  Lodge  Grass  Creek  and  other  places  thereabouts.  Rev. 
Father  Prando,  the  well-known  missionary  among  the  Crows, 
visits  the  Indians  in  their  homes  and,  while  ministering  to  the 
sick,  who  have  a  great  confidence  in  him,  he  has  an  opportunity 
to  heal  and  save  many  souls.  The  Father  has  successfully  treated 
many  Indians  who  were  afflicted  with  a  disease  peculiar  to  their 
nation.  One  poor  man  who  was  suffering  from  this  malady  was 
cast  off  by  his  people.  He  was  one  mass  of  rottenness.  Father 
Prando  took  him  and  cared  for  him  and  at  the  end  of  three  years 
entirely  cured  him  of  his  disease,  so  that  he  was  able  to  return 
again  to  his  people.  One  day  an  old  Indian  woman  came  riding 
up  to  the  Father  and  said  : 

"  I  have  brought  you  back  your  son." 

"My  son?    I  have  no  son,"  answered  the  Father. 

"  There  is  your  son,"  said  the  woman,  pointing  to  the  old  man. 
"  He  was  going  to  die  ;  you  took  him  and  cured  him  ;  now  keep 
him  and  feed  him." 

Such  was  the  gratitude  and  such  the  conclusion  of  the  Indian 
woman. 


A  MESSAGE   FROM  THE   SACRED  HEART? 

By  a  Southern  Priest. 

the  month  |of  September  1874,  I  was  appointed  to 

the  charge  of  the  1ST mission  and  one  of  my  first 

acts  was  to  establish  the  Confraternity  of  the  Sacred 
Heart  and  in  virtue  of  faculties  received  from  the 
Moderator  General  of  the  Roman  Archconfraternity,  to  aggregate 
our  Sodality  to  the  "  Pious  Union  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus 


A  MESSAGE  FROM   THE  SACRED  HEART?  927 

first  erected  in  the  Church  of  S.  Maria  ad  Pineam,  and  now  estab- 
lished in  the  Church  of  8.  Maria  della  Pace,  Rome."  One  of  the 
first  and  without  doubt  the  most  fervent  member  of  our  new  Sodality 

was  Mary  D ,  a  young  woman  who  worked  in  one  of  the  mills 

and  who  was  of  a  rather  delicate  constitution.  She  was  always 
questioning  me  about  the  Confraternity,  and  soon  exhausted  my 
supply  of  works  bearing  on  the  devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart. 
Seventeen  years  have  passed  since  that  time  and  I  am  now  sta- 
tioned at  a  church  in  the  far  South — a  region  whose  wondrous 
development  has  been  the  theme  of  writers  and  speakers,  and  I  will 
add,  a  region  where  proportionately  more  converts  to  our  holy 
faith  may  be  found  than  in  any  part  of  the  States — and  yesterday 
as  I  was  searching  for  some  necessary  papers  I  found  a  memorial 
card,  which  has  suggested  this  little  sketch.  The  card  bears 
the  following  inscription : 

Blessed  are  the  clean  of  heart ;  for  they  shall  see  God. 
Of  your  charity  pray  for  the  repose  of  the  soul  of 

MARY  ELIZABETH  D 

A  faithful  member  of  the  Confraternity  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
who  died  at  N ,  Monday,  October  ££d,  1877. 

I  very  well  remember  the  21st  of  October  of  that  year.  I 
was  alone  at  the  Mission  and  at  the  last  Mass  I  told  my  people 
that  I  would  leave  home  after  Vespers  for  the  purpose  of  assist- 
ing a  neighboring  priest  at  the  Devotion  of  the  Forty  Hours,  and 
that  as  I  would  not  return  home  until  Wednesday  morning,  there 
would  in  consequence  be  no  Mass  oh  Monday,  Tuesday  and 
Wednesday. 

We  had  our  little  Sunday-school  just  before  Vespers  and 
while  making  my  customary  rounds  among  the  classes,  Agnes 

D ,  Mary's  youngest  sister,  told  me  that  Mary  was  sick  and 

asked  me  to  call  at  their  house  on  my  way.  I  inquired  of  Agnes 
the  particulars  of  Mary's  sickness  and  found  it  was  merely  a  slight 
cold  which  she  had  taken,  but  that  her  mother  knowing  how  deli- 
cate she  was  had  insisted,  much  to  Mary's  regret,  on  her  remain- 


928  A  MESSAGE  FROM    THE  SACRED  HEART? 

ing  in  bed  all  day.  I  promised  to  call  if  possible,  and  though 
rather  hurried  I  managed  to  pay  a  short  visit  to  the  house.  I 
found  Mary  in  bed  but  very  anxious  to  get  up  and,  after  joking 
her  on  her  spending  Sunday  in  bed,  I  hurried  off  in  my  buggy  for 
my  destination  where  I  arrived  after  dark. 

On  the  following  morning  I  said  the  Mass  at  5.30  and  as  soon 
as  I  had  finished,  I  went  to  the  confessional  where  I  was  kept  busy 
until  near  eight.  The  pastor  of  the  mission  then  came  for  me 
and  told  me  to  hurry  over  to  the  house  and  get  breakfast  as  I  had 
to  say  a  few  words  at  the  9  o'clock  Mass.  He  then  went  to  the 
sacristy  to  make  some  arrangements  for  his  Mass  and  I  walked  to 
the  front  door  of  the  church  on  my  way  to  his  house.  As  I 
stepped  outside  the  door  I  felt  an  impulse  to  leave  and  return  home. 
I  cannot  describe  this  sensation,  but  no  matter  what  I  afterwards 
said  or  did,  it  seemed  to  me  that  I  heard  a  voice  saying  again  and 
again :  go  home.  Father  K the  pastor,  came  into  the  dining- 
room  while  I  was  breakfasting  and  told  me  that  Father  F 

who  had  said  the  half-past  seven  Mass  had  returned  home  and  while 
he  did  not  wish  to  hurry  me  he  would  wish  me  to  hear  a  few 
confessions  before  the  next  Mass.  I  replied  : 

"  Father  K ,  I  must  go  home." 

I  can  see  now  his  look  of  blank  amazement. 

"  Go  home  ?"  he  said  :  "  Avhy  you  are  to  preach  at  my  Mass, 
and  there  are  a  lot  of  people  waiting  to  go  to  confession  to  you. 
They  don't  want  me,  and  you  announced  last  night  that  you  would 
hear  confessions  until  12  o'clock  to-day.  What  is  the  matter?" 

I  tried  to  explain  my  reasons  but  I  must  confess  they  did  not 
seem  very  satisfactory  even  to  me,  though  I  was  yet  as  firmly  con- 
vinced that  I  ought  to  return  home  at  once.  The  good  priest 
argued  and  remonstrated  with  me  and  while  I  could  give  what 
seemed  to  him  no  sensible  reason  for  my  action,  yet  when  I  started 
to  return  to  the  church  I  turned  back  again  and  said  : 

"  No,  I  suppose  you  think  me  foolish,  but  I  must  go  home." 

My  buggy  was  soon  at  the  door  and  I  started  on  my  return. 
It  was  a  cold  day  and  a  rain  more  like  a  mist  was  falling,  render- 
ing it  by  no  means  a  pleasant  ride.  As  I  drove  up  to  my  own 


A  MESSAGE  FROM   THE  SACRED  HEART?  929 

door,  my  housekeeper  came  on  the  porch  and  told  me  to  drive  at 

once  to  Mrs.  D 's,  for  Mary  D was  dying ;  that  the 

doctor  had  been  twice  to  see  me,  and  that  a  messenger  had  been 
sent  for  me.  I  jumped  out  of  the  buggy  and  entering  the  church 
took  the  Blessed  Sacrament  and  the  Holy  Oils,  and  getting  in  once 
more  I  drove  rapidly  to  the  house.  A  hurried  talk  with  her  mother 
told  me  that  a  sudden  change  had  come  that  morning  and  the  doctor 
being  quickly  summoned  pronounced  her  case  utterly  hopeless,  as 
her  lungs  were  filling  up  rapidly  and  she  could  not  outlast  the 
day.  As  I  entered  the  sick-room  Mary  looked  at  me  and  said : 

"  I  knew  you  would  come  in  time,  but  I  have  heard  every, 
hour  strike  since  two  this  morning." 

I  heard  her  confession — and  she  insisted  on  making  a  general 
confession — gave  her  the  Holy  Viaticum  and  anointed  her.  I 
told  her  then  that  I  would  give  her  the  last  blessing  and  the  Plenary 
Indulgence,  and  asked  her  to  make  an  act  of  resignation  to  the 
holy  will  of  God.  She  had  asked  the  doctor  to  tell  her  plainly  her 
real  condition,  and  she  was  thus  prepared  for  the  approach  of  death. 
She  told  me  she  was  resigned  to  whatever  God  willed.  I  gave 
her  the  Plenary  Indulgence  which  she  received  with  sentiments 
of  great  piety  and  humility  and,  as  I  took  off  my  stole,  she  said  ; 

"Won't  you  remain  with  me  until  the  end?" 

I  consented,  of  course,  and  sending  for  my  breviary,  I  sat 
down  by  her  bed-side  and  recited  my  Office.  It  was  now  about 
noon.  About  half-past  three  I  saw  a  change  which  told  of  death's 
near  approach  and  I  commenced  the  prayers  for  the  dying.  She 
answered  at  times,  and  then  again  wandered  in  her  speech.  We 
said  the  prayers  several  times,  and,  as  I  saw  she  was  entirely  con- 
scious, I  asked  her  if  she  would  not  like  us  to  recite  the  Rosary 
for  her.  She  thanked  me  and  said  yes.  When  I  had  finished  the 
Rosary,  I  once  more  recited  the  prayers  and  as  I  finished  them  she 
made  an  effort  to  speak  to  me.  I  was  kneeling  near  the  head  of 
her  bed  while  she  held  her  hands  clasped  around  a  crucifix  in- 
dulgenced  by  the  Holy  Father.  I  bent  down  and  she  gasped  out : 

"Father,  open  the  sanctuary  gate  and  let  me  receive  Holy 
Communion  on  the  top  step  of  the  Altar." 


93O  A  MESSAGE  FROM   THE  SACRED  HEART? 

The  words  came  slowly  and  with  a  great  effort  and,  as  she 
whispered  the  last  one,  she  turned  her  head  wearily  on  the  pillow, 
drew  a  sighing  breath  and  died. 

Many  persons  will  conclude  that  my  coming  home  was  due 
simply  to  my  fear  that  this  girl,  who  was  naturally  of  weak  con- 
stitution, might  succumb  to  even  a  slight  cold. 

I  can  only  say  that  I  had  no  apprehension  of  such  an  event 
and  was  very  much  surprised  at  its  realization.  As  a  matter v  of 
fact,  I  had  no  reason  whatever  to  expect  to  find  her  at  home,  much 
less  in  bed.  There  are  some — and  my  experience  in  sick-calls 
makes  me  number  myself  among  them — who  will  see  in  this  the 

act  of  the  good  God.     Mary  D had  read  of  the  wondrous 

promises  made  by  our  Blessed  Lord  to  the  humble  Visitandine  of 
Paray,  and  I  am  quite  sure  she  was  not  at  all  surprised  to  see  me 
entering  her  sick-room.  "In  the  Sacred  Heart,"  said  Jesus, 
"they  will  find  a  secure  place  of  refuge  during  life,  and  more 
especially  at  the  hour  of  death,"  and  when  the  hour  of  death  came 
she  sought  in  that  Blessed  Heart  a  refuge  and  begged  the  comforts 
of  the  Sacraments. 

"  I  will  console  them,"  added  Jesus,  "  in  all  their  difficulties," 
and  when  that  supreme  moment  came,  when  in  the  shadow  of 
death,  she  turned  to  His  Sacred  Heart,  she  found  consolation,  and 
He  heard  the  cry  of  a  little  one  who  had  loved  Him  much  and 
tried  to  serve  Him  well,  and  came  in  His  Sacramental  Presence  to 
console  this  His  servant  in  her  difficulty.  There  is  but  little 
more  to  tell.  On  Thursday  morning  her  funeral  took  place.  We 
had  no  wealthy  people  in  N ,  for  our  congregation  was  com- 
posed exclusively  of  the  working-class,  but  the  poor  came  to  pray 
for  her  dear  soul  and  they  brought  a  few  flowers  for  her  coffin. 
The  day  was  a  typical  fall  day  and  the  sun  was  shining  brightly 
as  they  bore  her  coffin  down  the  aisle,  out  the  front  door  and  into 
the  graveyard  which  surrounds  the  little  church.  It  seemed  right 
too  that  the  sun  should  shine  so  brightly  for  we  all  thought  that 
the  dear  Lord,  Whom  she  had  striven  hard  to  serve,  would  not 
long  deprive  her  of  that  which  is  the  joy  unspeakable  of  Seraph 
and  Saint — the  sight  of  the  Blessed  Face  of  Jesus. 


THE  CHALICE  VEIL 
By  the  Secretary  of  a  Tabernacle  Society. 

ITURGICAL  rubrics  are  minute  when  they 
refer  to  the  Blessed  Sacrament  directly. 
They  prescribe  that  the  Tabernacle  within 
which  Jesus  condescends  to  dwell  with  the 
children  of  men,  shall  be  of  incorruptible 
wood  and  lined  with  silk,  and  that  a  silken 
curtain  should  hang  before  it,  as  of  old 
before  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant.  They  guard 
from  careless  eyes  all  that  pertains  to  this 
great  Sacrament :  the  sacred  vessels  are  to  be  kept  wrapped  in 
silk  and  never  openly  exposed ;  the  ciborium  containing  the 
Sacred  Species  is  always  veiled  within  the  Tabernacle,  and  the 
corporal,  or  linen  cloth,  used  in  the  Mass  and  on  which  the  conse- 
cration takes  place,  is  folded  away  from  sight  within  the  corporal 
case,  or  burse. 

'  » 

It  is  uncertain  how  far  back  the  custom  of  using  the  Veil 
for  the  Chalice  dates,  though  it  is  probable  from  the  testimony  of 
ancient  writers  that  a  veil  of  some  kind  was  always  used.  For- 
merly this  veil,  also  called  Peplum,  or  Sudarium,  was  of  linen,  so 
that  it  could  be  washed.  The  Chalice  Veil  is  said  to  have  been 
spoken  of  in  the  old  liturgy  of  St.  Chrysostom,  and  Amularius  is 
quoted  as  mentioning  the  Roman  custom  of  bringing  the  chalice 


931 


932 


THE   CHALICE   VEIL. 


to  the  altar  wrapped  in  a  veil.  According  to  Gavantus,  silken 
chalice  veils  were  presented  to  Pope  Hormisdas,  who  occupied  the 
Chair  of  Peter  early  in  the  sixth  century. 

The  custom  of  covering  the  sacred  vessels  is  observed 
throughout  the  Church.  Among  the  Greeks  three  veils  are  used, 
the  first  for  the  paten  for  covering  the  bread  before  consecration, 
the  second  for  the  Chalice,  and  the  third,  which  they  call  Aerem 
because  like  the  air  it  surrounds  the  sacred  offerings,  is  a  very  thin 
transparent  veil  which  covers  both  the  chalice  and  the  paten. 

In  the  Greek  Church  the  Offertory  is  a  moment  of  great  cere- 
mony. The  celebrant  accompanied  by  his  ministers  and  all  the 
clergy  goes  to  the  table  on  which  are  the  bread  and  wine ;  he 

incenses  them  and  carrying 
the  paten  holding  the  bread 
on  his  head,  he  returns  to  the 
altar  where  placing  the  Oblata 
he  incenses  them  three  times. 
This  part  of  the  Mass  is  called 
by  the  Greeks  the  Solemn 
Entry,  the  Little  Entry  being 
the  Introit  of  the  Latin  Church. 
Cardinal  Bona  says  that  this 
custom  of  the  Greeks  began 
in  the  Church  of  Jerusalem 
and  spread  from  there  through- 
out the  Church. 

The  details  taken  from  the  Coptic  Egyptian  Liturgy  of  St. 
Basil  concerning  the  ceremonies  of  the  Oblations  are  very  inter- 
esting. As  in  the  Latin  Church  of  to-day,  the  bread  and  wine  to  be 
consecrated  rested  on  a  side  table,  the  Mensula,  or  Prothesis,  until 
the  Offertory.  "  Then  (Renaudot)  the  priest  goes  to  the  Prothe- 
sis,  where  he  receives  the  Lamb  (that  is  to  say,  the  Eucharistic 
bread)  which  he  examines  carefully.  .  .  .  When  the  priest 
has  seen  that  there  is  no  defect,  that  the  bread,  wine,  incense,  coals 
and  all  the  vessels  and  instruments  of  the  sacred  ministry  are  in 
a  becoming  condition,  he  takes  the  Oblata,  places  them  on  the  disk 


CENTRE  ORNAMENT  OF  CHALICE  VEIL. 


THE  CHALICE   VEIL. 


933 


or  paten,  which  represents  the  crib,  and  wraps  them  in  a  linen 
veil  as  did  the  Blessed  Virgin  at  the  birth  of  Christ. 

"After  the  preliminary  blessing  of  the  Eucharistic  bread,  the 
priest  wraps  it  in  a  silken  veil  and  walks  to  the  altar  preceded  by 
a  deacon  with  a  candle  in  his  hand.  Another  deacon  carries  on 
his  head  the  wine  in  a  vial  enveloped  in  a  silken  veil,  while 
before  him  walks  a  deacon  with  a  candle.  All  go  once  round  the 
altar  and  during  this  procession  recite  certain  prayers  in  Coptic. 


CHALICE  VEIL  OF  THE  "CHASUBLE  ANGEL1QUE," 

(belonging  to   the  League  Shrine  of  the  Gesu,  Philadelphia.) 

Then  the  priest  takes  his  place,  his  face  towards  the  East,  and  the 
deacon  the  one  assigned  him  with  his  eyes  towards  the  West. 
Then  the  priest  places  the  host  on  his  right  hand,  and  signs  it 
three  times  with  the  sign  of  the  cross,  also  the  vial  of  wine  which 


934  THE  CHALICE   l/EIL. 

the  deacon  holds  all  the  time  wrapped  in  a  silken  veil."  The 
Egyptians  follow  this  rite  after  the  example  of  the  Greeks ;  it  is 
also  thus  practised  among  the  Jacobites,  as  is  said  in  the  commen- 
tary on  the  Liturgy  of  St.  James,  cited  by  Renaudot.  We  read 
in  Martigny's  Antiquites  Chretiennes  that  the  same  rite  existed 
among  the  Ethiopians,  where  after  this  ceremony  little  bells  are 
rung  that  all  may  prostrate  themselves  before  the  holy  offerings. 

Though  this  elaborate  ceremony  seems  to  have  been  confined 
to  the  Greeks  and  Orientals,  traces  of  it  may  be  found  in  the 
Western  liturgies. 

In  the  primatial  church  of  Tours  the  procession  took  place 
from  the  sacristy  instead  of  from  the  Prothesis,  or  table  placed  in 
the  sanctuary.  "At  the  moment  of  the  Offertory  the  first  digni- 
tary of  the  Chapter,  the  Treasurer,  goes  first,  clothed  in  the  Pluvial 
(the  Cope) ;"  after  him  a  torch-bearer ;  then  the  subdeacon  with 
the  cruets  of  water  and  wine  covered  with  a  veil.  After  another 
torch-bearer  comes  the  deacon  with  the  paten,  also  veiled.  .  After 
a  third  torch-bearer,  another  deacon  with  the  chalice  and  the 
corporal  enveloped  in  a  veil.  A  fourth  torch-bearer  closes  the 
procession  which  stops  at  the  high  altar  where  Solemn  Mass 
is  celebrated. 

The  practice  of  the  venerable  Church  of  Lyons  is  said  to 
have  been  even  more  solemn  and  like  the  Greek  custom. 

The  Roman  Chalice  Veil  is  a  square  of  silk  or  other  hand- 
some material,  varying  in  size  from  20  to  24  inches.  It  is  placed 
over  the  chalice,  paten  and  pall,  and  if  not  large  enough  to  cover 
the  whole  chalice  the  priest  will  arrange  it  so  that  it  will  hide  that 
part  of  it  which  will  be  towards  the  people.  If  lined,  the  lining 
should  be  of  silk,  if,  even  by  necessity,  less  costly  material  is 
used  for  lining  the  other  vestments ;  no  stiffening  should  be 
placed  between  the  material  and  lining,  as  the  veil  should  be 
pliant ;  it  conforms  in  color  to  the  vestments  of  the  day.  A  cross 
of  needle-work  or  galloon,  ornamental  or  plain,  may  be  placed  in 
the  centre  of  the  lower  third  part  as  represented  above  ;  the  cross 
may  also  be  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  veil.  The  veil  may  be 
richly  embroidered  and  may  have  a  narrow  fringe,  or  may  be 


A  REMARKABLE  CURE.  935 

finished  on  the  edge  with  a  gold  or  silk  braid.  The  Chalice  Veil, 
of  the  set  of  vestments  called  "  The  Chasuble  Angelique,"  whose 
representation  is  given  above,  is  an  exquisite  specimen  of  rich* 
figured  gold  brocade.  The  figures  represent  the  Sacred  Host, 
adored  by  Angels,  two  of  whom  carry  the  inscription — Panis 
Angelicus.  When  the  Blessed  Sacrament  is  placed  in  the  Reposi-: 
tory  on  Holy  Thursday,  the  white  silk  veil  is  tied  closely  around, 
the  chalice  with  white  ribbon. 

White  is  pre-eminently  the  color  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament^ 
being  the  symbol  of  purity,  innocence  and  glory.  St.  Clement  of 
Alexandria  calls  it  tinctura  veritatis,  the  color  which  symbolizes, 
truth,  because  it  is  the  reunion  of  all  rays  of  light ;  it  was  in  this: 
brilliant  color  that  our  Lord  appeared  at  His  Transfiguration  on 
Mt.  Thabor — His  garments  became  shining,  and  exceeding  white 
like  snow,  so  as  no  fuller  upon  earth  can  make  white. 


A   REMARKABLE   CURE 
THROUGH  A  NOVENA  TO  BLESSED  MARGARET  MARY. 

[The  following  account  is  given  as  it  occurred.     We  vouch  for  the  accurate 
statement  of  the  facts  in  the  case. — EDITOR.] 

HE  desire  of  our  Holy  Father,  expressed  for  the. 
first  time  over  a  year  ago,  to  inscribe  the  name  of 
Blessed  Margaret  Mary  Alacoque  on  the  calendar, 
of  the  Saints,  inspired  many  to  begin  a  novena  for 
the  cure,  through  the  intercession  of  Blessed. 
Margaret  Mary,  of  a  person  who  was  afflicted  in  a  remarkable 
manner.  So  complicated  was  the  case,  so  helpless  was  the  condi- 
tion of  the  patient,  that  if  a  cure  were  obtained,  as  it  was  specifi- 
cally asked,  to  bring  about  the  canonization  of  God's  servant,  it 
would  be  a  sure  sign  that  the  power  of  God  was  at  work,  that  He. 
approved  the  merits  and  virtues  of  His  servant  and  wished  to 
gratify  the  desires  of  His  Vicar  on  earth.  The  novena  was 


936  A  REMARKABLE  CURE. 

followed  by  a  cure,  and  according  to  promise  the  fact  is  made 
known  for  the  honor  of  God,  the  exaltation  of  Blessed  Margaret 
Mary,  the  increase  of  faith  and  the  spread  of  devotion  to  the 
Sacred  Heart. 

Elizabeth  Duddy,  now  living  at  2220  Hamilton  Street  in 
Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  was  born  July  25,  1859.  On  leav- 
ing school  she  was  engaged  as  a  domestic  for  about  three  years, 
after  which  she  sought  and  obtained  employment  at  Hill's  Cotton- 
mill,  Twenty-fifth  and  Callowhill  Streets,  Philadelphia.  For 
about  two  years  she  worked  at  winding  cotton  yarn  on  bobbins 
for  the  use  of  the  weavers.  On  December  8,  1879,  after  hearing 
Mass  and  receiving  Holy  Communion  she  went  to  work  as  on 
other  days.  Towards  the  close  of  the  day,  between  4.30  and  5 
o'clock,  she  heard  a  call  for  yarn  from  one  of  the  weavers.  She 
left  her  place  in  her  own  work-room  and  went  up  stairs  to  the 
fourth  floor  to  answer  the  call.  She  was  standing  at  the  head  of  a 
narrow  spiral  stairway — so  narrow  that  two  persons  could  not  well 
pass  abreast — on  the  landing,  and  was  about  to  go  down  to  supply 
the  demand,  when,  with  her  back  turned  to  the  stairs,  she  made  a 
misstep,  lost  her  footing  and  tumbled  down  backwards,  alighting 
in  a  heap  on  the  platform  of  the  third  floor.  Here  she  was  found 
by  a  companion,  who  with  three  or  four  other  girls  carried  her 
into  the  bobbin  room  on  the  third  floor  of  an  annex-building,  four 
steps  below  the  landing  where  she  was  picked  up.  For  a  moment 
after  the  fall  Miss  Duddy  was  conscious  :  but  almost  immediately 
she  fell  into  a  swoon,  in  which  she  remained  until  the  mill  closed 
at  six  o'clock.  During  that  time,  incredible  as  it  may  appear, 
there  was  no  question  of  summoning  medical  aid  or  sending  the 
patient  to  a  hospital. 

At  six  o'clock  she  was  roused  from  her  stupor,  and  walked 
home,  aided  by  two  companions,  to  her  house  at  422  North 
Twenty-second  Street.  Even  then  no  doctor  was  called.  One 
who  could  walk  home  was  not  supposed  to  need  a  physician. 
She  was  however  severely  injured  by  her  fall.  She  felt  acute 
pains  in  the  back  of  her  head,  and  in  the  small  of  her  back ;  a 
large  swelling  appeared  on  her  left  shoulder,  where,  she  thinks, 


A  REMARKABLE  CURE.  937 

her  collar  bone  was  broken ;  her  left  arm  was  hurt  and  her  nose 
was  injured.  The  next  day  she  felt  a  numbness  over  her  whole 
body.  Frequent  fainting  fits  came  on.  Despite  this,  on  an  invi- 
tation from  the  management  of  the  mill  and  with  a  promise  of 
work  for  the  rest  of  her  life,  she  went  back  to  work  after  a  few 
days,  though  her  left  arm  was  in  a  sling.  It  is  needless  to  say 
she  could  do  but  little.  The  effect  of  trying  to  utilize  her  left 
elbow  at  work  was  accompanied  by  intense  pain.  At  ten  o'clock 
she  fell  into  a  fit,  which  lasted  until  three  in  the  afternoon.  It 
required  the  efforts  of  four  persons  to  hold  her.  She  was  taken 
to  a  neighbor's  house  and  a  priest  was  summoned. 

This  fit  was  followed  by  others  at  frequent  intervals,  up  to 
the  time  of  her  cure ;  sometimes  they  occurred  once  in  two  days, 
sometimes  no  oftener  than  once  a  week.  A  violent  shaking  of  the 
feet  introduced  the  fit.  The  tremor  passed  up  through  the  body 
and  produced  a  choking  sensation  in  the  throat,  after  which  the 
patient  regularly  lost  consciousness.  A  doctor  was  called  in  ;  but 
after  a  few  visits  he  concluded  that  he  could  do  nothing,  that  a 
priest  only  could  be  of  any  service.  Such  was  the  violence  of  the 
attacks  that  the  whole  room  shook  and  the  window-panes  rattled. 
These  fits  were  the  chief  cause  of  her  sufferings.  For  about  five 
years  she  was  now  up,  now  down;  being  confined  to  bed  as  long 
as  three  months  at  a  time,  or  even  longer.  Six  times  she  was 
deemed  to  be  at  the  point  of  death,  and  received  Extreme  Unc- 
tion. 

A  short  time  after  her  fall,  kidney  trouble  and  dropsy  began 
to  manifest  themselves.  Medicines  were  prescribed,  but  being 
very  strong,  they  could  not  be  retained  on  the  stomach.  When 
the  novena  began,  the  patient's  body  was  swollen  to  an  unsightly 
degree. 

In  February  1883,  Miss  Buddy  began  to  lose  control  over 
the  movements  of  her  tongue.  It  protruded  from  her  mouth  and 
was  very  much  swollen"  at  times.  To  prevent  an  accident,  espe- 
cially during  the  spasms,  a  clothes-pin  was  inserted  between  the 
teeth,  to  keep  them  apart.  An  application  of  mustard  to  the 
back  of  the  head  brought  some  relief,  and  reduced  the  swelling. 


938  A  REMARKABLE  CURE. 

This  phase  of  her  troubles  was  last  noticed  on  September  8,  of 
this  year,  after  which  more  serious  symptoms  were  developed. 

On  August  15,  1885,  she  lost  control  over  her  lower  limbs. 
Since  then  she  was  confined  to  her  room,  either  lying  in  bed  or 
sitting  in  a  rolling-chair.  From  that  date  till  October  2,  when 
the  novena  closed,  she  did  not  and  could  not  take  a  single  step. 

On  the  23d  of  December,  1886,  her  faculty  of  speech  failed 
her.  From  that  date  up  to  the  time  of  her  relief  during  the 
novena,  with  one  single  exception,  not  one  intelligible  or  articu- 
late sound  escaped  her  lips.  Her  tongue  was  rolled  upwards  and 
backwards  as  far  as  it  could  go.  When  about  to  receive  Holy 
Communion,  it  was  first  necessary  to  unroll  the  tongue  with  a 
spoon,  or  some  other  article.  All  communications  with  her  rela- 
tives and  friends  were  made  by  gestures,  or  by  writing  with  a 
pencil  on  a  slate.  When  able  to  sit  up,  her  only  amusement  was 
to  read  or  to  roll  her  chair  to  the  window  and  watch  the  passers- 
by.  But  even  this  consolation  was  not  to  last. 

On  June  5,  1891,  the  Feast  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  she  took 
up  a  book  to  read.  Opening  it  she  was  surprised  at  not  being 
able  to  decipher  the  letters.  She  looked  again,  but  could  see 
nothing.  In  her  horror  at  this  new  calamity,  she  burst  out  into 
the  exclamation  :  "  Mother,  I  'am  blind  !"  Then  she  felt,  as  it 
were,  a  tugging  at  the  muscles  of  her  eyes.  The  lids  closed,  and 
she  could  no  longer  distinguish  between  night  and  day.  When 
the  eyelids  were  forced  open,  it  was  found  that  the  eyeballs  were 
turned  upwards  and  backwards,  so  that  the  pupils  were  invisible." 
Seeing  was  doubly  impossible. 

During  a  fit  on  August  3  last,  her  neck  bent  over  so  that  the 
head  touched  the  left  shoulder.  Such  was  the  violence  of  the 
paroxysm  that  some  of  the  bystanders  feared  that  the  head  would 
turn  completely  round.  In  this  painful  position  she  had  to  lie 
until  September  27.  This  last  change  brought  about  another 
complication  which  threatened  to  put  an  end  to  her  sufferings  and 
her  life.  The  bending  of  the  neck  was  said  to  close  up  the  gullet, 
so  that  she  could  not  swallow.  The  patient  herself  thinks  that 
the  lower  portion  was  paralyzed,  so  that  there  could  be  no  normal 


A   REMARKABLE  CURE.  939 

action,  such  as  takes  place  on  the  swallowing  of  food.  Certain 
it  is  that  neither  food  nor  medicine  entered  the  stomach  from 
September  8,  until  her  recovery  set  in.  A  few  drops  of  extract 
of  beef  were  given  occasionally,  but  this  as  well  as  the  medi- 
cines, solid  and  liquid,  were  immediately  rejected  from  the  mouth 
and  throat. 

Many  doctors  had  seen  and  prescribed  for  her,  especially  to 
give  her  relief  from  her  spasms  and  from  the  dropsy.  Little 
good  was  effected,  and  all  were  candid  enough  either  to  acknowl- 
edge that  they  could  hold  out  no  hopes  of  a  speedy  cure,  or  to 
pronounce  the  case  hopeless.  There  was  no  talk  at  any  time  of 
an  operation  to  ease  the  oppression  caused  by  the  dropsy.  One 
physician  asked  permission  of  her  brother  to  take  her  to  a  hospital 
in  order,  by  an  operation,  to  remove  a  tumor  which,  he  was  per- 
suaded, was  growing  on  the  brain.  The  permission  was  refused. 
Last  summer  another  physician  advised  recourse  to  the  same 
remedy,  but  the  mother  replied  :  "  Until  God  removes  the  afflic- 
tion, no  knife  shall  touch  her  whilst  I  live." 

When  these  words  were  uttered,  there  was  no  expectation 
that  God  would  interfere  in  the  patient's  behalf.  She  did  not 
expect  or  hope  for  it.  Even  when  the  no  vena  was  proposed  by  a 
friend,  she  was  not  in  the  least  anxious  for  its  success.  She  was 
perfectly  resigned  to  God's  holy  will ;  and  though  sorely  afflicted, 
she  was  satisfied,  especially  as  "  in  all  the  time  from  her  accident 
till  her  cure  she  had  not  known  an  unhappy  hour."  One  thing 
there  was  for  which  she  constantly  prayed,  that  she  might  be  pre- 
served in  the  use  of  her  reason  to  the  end.  When,  however,  she 
was  told  that  her  cure  might  result  in  the  canonization  of  Blessed 
Margaret  Mary,  in  the  kindling  of  faith  and  of  the  spread  of  the 
devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart,  she  was  well  satisfied  to  unite  her 
prayers  with  those  of  her  many  friends. 

On  the  eve  of  the  novena,  September  22,  her  case  was  curtly 
pronounced  incurable,  in  the  opinion  of  one  who  had  known  her 
for  years,  and  who  had  watched  and  prescribed  for  her  various 
ills.  Well  she  might  be  deemed  incurable  by  human  means ;  for 
she  was  a  blind,  speechless,  deformed,  dropsical  paralytic,  who  had 


94O  A  REMARKABLE  CURE. 

not  taken,  and  could  not  take,  food  or  drink  for  two  weeks.  In 
this  state  many  persons  had  known  and  visited  her,  both  Catholics 
and  Protestants,  and  several  were  so  moved  at  the  sad  spectacle 
as  to  be  unable  to  refrain  from  tears. 

No  particular  prayers  were  prescribed  to  be  said  during  the 
novena,  though  it  was  recommended  to  say  three  Hail  Maries  and 
the  Prayer  to  Blessed  Margaret  Mary  in  the  leaflets  published  at 
the  MESSENGER  Office  for  the  Consecration  of  Children  to  the 
Divine  Heart  of  Jesus.  Six  hundred  of  these  leaflets  were  issued. 
Miss  Dudcly  wore  about  her  neck  during  the  novena  a  relic  of 
Blessed  Margaret  Mary,  and  tasted  "  in  the  name  of  the  Father 
and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost"  three  teaspoonfuls  of 
water  into  which  there  had  been  dipped  a  piece  of  cloth  which 
had  touched  the  bones  of  the  Blessed.  The  one  thing 
clearly  understood  by  all  was,  that  the  cure  was  asked  through 
the  intercession  of  the  Apostle  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  that  it 
might  lead  to  her  canonization.  To  show  this,  we  presume  to 
insert  the  following  extract  from  a  letter  written  on  September  23, 
in  response  to  a  request  to  have  a  community  take  part  in  the 
novena : 

"  Our  Reverend  Mother  thanks  you  for  including  us  in  the 
number  of  those  who  are  to  make  the  novena  to  Blessed  Marga- 
ret Mary.  We  shall  be  very  glad  to  aid  in  obtaining  the  canon- 
ization of  the  Apostle  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  and,  with  that  end  in 
view,  the  prayers  that  you  send  us  shall  be  used.  What  a  won- 
derful cure  would  be  that  of  the  poor  creature  whose  state  you 
•describe  !  May  the  good  God  come  to  her  aid  through  the  inter- 
cession of  Blessed  Margaret  Mary  !" 

Other  letters  written  in  the  same  spirit  were  received,  but 
one  extract  is  enough. 

Miss  Duddy  declares  that  she  felt  some  relief  from  her  dis- 
tressing condition  even  from  the  beginning  of  the  novena.  From 
the  first  day  she  had  no  convulsions  or  spasms,  though  a  fit  was 
due  according  to  the  periods  of  their  former  recurrence.  This 
did  not  attract  any  attention  at  the  time,  and  was  only  noticed 
when  more  startling  results  were  manifested.  On  the  second  day 


A  REMARKABLE  CURE.  941 

of  the  novena,  that  is,  on  Thursday  24,-  she  opened  her  eyes  for 
the  first  time  since  the  5th  of  June  preceding.  Her  vision  was 
dim  at  first ;  yet  she  was  able  to  make  out  the  letters  I.  H.  S.  on 
a  lamp  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  and  to  recognize  flowers  and  the  cross 
on  a  picture  of  St.  Aloysius  which  she  had  never  seen.  As  she 
was  speechless,  she  proved  her  power  of  vision  by  tracing  with 
her  fingers  the  letters  just  become  visible,  and  by  crossing  her  fin- 
gers she  indicated  the  crucifix  in  the  picture.  Some  mute  teleg- 
raphy of  hers  denoted  the  flowers.  All  who  heard  of  the  change 
were  much  startled  and  redoubled  their  prayers. 

On  Sunday  morning  she  felt  worse  than  usual  and  lost  con- 
sciousness whilst  her  mother  was  at  the  9  o'clock  Mass.  When 
Mrs.  Duddy  returned  from  Mass  and  began  to  wash  and  dress  her 
daughter,  she  noticed  that  her  neck  was  perfectly  straight  and 
that  the  patient  could  turn  it  in  every  direction.  During  the  day 
she  was  able  to  support  herself  by  her  hands  in  a  sitting  posture 
in  bed.  Previous  to  that  date,  one's  hand  could  not  be  introduced 
between  the  head  and  shoulders,  so  much  bent  was  the  neck.  She 
was  suffering  no  pain  in  the  evening  except  from  the  teeth,  which 
were  all  loose ;  but  she  was  yet  unable  to  swallow.  There  was 
an  effort  at  articulation. 

It  was  announced  on  Monday  night  that  the  patient  had  been 
able  during  the  day  to  stand  on  the  floor  and  to  move  one  of  her 
feet,  neither  of  which  had  she  been  able  to  do  for  more  than  six 
years.  She  was  able  also  to  swallow  a  little  for  the  first  time 
since  September  8.  Her  mother  had  noticed  a  diminution  of  the 
dropsical  swelling. 

On  Tuesday  Miss  Duddy  had  been  able,  according  to  the 
report  which  was  made  now  every  day,  to  speak  quite  intelligibly 
so  as  to  be  understood  by  any  one.  The  tongue  was  so  much 
unloosed  that  she  could  sometimes  move  it.  There  was  quite  a 
perceptible  diminution  from  the  swelling  caused  by  the  dropsy. 

On  Wednesday  evening  the  report  came  by  eyewitnesses  that 
the  patient  could  read  large  print  in  a  prayer-book,  a  thing  she 
had  been  unable  to  do  without  the  aid  of  glasses  previous  to  her 
loss  of  sight  in  June.  She  stood  up  and  moved  both  feet.  She 


942  A  REMARKABLE  CURE. 

could  talk  so  as  to  be  easily  understood  across  the  room.  The 
tongue  began  to  unfold  and  could  be  moved  from  side  to  side  in 
the  mouth.  The  swelling  of  the  body  had  so  far  gone  down  that 
one  witness  declared  that  it  was  not  apparent  at  all  when  she  was 
in  a  standing  position,  though  another  said  that  some  was  still 
visible. 

It  was  reported  on  Thursday  evening  that  Miss  Duddy  had 
attempted  a  few  steps,  but  in  a  tottering  manner ;  she  could  move 
her  limbs  unaided  out  of  bed ;  she  could  speak  plainly,  the  tongue 
being  unrolled,  though  not  fully  yet.  The  swelling  of  the  body 
continued  diminishing,  but  paralysis  of  the  back  still  remained. 

At  7.30  A.M.  on  Friday,  October  2,  Rev.  Father  Dolan,  of 
St.  Francis'  Church,  gave  Holy  Communion  to  the  patient  in  bed. 
The  friend  who  persuaded  Miss  Duddy  to  commence  the  novena 
arrived  shortly  after,  and  asked :  "  Why !  Lizzie,  are  you  not 
up?"  At  this  Mrs.  Duddy  took  her  daughter's  hand,  and  she 
left  the  bed.  She  shook  a  good  deal,  walked  to  a  rocking-chair 
and  sat  down.  Then  the  water  in  which  the  linen  had  been 
steeped  was  given  in  three  teaspoonfuls,  the  prayers  of  the  novena 
and  the  Beads  were  said,  the  patient  still  sitting  in  the  rocking- 
chair.  Water  was  given  a  second  time.  She  then  got  up  and 
walked  towards  the  window,  but  not  without  shaking.  Next  a 
chapter  from  St.  Joseph's  Manual,  a  favorite  book,  containing 
reflections  on  the  Passion,  was  read  ;  the  Litany  of  the  Saints  with 
the  prayers  following  it  was  recited.  Finally,  for  the  third  time, 
three  spoonfuls  of  the  water  were  given.  Then  Miss  Duddy  got 
up  and  walked  across  the  room  without  shaking,  or  hesitation. 
This  she  did  three  times  for  the  gratification  of  new  arrivals. 
All  then  knelt  down  and  said  the  Rosary  in  thanksgiving,  after 
which  they  began  to  talk  and  cry,  "  but  pleasant  tears,"  as  an 
actor  in  the  scene  remarked  later. 

A  serious  difficulty  presented  itself  now.  A  promise  had 
been  made,  in  case  of  a  cure,  to  pay  a  visit  of  thanksgiving  to 
the  Blessed  Sacrament  in  the  parish  church,  to  call  on  the  Rev- 
erend pastor  to  thank  him  for  his  interest,  and  finally  to  make  the 
Stations  of  the  Cross  in  another  church.  Miss  Duddv  had  not 


A  REMARKABLE  CURE.  943 

left  her  house  for  over  six  years ;  neither  she  nor  anybody  else, 
friend  or  relative,  ever  expected  to  see  her  leave  it  except  in  her 
coffin.  The  garments  belonging  to  her,  which  had  not  yet  been 
distributed  in-  charity,  would  no  longer  fit  her,  nor  would  those  of 
any  member  of  the  household.  She  had  nothing  in  which  she 
could  appear  in  public  except  the  habit  of  the  Third  Order  of  St. 
Francis,  which  had  been  provided  for  her  as  a  shroud.  In  this, 
hiding,  by  means  of  a  borrowed  shawl,  the  very  unfashionable  cut 
of  the  upper  portion,  she  went  to  the  church  walking  unaided,  a 
distance  of  about  three  squares. 

In  the  morning  there  was  yet  visible  a  slight  upturning  of 
the  tip  of  the  tongue ;  but  this  had  disappeared  in  the  afternoon 
when  she  was  seen  by  the  writer.  Her  laugh  was  quite  clear  and 
hearty,  though  her  speech  came  somewhat  through  the  nose,  as  if 
the  tongue  pressed  against  the  nasal  openings.  Next  day  at  noon 
she  coughed  up  some  mucus  from  the  throat,  and  after  that  her 
voice  and  speech  were  perfect  in  every  respect. 

The  only  marks  of  her  dreadful  fall  that  she  now  knows  of 
are  a  shortening  of  the  left  arm  and  a  slight  misplacement  of 
one  of  the  articulations  of  the  spine.  The  latter  causes  no  incon- 
venience. This  may  or  may  not  remain  to  remind  her  of  her  long 
sufferings.  But  whether  it  remain  or  disappear,  her  gratitude  is 
due  and  is  extended,  first  of  all,  to  God  Who  has  granted  her  so 
signal  a  favor  through  the  intercession  of  His  servant  Blessed 
Margaret  Mary,  and  next  to  the  kind  friends  who  have  pleaded  so 
earnestly  in  her  behalf. 

The  cure  was  effected,  whether  by  miracle  or  not,  rests  not 
with  us  to  decide.  The  facts  are  given  just  as  they  occurred, 
notes  having  been  taken  as  the  information  of  eyewitnesses  (two  in 
each  case)  was  received.  These  notes,  as  they  are  reproduced 
here,  were  afterwards  read  to  Miss  Duddy  herself,  who  pronounced 
them  true-in  every  detail. 


THE   READER. 

* 

It  is  certain  that  very  little  can  be  gained  by  a  Catholic,  or 
even  a  sincere  Protestant,  from  a  reading  of  the  "  Christmas 
articles,"  as  knowing  editors  choose  to  denominate  them,  that 
appear  in  artistic  typography  and  delicate  though  distorted  draw- 
ings in  our  secular  magazines.  On  the  contrary  the  Reader 
holds  it  as  his  conviction  that  much  harm  is  done  to  the  tender 
devotional  spirit  and  to  the  simplicity  of  faith  that  should  fill  the 
heart  of  every  Christian  as  he  draws  near  in  contemplation  to  the 
Crib  of  the  Divine  Infant.  A  single  editorial  paragraph  in  the 
poorest  of  our  Catholic  weeklies,  written  though  it  might  be  in  his 
moodiest  moment  by  an  over-worked  editor,  would  be  indefinitely 
more  profitable  and  satisfying  than  multiplied  pages  of  these 
colorless  Christmas  articles — articles  which  speak  of  Christmas 

and  leave  out  Christ. 

*  * 

Does  it  sound  strange  to  say  we  may  have  a  good  deal  of 
what  passes  for  Christmas  and  little  or  nothing  of  Christ  Who 
alone  can  make  the  true  Christmas  ?  It  is  possible,  and  one  is 
tempted  to  say  that  it  is  slowly  but  surely  growing  to  be  a  fashion. 
To  admit  this  we  need  not  go  so  far  as  to  assert  that  Christians 
are  letting  the  true  spirit  of  Christmas  slip  from  them.  It  will 
be  true  that  many  people  keep  Christmas  without  Christ,  if  even 
they  who  never  knew  Him  come  to  keep  the  Feast  of  His  Birth, 
without  striving  to  imitate  or  reproduce  in  their  own  lives  the 
virtues  which  make  that  Birth  so  holy  and  saving. 

*  *  * 

Now  they  do  keep  this  Feast  without  following  His  divine 
example ;  and  some  new  influences  are  at  work  leading  them  to 
think  they  keep  it  properly,  when  they  are  missing  all  its  mean- 
ing. The  old  influences,  which  might  be  termed  the  spirit  of 
mere  good  cheer  and  of  purely  worldly  pleasure  were  always  so 
amiss  at  such  a  hallowed  season  that  it  were  a  mere  truism  to  say 
that  they  could  make  a  Christmas  without  Christ.  The  new  influ- 
ences are  not  so  clearly  out  of  keeping  with  the  right  observance- 

944 


THE  RE/tDER.  945 

of  the  Saviour's  Birthday.  They  come  so  near  being  a  most  suit- 
able expression  of  its  proper  lessons,  without,  however,  present- 
ing that  lesson  truly,  that  they  are  for  this  reason  the  more 
insidious  destroyers  of  a  holy  Christmas  :  they  are  the  very  deceit- 
ful but  very  specious  appearances  of  good  though  in  reality  only 

evils. 

*  *  *  * 

What  is  more  likely  than  that  many  souls  can  delight  in  a 
choice  programme  of  Christmas  music,  or  in  the  solemn  ceremo- 
nies of  the  Christmas  Mass,  and  yet  be  far  estranged  by  disposi- 
tion and  in  daily  habits,  by  actual  guilt  perhaps,  from  the  Lord 
Whose  praise  is  sung  and  Whose  deeds  are  so  commemorated. 
That  is  an  obvious  case.  And  yet  some  poor  souls  easily  delude 
themselves  into  believing  they  have  kept  Christmas  as  Christians 
should  after  such  fidelity  to  Church  observances.  In  the  same 
way,  more  easily  perhaps,  will  many  read  the  stories  of  the  com- 
ing season  and  scan  the  artistic  reproductions  of  its  mysteries  our 
magazines  abound  in,  and  overlook  the  fact  that  Christ's  humility 
is  not  presented,  or  that  His  poverty  is  made  respectable  and  inde- 
pendent of  the  charity  of  alms-giving.  Perhaps  the  finished  and 
attractive  plates  of  the  wonders  of  His  Birth  reconcile  some  to 
the  notion  that  after  all  neither  His  poverty  nor  His  holy 
Mother's  Virginity  is  one  of  the  important  lessons  of  that 
Sacred  Night. 


***** 


If  there  was  no  manger,  there  was  no  Divine  Babe ;  if  there 
was  no  going  from  inn  to  inn  to  meet  refusal,  there  was  no  Mary, 
Maiden-Mother ;  in  a  word,  if  there  is  no  true  Christ,  no  Christ 
of  the  Gospels — and  of  one  Gospel  text  as  well  as  of  another — 
then  there  is  no  Christmas :  we  are  keeping  Christmas  without 

Christ. 

****** 

What  is  true  of  the  magazine  articles,  is  equally  if  not  more 
true  of  the  so-called  Christmas  books.  Outwardly  these  books 
are  beautiful  and  attractive,  all  that  gorgeous  binding,  artistic 
engravings  and  letterpress  can  make  them;  worldly-wise  pub- 
lishers are  usually  good  caterers.  But  seemly  appearance  and 
costly  exterior  can  never  supply  the  want  of  substance  within. 
A  nut  is  bad  when  its  kernel  is  rotten,  no  matter  how  beautiful  its 


946  THE  READER. 

shell  may  be.  Yet  many  of  these  books  are  presented  as  Christ- 
mas gifts  to  our  young  people  and  little  children,  and  parents 
afterwards  wonder  with  aching  heart  why  their  children  manifest 

such  lack  of  a  religious  spirit. 

******* 

Even  if  the  Reader  had  no  substitute  to  oifer  for  the  maga- 
zine articles  referred  to,  he  would  yet  consider  it  a  duty  to  speak 
out  his  mind  candidly  upon  this  matter.  But  there  is  a  substi- 
tute, as  the  following  partial  list  of  Catholic  magazines  abundantly 
shows :  The  "Ave  Maria " ;  The  Catholic  World ;  Donahoe's 
Magazine;  The  Poor  Souls'  Advocate;  The  Rosary ;  Annals  of 
Our  Lady  of  the  Sacred  Heart;  Reading  Circle  Review.  The 
German  MESSENGER  (Der  Sendbote)  of  Cincinnati,  and  the  English 
and  French  MESSENGERS  of  Montreal  are  already  in  many  Catholic 
homes.  Instead  of  speaking  of  our  own  MESSENGER,  the  Reader 
prefers  quoting  from  a  letter  of  the  Right  Reverend  Bishop  of 
Duluth,  Minn.,  particularly  as  it  confirms  what  was  said  above. 
The  Bishop  says  : 

"  I  beg  leave  to  thank  you  for  your  beautifully  bound  volume 
of  the  MESSENGER  and  the  no  less  interesting  volume  of  the 
Pilgrim.  I  have  the  happiness  of  possessing  a  complete  set  of  the 
MESSENGER  from  the  beginning,  and  I  do  not  know  any  other 
series  of  volumes  which  contains  matter  so  important  and  so  useful 
in  our  own  day.  The  literary  presentation  of  the  various  sub- 
jects offered  to  the  reader  is  extremely  well  done.  Would  to  God 
that  our  wealthy  Catholics  could  be  made  to  replace  the  useless 
and  often  anti-Catholic  trash  to  be  found  on  their  centre-tables 
with  such  beautiful  volumes  as  you  are  now  issuing !" 
******** 

The  Reader  has  just  received  from  the  author  a  book  for 
children.  Miss  Eliza  Allen  Starr  in  her  latest  work,  What  We 
See,  shows  not  only  that  she  is  an  exquisite  writer  and  a  genuine 
artist,  but  infinitely  more — that  she  is  a  Catholic  writer  and  a 
Catholic  artist.  Young  and  old  will  profit  by  this  latest  work 
from  the  gifted  artistic  pen  of  Miss  Starr.  Besides  its  substance, 
its  form  is  all  that  the  most  critical  can  desire,  with  clear-cut 
illustrations  and  large,  clean-faced  type.  Christmas -Tide  by  the 
same  author  is  a  holiday  book  that  has  found  favor  with  every 
one  who  has  read  it. 


GENERAL  INTENTION 

FOR  DECEMBER,    1891. 

Designated  by  His  Holiness,  Leo  XIII. ,  with  his  special  blessing,  and  given  to  His 
Eminence  the  Cardinal  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda — the  Protector  of  the 
League  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  catted  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer — for  recom- 
mendation to  the  prayers  of  the  Associates. 

THE   MISSIONS   OF  AFRICA. 

POPE  LEO  XIII.,  since  his  coronation,  has  had  a  great  variety 
of  burdens  to  carry  and  many  weighty  cares  to  harass  him. 
But  he  seems  equal  to  all  his  responsibilities.  By  tireless 
activity,  enterprising  zeal,  wisdom  more  than  natural  and  scholar- 
ship almost  universal,  he  has  certainly  written  his  name,  in  the 
annals  of  the  Papacy,  as  a  great  teaching  Pontiff.  Still,  there  is 
another  phase  of  his  character  which  most  endears  him  to  the 
Associates  of  the  League  and  the  readers  of  the  MESSENGER.  It 
is  the  simple,  trustful  spirit  of  humble  faith  with  which,  month 
after  month,  he  turns  to  them  and  asks  the  aid  of  their  prayers  for 
the  success  of  his  undertakings. 

I. 

Among  these  undertakings  the  one  which  now  specially 
engages  his  paternal  care  is  the  great  enterprise  of  the  African 
Missions.  Nor  is  this  to  be  wondered  at ;  since  the  civilized 
world  has  been  awakened  to  a  knowledge  of  the  sore  plight  of  so 
many  millions  of  human  beings  in  that  benighted  region.  The 
revelations  made  by  Cardinal  Lavigerie  concerning  the  slave  trade, 
and  the  amount  of  information — varying  in  quality  and  worth — 
scattered  broadcast  by  explorers  of  the  Dark  Continent,  have 
opened  our  eyes  to  a  condition  of  affairs  about  which  we  had,  at 
best,  somewhat  hazy  notions. 

Africa,  it  must  be  remembered,  is  a  very  large  continent, 
being  one-fifth  of  the  land  surface  of  the  globe,  three  times  the 
size  of  Europe  and  eleven  million  square  miles  in  area.  It  has 

947 


948  GENERAL  INTENTION. 

about  two  hundred  millions  of  inhabitants.  Of  this  number, 
according  to  the  latest  statistics  we  have  seen  in  Les  Missions 
Catholiques,  only  four  hundred  thousand  are  Catholics.  Minister- 
ing to  them  are  about  three  hundred  priests  who  have  about  the 
same  number  of  mission-stations  in  various  places.  But  of  course 
these  figures  have  reference  chiefly  to  the  missions  established  in 
recent  times.  For  if  we  take  into  account  the  older  settlements, 
such  as  Algeria  and  Morocco  in  the  North,  and  Capetown,  Natal 
and  the  Transvaal  in  the  South,  the  number  of  Catholics  is  com- 
puted to  be  about  one  million  and  a  half.  There  are  laboring 
among  them  one  Cardinal,  two  Archbishops,  twelve  Bishops, 
thirty-six  Vicars- Apostolic  or  Prefects,  and  about  one  thousand 
Priests.  Quite  a  goodly  number  this  may  seem.  Nevertheless  it 
stands  in  gloomy  contrast  with  the  early  glories  of  the  Church  in 
Africa.  Monasteries  and  schools  and  temples  abounded.  Augus- 
tine and  Cyprian  were  numbered  amongst  her  seven  hundred 
Bishops  who  were,  in  their  respective  times,  the  champions  of 
orthodoxy  against  Pelagians  and  Donatists. 

At  the  present  time,  the  missionary  labors  are  borne  chiefly 
by  members  of  the  various  religious  orders  and  congregations  of 
Europe ;  and  the  sufferings  which  they  undergo  from  severe 
climate,  painful  journeying,  unwholesome  food  and  unremitting 
toil,  strongly  attest  the  heroism  of  their  zeal.  Along  the  shores 
of  the  Mediterranean,  to  the  North,  are  the  Franciscans  in  Tunis, 
Tripoli  and  Egypt ;  the  Lazarists  evangelize  Abyssinia ;  the 
Fathers  of  the  Holy  Ghost  spread  the  light  in  Zanguebar  and 
Senegambia ;  the  Oblates  of  Mary  Immaculate  labor  in  Natal ; 
and  the  Jesuit  Fathers  bend  all  their  energies  to  the  work  of 
making  the  Holy  Name  of  Jesus  known  along  the  Zambesi  River 
which  flows  northwestward  toward  the  Dark  Continent  or,  as  it  is 
called,  the  Unknown  Interior.  They  are  also  engaged  in  mis- 
sionary labors  to  the  southwest,  or  Congo  region,  working  their 
way  inward  to  combine  with  their  brethren  who  start  on  the 
Zambesi  from  the  southeast.  For  all  of  the  zealous  missionaries 
laboring  in  that  distant  land  we  are  summoned  to  pray  that  God 
may  grant  them  an  abundant  harvest  of  souls. 


GENERAL  INTENTION.  949 

II. 

But  there  is  one  portion  of  the  African  Missions  more  warmly 
commended  to  us,  at  the  present  time,  than  any  other.  It  is  the 
enterprise  of  the  Primate  of  Africa,  Cardinal  Lavigerie.  He 
knows  the  low  moral  condition  of  the  natives,  their  debasing  fetich- 
worship  and  their  disgusting  Mohammedanism,  an  ignoble 
religion  (?)  cast  upon  them,  like  a  deadly  blight,  and  spreading 
with  enormous  rapidity.  Its  influence  manages  governments, 
shapes  laws,  monopolizes  products,  controls  commerce  and  forces 
submission.  Hence  great  mental  and  moral  debasement,  domestic 
slavery  arising  from  polygamy  and  sJothfulness,  and  trade  in 
slaves  as  a  natural  outcome  of  the  disregard  or  the  destruction  of 
human  dignity.  The  Cardinal  says,  when  speaking  of  his  apos- 
tolic project :  "  To-day  the  Sahara  is  dead,  inhabited  only  by 
wretched  tribes  who  live  by  rapine.  The  Soudan  is  rich ;  the 
Saharans  make  it  their  prey.  Every  year  they  gather  in  hordes, 
raid  the  country,  commit  a  thousand  atrocious  villainies,  and 
return  with  droves  of  slaves  which  they  sell  either  in  Morocco, 
where  slave-trading  is  open,  or  in  Tripoli,  where  it  is  secret. 
Oh  !  if  you  could  but  understand  the  torments  these  poor  creatures 
undergo ;  what  streams  of  blood  and  tears  flow  in  these  man- 
hunts !" 

He  goes  on  to  explain  how  the  dwellers  of  the  Sahara  may 
be  civilized  and  made  Christian.  The  place  need  not  be  a  barren 
waste  :  it  can  be  fertilized.  In  this  way  it  will  become  the  land 
of  an  industrious  and  self-reliant  people.  "  There  is  plenty  of 
water  in  the  Sahara.  The  wells  have  been  left  to  choke  up  and 
the  oases  to  fall  out  of  cultivation,  but,  I  repeat,  there  is  water 
everywhere.  Once  bring  it  to  the  surface,  and  life  will  reappear, 
where  we  have  known  nothing  but  sterility.  Then  the  wandering 
nomads  will  become  rooted  to  the  land.  They  will  derive  from 
husbandry  that  subsistence  which,  to-day,  they  obtain  only  through 
pillage  and  murder.  .  .  .  To-day  all  the  nations  of  Europe 
are  cutting  into  the  Dark  Continent :  the  English  by  the  Niger;  the 
Italians  through  Abyssinia ;  Belgium  is  ensconced  at  the  Equator. 
At  all  cost,  France  must  make  good  her  rights  over  the  Sahara 


95O  GENERAL   INTENTION. 

and  the  Soudan."  Having  thus  appealed  to  the  commercial  inter- 
est of  his  countrymen,  Cardinal  Lavigerie  unfolds  his  great  plan 
of  combining  the  present  and  the  future,  and  working,  at  one  and 
the  same  time,  for  the  temporal  and  the  eternal  welfare  of  the 
Africans.  The  Pall  Mall  Gazette  speaking  of  it  says  :  "  The  two 
principles  of  celibacy  and  obedience  may  be  all  that  our  irrecon- 
cilable Protestants  deem  them,  but  in  missionary  countries  they 
work  wonders.  Out  of  them  Cardinal  Lavigerie  has  just  tem- 
pered one  of  the  finest  missionary  weapons  which  even  Rome 
possesses.  We  mean  the  Brethren  of  the  Sahara.  Defence,  but 
never  aggression,  is  to  be  their  method ;  their  rule — prayer,  labor 
and  armed  watch  over  Sahara,  with  agricultural  colonies  of 
builders,  husbandmen,  hunters,  doctors.  At  each  point  they  will 
build  a  hospice-fort,  make  water  borings,  and  then  set  themselves 
to  turning  the  desert  sand  into  a  fruit-bearing  soil." 

III. 

The  Brothers  of  the  Sahara  are  military  pioneers  with  mis- 
sionary aims.  They  are  to  make  peaceful  conquest  of  Sahara  and 
the  Soudan.  Hope  of  gain  is  no  bait  for  them,  for  they  will  be 
paid  nothing.  Easy  living  cannot  be  their  object,  for  they  shall 
have  to  face  hardship  and  privation.  They  must  enter  upon 
their  work  in  that  great  spirit  of  sacrifice  which  makes  true 
Apostles.  Their  dwelling-places  are  to  be  called  the  House  of 
God.  Hard  work,  unhealthy  climate,  strange  food,  much  expos- 
ure, assaults  from  the  nomad  tribes,  lonesome  exile,  for  the  glory 
of  God  !  Poor  Brothers  of  the  Sahara,  glorious  military  mission- 
aries !  May  God  help  and  protect  you  and  bring  your  heroic 
sacrifice  to  glorious  consummation ! 

OFFERING  FOR  THE  INTENTIONS  OF  THE  MONTH. 

O  Jesus,  through  the  Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary,  I  offer 
Thee  all  the  prayers,  work,  and  sufferings  of  this  day  for  all  the 
intentions  of  Thy  Divine  Heart,  in  union  with  the  Holy  Sacrifice 
of  the  Mass,  in  reparation  for  all  sin,  and  for  all  requests  pre- 
sented through  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer :  in  particular,  for  the 
temporal  and  spiritual  welfare  of  the  African  Missions.  Amen. 


THE   CHILDREN'S    MONTHLY   COMMUNION. 

r  I^VHE  chief  difficulty  in  establishing  the  custom  of  Holy  Com- 
munion for  children  in  common  every  month,  is  in  finding 
helpers,  men  or  women,  whose  direction  of  the  little  ones 
will  make  the  exterior  preparation  and  the  actual  approach  to  the 
Holy  Table  attractive  and  fruitful. 

Helpers  must  be  had,  since  pastors  and  curates  are  all  pre- 
occupied with  the  interior  preparation  of  the  children  in  the  con- 
fessional, or  with  the  dispensation  of  the  mysteries  of  that  sacred 
Banquet.  Without  faithful  and  skilled  aid  from  lay  assistants, 
what  priest  can  fully  see  to  the  prompt  attendance,  proper  decorum 
and  smooth  order  of  ranks,  which  help  so  much  to  keep  the  way- 
ward senses  quiet,  and  the  thoughts,  therefore,  at  ease  to  fix  them- 
selves on  every  detail  of  this  august  ceremony  ? 

Happy  the  pastor  who  is  relieved  of  these  distracting  and 
impossible  tasks  by  men  or  women  whose  manners  promote  the 
reverence  and  repose  of  soul  so  needful  in  children  when  receiv- 
ing our  Divine  Lord.  In  this  matter  religious  trainers  and 
teachers  find  themselves  at  home.  Their  privilege  of  dwelling 
under  the  same  roof  in  familiar  usage  with  the  God  of  the  Taber- 
nacle naturally  disposes  them  to  a  keen  sympathy  with  the  souls 
who  make  their  first  approaches  to  His  Holy  Sacrament  timidly 
and  nervously  enough.  It  is  no  slight  help  to  young  penitents 
and  communicants  as  they  partake  in  these  Sacraments,  to  be  look- 
ing on  living  examples  of  the  spirit  of  humility  and  reverence 
which  Penance  and  the  Eucharist  specially  inculcate. 

Fortunately,  however,  not  all  the  skill  and  fitness  for  manag- 
ing this  practice  is  limited  to  religious ;  nor  can  religious  teachers 
superintend  in  every  instance  the  Monthly  Communion.  It 
would  even  seem  desirable  that  they  should  not  have  its  exclusive 
management,  for  the  mere  reason  that  in  so  exalted  a  ceremony 
all  classes  should  take  part  as  well  out  of  respect  for  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  as  out  of  a  wish  to  deserve  well  of  the  Master  of  the 

951 


952  THE  CHILDREN'S  MONTHLY  COMMUNION. 

Sacred  Feast.  What  is  thus  desirable  is  happily  easy  to  secure 
among  the  many  men  and  women,  old  and  young,  who  would 
deem  it  a  great  privilege  to  give  their  services  to  the  proper  con- 
duct of  this  ceremony. 

By  all  means,  then,  let  them  be  chosen,  ushers,  shall  we 
name  them  ?  or  better,  waiters — though  theirs  is  no  humiliating 
office — at  the  banquet  where  the  food  is  the  Body  and  Blood  of 
Christ.  Some  might  instruct  or  direct  the  children  as  they 
assemble  for  confessions ;  others  might  place  them  conveniently 
in  their  seats  at  Mass,  and  guide  them  to  and  from  the  altar ; 
others  again  might  receive  them  as  they  collect  together  before 
the  Mass  and  after  the  thanksgiving.  But  never  should  they 
assume  the  role  of  disciplinarians,  or  seem  to  stand  on  guard 
against  talking  or  disorder  :  that  would  make  their  presence  irk- 
some and  a  hindrance  to  all  devotion.  Their  proper  office  would 
be  to  help  the  interior  recollection,  the  devout  presence  of  mind 
of  their  young  charges  by  promoting  external  order,  so  apt  to  be 
disturbed,  even  among  grown  people  when  proper  direction  is 
lacking. 

If  the  priest  cannot  mingle  with  his  children  at  the  Mass  of 
Communion,  he  can  provide  for  the  absence  of  his  management 
by  training  his  aids  to  do  all  he  might  wish  to  do  himself  on  that 
occasion.  If  these  aids  be  Sodalists,  or  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  mem- 
bers, or  League  Associates,  he  can  always  find  them  conveniently, 
and  prompt  them  as  to  the  importance  and  manner  of  so  helping 
the  little  favorites  of  the  Saviour  to  come  unto  Him  as  to  impress 
all  present  with  the  sacredness  of  the  rite. 

Not  a  few  men  and  women  spend  willingly  the  time  and 
money  and  labor  in  one  way  or  other  to  provide  fitting  ornaments 
for  the  altar  and  sanctuary.  For  this  devotion  they  feel  amply 
repaid  by  the  knowledge  that  they  are  helping  pious  worshippers 
to  conceive  stronger  and  higher  views  of  the  dignity  of  the  God 
of  the  Tabernacle.  How  gladly  these  same  lovers  of  the  altar 
would  devote  their  attention  to  help  increase  the  fervor  young 
souls  bring  to  the  Holy  Table ! 


APOSTLESHIP  in  raBarri  NOTICES 


RECENT  AGGREGATIONS. — To  the  Apostleship  of  Prayer, 
League  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus  (October  12  to  November 
12,  1891). 

(Name  of  diocese  in  italics,  before  parish  or  community  aggregated.) 

Albany,  New  York :  St.  Mary's  Church,  Amsterdam. 

Boston,  Massachusetts :  St.  Thomas'  Church,  Jamaica  Plains. 

Burlington,  Vermont:  St.  Mary's  Cathedral  School,  Bur- 
lington. 

Columbus,  Ohio :  Academy  of  St.  Mary's  of  the  Springs 
(Sisters  of  St.  Dominic),  Shepard,  Ohio. 

Davenport,  Iowa:  St.  Patrick's  Church,  Dunlap. 

Fort  Wayne,  Indiana :  Sacred  Heart  Church,  Warsaw. 

Grreen  Bay,  Wisconsin :  Holy  Cross  Church,  Kaukauna. 

Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania :  St.  John's  Church,  Bellefoute. 

Louisville,  Kentucky :  St.  Jerome's  Church,  Fancy  Farm. 

Nesqually,  Washington:  Immaculate  Conception  Church, 
Seattle. 

Newark,  New  Jersey :  St.  James'  Church,  Newark. 

Ogdensburg,  New  York :  St.  Mary's  Church,  Waddington ; 
St.  Peter's  Church,  Copenhagen. 

Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania :  Home  of  the  Aged  Poor  (Little 
Sisters  of  the  Poor),  German  town. 

St.  Paul,  Minnesota :  Church  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Lake,  White 
Bear  Lake. 

Savannah,  Georgia:  St.  Stanislas'  Novitiate,  Macon. 

Scranton,  Pennsylvania :  Convent  of  Mercy,  Hazleton. 

Sioux  Falls,  South  Dakota :  St.  Patrick's  Church,  Cavour. 

Trenton,  New  Jersey :  Church  of  St.  Mary  and  St.  Patrick, 
Moorestown  ;  St.  John  Evangelist's  Church,  Lambertville. 

Vincennes,  Indiana :  St.  Patrick's  Church,  Terre  Haute. 

953 


954  APOSTLESHIP  NOTICES. 

THE  TREASURY  OF  THE  SACRED  HEART. 

Some  questions  regarding  the  Treasury  have  been  asked  by 
zealous  Promoters. 

Should  good  works  that  have  not  been  offered  expressly  for 
the  League  Intentions  be  noted  in  the  Treasury  ? 

All  the  prayers,  works  and  sufferings  of  the  day  begun  with 
the  Morning  Offering  are  offered  for  the  Intentions  of  the  League 
since  they  are  offered  for  the  Intentions  of  the  Sacred  Heart. 
According  to  the  Handbook,  however,  the  Treasury  is  made  up  of 
those  prayers  and  good  works  that  have  been  offered  expressly  for 
the  intentions  of  the  League.  Hence  to  entitle  a  good  work  to  a 
place  in  the  Treasury,  something  more  than  the  general  offering 
made  each  morning  is  required.  At  the  very  least  a  renewal  of 
the  Morning  Offering  before  important  works  are  begun  should 
be  made,  if  these  works  are  to  be  counted  for  the  Treasury. 

Should  we  count  the  good  works  done  for  the  Sacred  Heart  ? 

If  they  are  to  be  sent  to  the  Treasury,  they  shonld  be 
counted.  There  is  little  danger  of  vain-glory  in  this  enumera- 
tion. If  we  consider  how  much  we  could  do  for  the  Sacred 
Heart  were  our  own  hearts  in  the  work,  and  then  contrast  the 
little  we  really  do  and  the  many  imperfections  with  which  even 
this  little  is  done,  we  shall  have  occasion  to  make  an  act  of  real 
humility  whenever  we  come  to  mark  down  what  we  have  done  for 
the  Sacred  Heart. 

Associates  can  gain  100  days'  Indulgence  for  each  action  offered  for  the 
Intentions  of  the  League. 

Offerings  for  the  Intentions   of  the    Sacred   Heart,  received   from    October   12 
to  November  12,  1891. 

No.  or  TIMES.  No.  OF  Tom. 

1.  Acts  of  Charity  ....  228,507  11.  Masses  Heard    ....      259,683 

2.  Beads 411,343  12.  Mortifications    ....       236,011 

3.  Stations  of  the  Cross     .  43,965  13.  Works  of  Charity     .    .       154,182 

4.  Holy  Communions    .    .  64,498  14.  Works  of  Zeal  ....       180,430 

5.  Spiritual  Communions  .  210,223  15.  Prayers   .......   2,997,527 

6.  Examens  of  Conscience  160,468  16.  Charitable  Conversation       72,092 

7.  Hours  of  Labor  .    .    .    .  689,903  17.  Sufferings  or  Afflictions       77,115 

8.  Hours  of  Silence    .    .    .  470,836  18.  Self-Conquest     ....         84,240 

9.  Pious  Reading    ....  1,843,163  19.  Visits  to  B.  Sacrament      318,672 
10.  Masses  Celebrated     .    .  1,531  20.  Various  Good  Works   .   1,120,059 

Total 9,628,457 

The  above  returns  represent  four  hundred  and  twenty-six  Centres. 


ALL  YOU  FHAT  LABOUMNDARE 


IN  THANKSGIVING   FOR  GRACES   OBTAINED. 

TOTAL  NUMBEE  OF  THANKSGIVINGS  FOE  LAST  MONTH,  104,373. 

Blessed  be  God  Who  hath  not  turned  away  my  prayer  nor  His  mercy  from  me 

(Psalm  Ixv.  20).— 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y.,  OCTOBER  12. — Most  fervent  thanks  to 
the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  graces  of  conversion  and  a  happy  death 
granted  a  young  man  twenty-four  years  of  age,  who  had  not  been 
a  practical  Catholic  for  eight  years,  but  who  had  been  recommended 
to  the  prayers  of  the  League  for  the  past  year. 

NEW  YORK,  OCTOBER  15. — A  Promoter  returns  most  grate- 
ful thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  two  very  special  favors 
received,  together  with  many  smaller  favors.  They  were  granted 
just  as  they  were  asked,  and  four  lives  depended  upon  their  being 
granted.  I  promised  if  they  were  obtained  that  I  would  thank 
the  Sacred  Heart  through  the  MESSENGER. 

,  N.  Y.,  OCTOBER  16. — Thanksgiving  is  offered  to  the 

Sacred  Heart  for  the  reform  of  a  young  man  whose  habits  of 
intemperance  had  become  a  great  source  of  misery  to  his  family. 

,  TEXAS,  OCTOBER  17. — Not  very  long  ago,  six  or 

eight  weeks,  I  think,  I  recommended  to  the  prayers  of  the  League 
of  the  Sacred  Heart  my  little  parish  much  divided  and  agitated. 
When  matters  had  gone  to  the  worst  extreme,  and  there  seemed 
no  more  hope,  we  were  helped  from  above,  and  peace  so  long  gone 
is  entirely  restored.  I  promised  to  Kave  this  favor  mentioned  in 


955 


956  IN    THANKSGIVING  FOR    GRACES  OBTAINED. 

your  MESSENGER  if  you  judge  it  good.  You  will  do  what  is  for 
the  best,  to  thank  the  good  God. 

NYACK,  N.  Y.,  OCTOBER  19. — Several  years  ago  (7)  an  old 
plantation  belonging  to  us  was  sold  for  taxes.  At  the  close  of  the 
war,  when  we  came  North,  the  land — all  the  buildings  were  in 
ashes — was  considered  too  worthless  to  tax ;  but  a  lumber-man  in 
1884,  to  secure  the  right  of  cutting  the  valuable  timber,  had  the 
land  assessed  and  sold,  "  owner  unknown."  Years  elapsed  before 
we  were  apprised  of  the  sale,  and  we  at  once  instituted  proceed- 
ings for  its  recovery ;  but  as  only  a  year  is  allowed  by  the  State 
law  for  the  redemption  of  land  so  sold,  its  recovery  was  hopeless. 
Still,  asking  it  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  if  it  would  be  for  Its  honor 
and  our  good,  we  made  it  one  of  our  League  intentions.  The 
same  petition  was  forwarded  for  us  several  successive  months, 
when,  hopeless  as  its  recovery  seemed,  the  land  was  unexpectedly 
returned,  attended  by  a  very  trivial  expense.  If  you  think  an 
extract  from  this  letter  will  encourage  other  Associates  to  love 
and  trust  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus,  we  will  be  pleased  to  have 
it  published  in  the  MESSENGER. 

DENVER,  COLO.,  OCTOBER  20. — I  am  a  Promoter  of  the 
League  and  a  friend  of  mine  told  me  that  his  father  contemplated 
doing  something  which  would  bring  grief  and  misfortune  to  the 
whole  family.  I  told  him  to  start  a  novena  with  me  to  the  Sacred 
Heart.  My  friend  said  it  would  be  of  no  use,  for  it  was  impos- 
sible to  change  his  father ;  but  I  told  him  to  hope  even  against 
hope,  but  he  said  he  would  only  pray  that  he  and  his  sisters  would 
be  able  to  stand  it.  I  sent  in  a  petition  to  the  League  and  also 
offered  my  prayers  that  the  father's  mind  would  change.  About 
the  sixth  day  of  the  novena,  the  father  unexpectedly  changed  his 
mind  and  with  tears  in  his  eyes  begged  pardon  of  his  children. 
This  happened  in  a  town  in  California  whence  I  have  just  come. 

MILWAUKEE,  Wis.,  OCTOBER  25. — Thanksgiving  is  asked 
for  two  favors  :  one  a  respite  of  almost  a  year  from  epilepsy ;  the 
other  a  removal  of  what  was  feared  to  be  a  cancerous  swelling — 
all  through  the  Sacred  Heart. 

BROOKLYN,  1ST.  Y.,  OCTOBER  26. — Will  you   please  return 


IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES  OBTAINED.  957 

thanks  through  the  MESSENGER  for  a  great  favor  which  has  been 
granted  us  ?  Our  baby  met  with  an  accident  which  completely 
shattered  her  right  arm ;  it  was  fractured  in  several  places,  the 
elbow-joint  being  severed.  We  placed  a  scapular  of  the  Sacred 
Heart  on  her,  recommended  her  to  the  prayers  of  the  League,  and 
her  family  united  in  a  novena  in  her  behalf,  and  I  promised  in 
case  of  her  complete  restoration  to  request  that  thanks  be  returned 
through  the  MESSENGER.  The  arm  is  perfect,  a  result  which  we 
have  every  reason  to  attribute  to  prayer,  the  attending  physician 
having  told  me  that  it  was  a  great  surprise  to  him  to  find  on 
removing  the  casing  that  the  child  would  have  the  use  of  it,  as  he 
fully  expected  that  it  would  be  utterly  useless. 

MINNEAPOLIS,  MINN.,  OCTOBER  28. — Please  return  thanks 
to  the  Sacred  Heart  through  the  MESSENGER  for  the  wonderful 
improvement  in  our  father's  health.  He  had  been  a  great  sufferer 
for  nine  years  :  during  the  past  two  years  we  often  recommended 
him  to  the  prayers  of  the  League.  A  few  months  ago  he  became 
better  quite  suddenly  and  since  that  time  he  has  been  almost  well. 
He  is  a  non-Catholic  and  has  always  been  very  prejudiced,  but  now 
is  very  much  softened. 

,  OCTOBER  28. — It  may  stimulate  Directors  and  Pro- 
moters in  their  work  of  love  to  hear  of  another  instance  of  a 
speedy  answer  to  prayer.  There  were  but  two  days  before  a 
criminal's  execution.  His  soul  was  ill-prepared  and  in  an  exas- 
perated condition,  presenting  the  gloomy  prospect  of  a  soul  hard- 
ening in  sin,  in  a  what-do-I-care  state.  With  unbounded  confidence, 
the  priest  who  attended  him  appealed  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of 
Jesus,  praying :  "  Oh,  loving  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus,  You  have 
promised  to  give  to  priests,  who  promote  and  spread  the 
devotion  to  Your  Heart,  the  power  of  moving  the  hardened 
heart ;  fulfil  Your  promise  and  give  contrition  to  this  sinner." 
He  then  offered  the  Mass  of  the  Sacred  Heart  for  him. 
And  behold  the  mercy  of  that  Heart !  The  scalding  tears  of 
compunction  began  to  flow  from  eyes  which  perhaps  had  never 
wept  before,  as,  after  Mass,  he  sobbed  :  "  Father,  I  am  sorry  for 
what  I  have  done."  In  this  spirit  he  made  a  general  confession, 


958  IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES   OBTAINED. 

and  went  to  stand  before  the  tribunal  of  Him  Who  had  shown 
him  mercy  and  Who  will  not  despise  a  humble  and  contrite  heart. 

TROY,  N.  Y.,  OCTOBER  31. — Thanks  are  offered  for  the  con- 
version of  a  public  sinner,  who  neglected  the  Sacraments  and  was  a 
scandal  to  the  faithful.  He  had  not  attended  Mass  in  thirty  years. 
In  his  mortal  sickness  he  refused  to  be  reconciled  and  abused  those 
who  piously  suggested  the  visitation  of  a  priest.  Prayers  and 
Masses  were  offered  to  the  Sacred  Heart.  When  a  priest  called 
his  relatives  did  not  dare  announce  him  to  the  patient.  Through 
the  mercy  of  God  the  words  of  the  priest  moved  the  person,  and 
two  hours  after  receiving  the  last  Sacraments  he  expired  at  peace 
with  God. 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y.,  NOVEMBER  4. — A  Promoter  returns  her 
heartfelt  thanks  to  the  loving  Sacred  Heart  for  the  conversion  of 
her  father  from  drunkenness. 

KEY  WEST,  FLA.,  NOVEMBER  4. — A  Promoter  wishes  to 
return  thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  reconciliation  of  two 
brothers  and  two  sisters  who  had  not  spoken  to  each  other  for 
eighteen  years.  Also,  for  the  prevention  of  a  public  scandal. 
This  last  favor  had  been  asked  through  the  intercession  of  St. 
John  Berchmans  with  promise  to  publish  it  when  obtained. 

WHEELING,  W.  VA.,  NOVEMBER  6. — Thanks  are  returned 
for  the  conversion  of  my  father  to  the  faith.  I  promised  to  have 
it  published  in  the  MESSENGER. 

WILKESBARRE,  PA.,  NOVEMBER  6. — I  have  to  return  thanks 
to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  a  great  favor  received  in  the  sale  of  prop- 
erty, which  relieved  me  from  sale  by  legal  process,  and  this  could 
have  been  done  only  through  the  prayers  of  the  League. 

CINCINNATI,  O.,  NOVEMBER  7. — One  instance  of  the  mercy 
of  the  Sacred  Heart  was  witnessed  in  this  city  recently.  A  man 
had  refused  for  thirty-nine  years  to  receive  the  Sacraments  or 
attend  Church.  He  was  frequently  commended  to  the  prayers  of 
the  League.  He  died  a  few  days  ago.  When  there  was  apparently 
no  great  danger  of  death,  and  no  hopes  of  his  returning  to  the 
faith  of  his  childhood,  he  called  for  a  priest  and  made  a  sincere 
confession  of  his  past  life,  with  every  evidence  of  sorrow. 


IN   THANKSGIVING  FOR   GRACES   OBTAINED.  959 

JEFFERSONVILLE,  LNT>.,  NOVEMBER  8. — Thanks  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  for  the  happy  death  of  a  gentleman  who  had  been 
recommended  to  the  League  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  He  asked  for 
a  priest,  received  his  first  Communion,  though  his  wife  and 
children  were  afraid  to  speak  of  the  priest  to  him.  Thanks  also 
to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  five  persons  who  obtained  employment 
after  having  been  recommended  to  the  prayers  of  the  League. 

CHELSEA,  MICH.,  NOVEMBER  9. — Special  thanks  to  the 
Sacred  Heart  for  the  return  of  a  Catholic  to  the  Sacraments  after 
forty-nine  years7  neglect.  He  was  recommended  three  times. 

RED  WING,  MINN.,  NOVEMBER  9. — Thanksgiving  is  offered 
for  help  received  after  promising  to  put  it  in  the  MESSENGER. 

COLUMBUS,  IND.,  NOVEMBER  9. — Our  little  daughter's 
hearing  was  very  defective  from  infancy.  A  no  vena  was  made 
which  concluded  on  the  feast  of  Blessed  Margaret  Mary,  with  the 
promise  of  publishing  the  favor  in  the  MESSENGER  if  obtained. 
Most  sincere  thanks  are  returned  to  the  Sacred  Heart,  for  on  the 
very  day  of  the  conclusion  of  our  novena,  her  hearing  was  com- 
pletely restored. 

,  MICHIGAN. — I  wish  to  return  thanks  to  the  Sacred 

Heart  for  a  brother  who  had  the  habit  of  indulging  in  intoxicat- 
ing drink,  and  through  the  mercy  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  for  the 
last  three  months,  he  has  entirely  given  it  up. 

JERSEY  CITY,  N.  J. — I  return  thanks  from  the  very  bottom 
of  my  heart  for  the  bringing  back  of  my  brother  to  the  faith. 
For  years  he  had  been  a  terrible  drinker  and  never  went  to  Mass. 
He  has  given  up  all  his  bad  habits. 

,  N.  Y. — Thanksgiving  for  peace  and  good  will  in  our 

congregation.  Old  dissensions  are  gradually  disappearing  and  the 
monthly  Communions  have  increased  tenfold. 

PENNSYLVANIA. — A  Promoter  wishes,  in  gratitude  and 
according  to  a  promise  made  to  have  it  published  in  the  MES- 
SENGER, to  give  thanks  for  a  cure  which  has  been  granted.  One 
of  my  Associates  became  insane  and  was  under  treatment  for  over 
ten  months.  We  had  his  case  prayed  for  in  the  intentions  of  the 
League  for  several  months,  made  several  novenas  and  had  Masses 


96O  IN    THANKSGIVING   FOR    GRACES   OBTAINED. 

said  for    him.     Now,  thanks  to  the  sweet  and  loving  Heart  of 
Jesus,  he  is  entirely  well. 

VAEIOUS  CENTRES. — Thanks  for  the  conversion  of  a  gentle- 
man for  whom  prayers  have  been  offered  for  thirty  years,  and 
whose  name  has  often  been  sent  to  the  League.  Also  for  a  young 
lady  who  has  embraced  the  faith. — For  the  administration,  by  his 
own  request,  of  the  Sacraments  of  Baptism  and  Extreme  Unction 
to  a  man  who  for  many  years  resisted  grace  and  the  prayers  offered 
to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  his  conversion. — For  the  recovery  of  the 
mother  of  a  family  who  was  given  up.  A  Badge  of  the  Sacred 
Heart  was  placed  on  her,  and  she  promised  to  make  the  Nine 
First  Fridays.  At  once,  she  improved. — Thanks  are  returned 
for  the  conversion  of  a  negligent  Catholic,  who  had  not  approached 
the  Sacraments  for  over  ten  years.  Also  for  a  providential  inter- 
ference which  prevented  a  lawsuit. — For  conversion  to  the  faith 
of  a  pupil  recommended  to  the  prayers  of  the  League  during  two 
years. — For  many  temporal  favors  to  various  supplicants. — For 
the  return  of  a  Catholic  to  his  religious  duties  after  eighteen 
years'  neglect;  and  two  others  after  an  absence  of  forty-two 
years. — For  a  wonderful  cure,  suddenly,  of  nervous  exhaustion, 
which  had  lasted  more  than  thirteen  years. — I  wish  to  return 
thanks  for  a  position  obtained  for  my  husband  through  the  Sacred 
Heart  of  Jesus  and  the  prayers  of  the  League. — I  desire  to 
return  thanks  to  the  Sacred  Heart  for  the  success  of  an  operation 
performed  on  the  7th  inst.  I  placed  all  my  confidence  in  the 
Sacred  Heart  before  undergoing  it,  and  promised  if  it  should 
be  successful,  to  have  the  favor  published  in  the  MESSENGER. 

N.  B. —  We  are  obliged,  reluctantly,  to  insert  only  a  part  of  the 
Thanksgivings  received. 


INDEX 

VOLUME  VI— NEW  SERIES. 
(VOL.  XXVI  OF  WHOLE  SERIES— 26TH  YEAR). 

MESSENGER  OF  THE  SACRED  HEART 

1891. 


THE  LEAGUE  OF  THE  SACRED  HEART  (Apostleship  of  Prayer). 

GENERAL  INTENTIONS,  1891.  PAGE 

January— The  Devotion  to  Saint  Aloysius,  Patron  of  Youth 65 

February— Firmness  of  Faith 145 

March — Holiness  of  Christian  Morals 226 

April — Men  of  Science 805 

May — Christian  Artists 390 

June— Practical  Devotion  to  the  Holy  Cross 465 

July — Christian  Doctors 550 

August— Social  Peace 624 

September — The  Peace  of  Christian  Nations 703 

October— The  Mission  of  Madagascar 788 

November — The  Indo-Chinese  Missions 862 

December— The  Missions  of  Africa 947 

THE  LEAGUE: 

Two  Apostolic  Circulars 69 

Promoters'  Cross  and  League  Badge 149 

The  League  in  Parishes 72,  230 

An  Important  Answer  of  the  Director-General 394 

What  the  League  Is 553 

Blessed  Margaret  Mary's  Bi-Ccntenary 612 

The  League  and  Temperance 628,  869 

The  Apostleship  of  Study 689,  873 

The  Morning  Offering.    A  Dialogue 58,  138,  216,  296,  376 

A  Correction  and  Caution 866 

APOSTLESHIP  NOTICES: 

New  League  Centres— Sodalities  B.  V.  M.— Correspondence— Treasury— Thanksgivings 
— Approbations— Aggregations  to  League,  to  Sodality  B.  V.  M.,  to  Archconfrateruity,  to 
Bona  Mors— News  from  Centres— Notes  on  the  Treasury, 

75,  154,  235,  313,  395,  475,  554,  635,  714,  795,  874,  953 

III 


IV 

THE  SPIRITUAL  CRUSADES  OF  1891  : 

PAGE 

The  Tercentenary  of  St.  Aloysius .- 151,  309 

The  Monthly  Communion  of  Children 449,  630,  711,  792,  871,  951 

DEVOTIONAL. 

Eucharistic  Thoughts,  by  Rev.  Matthew  Russell,  S.J. 46,  95 

The  Soul  of  Saint  Patrick 184 

Exercises  of  St.  Ignatius  and  the  Sacred  Heart -.'89,  384,  469 

Devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart  in  the  Pastoral  Ministry,  by  the  Head  Director 519 

Through  Blessed  Margaret  Mary 526 

Thoughts  about  St.  Peter 541,  600,  707,  750 

Reading  for  the  Soul's  Comfort,  by  Rev.  Thomas  Hughes,  S.J. 768,  830 

The  Training  of  Children ...  871 


BIOGRAPHY. 

The  End  of  "  The  Trials  of  a  Mind."    A  Correspondence 39 

The  Last  Moments  of  Doctor  L.  Silliman  Ives. 
The  Father  of  Many  Deeds : 121,  203,  284 

Cardinal  Newman's  Spiritual  Life. 
The  Second  Bishop  of  Charleston,  by  M.  L.  Heavy 133 

The  Right  Rev.  Ignatius  A.  Reynolds. 
The  Miracle  of  Charity 263 

Venerable  Joseph  Cottolengo,  1786-1842. 

St.  Roderick  of  Spain.    Illustration  from  design  of  MuriUo 281 

A  Martyr  o-f  the  Commune ;  with  Portrait 351 

Father  Peter  Olivaint,  S.J. 
The  Glorious  Milner,  by  M.  L.  Meany 425 

Right  Rev.  John  Milner,  1752-1826. 
The  Children's  Prelate,  by  E.  V.  X. 510 

Thomas  Grant,  First  Bishop  of  South  wark. 
A  Heroine  in  Real  Life,  by  M.  L.  Meany 588 

The  Wife  of  Lieutenant  Col.  Garesche. 
How  a  Bishop  Reached  His  See 660 

Benedict  Joseph  Flaget,  First  Bishop  of  Kentucky. 
A  Lover  of  the  Eucharist 773 

Mother  Maria  Teresa,  Foundress  of  the  Congregation  of  Adoration  and  Reparation. 
An  English  Country  Churchyard.    J.  C. 847 

The  Tomb  of  Father  Rawes. 
One  Irish  Educator's  Work -907 

Rev.  William  Byrne,  of  Kentucky,  1780-1832. 

NARRATIVE. 

Joseph's  Dream,  by  Agnes  Hampton 19 

The  Through  Train  to  Paradise,  by  Joseph  E.  Barnaby 98 

Gregory's  Sister,  by  L.  W.  Reitty 176 

Harry's  Family's  Easter,  by  B.  A 252 

Lar'  Dase 366 

A  Sad  Career,  by  Harry  Vincent 413,  497 

An  Only  Son,  by  JB.  A 577,  652 


PAGE 

Dona  Felippa,  by  F.  T.  Furey 734 

A  Sunday  on  the  Sipsey  River,  by  Agnes  Hampton 816,  897 

A  Message  from  the  Sacred  Heart?  by  a  Southern  Priest 926 

A  Remarkable  Cure  Through  Blessed  Margaret  Mary 934 


THE  READER. 

The  New  Cover — The  Maronites 62 

Lent  and  Devotions 142 

The  Century  and  Catholics— Expiation 222 

MESSENGER  Miscellany— Maurice  Francis  Egan's  New  Book 301 

Our  Lady's  Garland— A  Book  for  Boys 380 

Young  Men's  Societies— Number  of  League  Centres 462 

The  Rule  of  Faith— Lives  of  St.  Aloysius— Life  of  St.  Ignatius 546 

Letters  of  Eliza  Allen  Starr  and  Rev.  IE.  de  Augustinis,  S.J  —Divinity  of  Christ 620 

Morning  Prayer  in  School — Two  New  Books — The  Mother  of  God 699 

Statistics  of  Madagascar — Reparation  in  Jerusalem 784 

The  "Messenger  Advertiser  "—Honorary  Members  of  the  Helpers  of  the  Holy  Souls 859 

Christmas  Without  Christ ,     ...  944 


POETRY. 

Both  Old  and  New,  by  Eleanor  C.  Donnelly 1 

The  Holy  Hour,  by  if.  Regina  Colgan 81 

The  Star  in  the  East,  by  S.  If. 110 

An  Aubade  for  the  Annunciation,  by  Maurice  Francis  Egan 161 

The  Humility  of  the  Annunciation,  by  Eleanor  C.  Donnelly .- 175 

Hymn  of  the  Annunciation,  by  A.  W.  Smith 192 

Rondeau  for  Saint  Joseph,  by  M.  L.  Sandrock 202 

The  Easter  Crucifix,  by  Helen  GraceSmith 241 

A  Visit  to  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  by  J  F.  Fitzgerald 272 

The  New  Way.    A  Sonnet,  by  Maurice  Francis  Egan 321 

The  Night-Blooming  Cereus,  by  A.  W.  Smith 364 

The  Annunciation.    A  Sonnet,  by  P.  J.  Coleman 365 

The  Haven 401 

A  Cry  to  the  Sacred  Heart,  by  T.  A.  M. 455 

The  First  Mass.    A  Sonnet : 481 

Only  a  Cross,  by  S.  A.  P , 529 

Mary,  by  Helen  Grace  Smith 561 

Confidence,  by  M.  F.  M. 576 

June  Lilies,  by  Eliza  Allen  Starr 587 

Saint  Peter  Claver,  by  Eleanor  C.  Donnelly 641 

One  Phrase,  by  M.  L.  Sandrock 694 

Beauty's  Best,  by  John  Acton 721 

An  Appeal  to  the  Heart  of  Mary,  by  J.  F.  Fitzgerald 772 

The  Sacred  Heart,  by  Maurice  F>-ancis  Egan 801 

Love's  Sovereignty,  by  J.  J.  Mutton 854 

Love's  Harvest,  by  J.  J.  Matton 854 

The  Immaculate  Conception 881 

The  Blind  Madonna,  by  J.  H.  L 914 


VI 

ILLUSTRATED  VARIETIES. 

PAGE 

TIMOLEAGUE 2 

Illustrations :  Kinsale  Harbor— Timoleague  Abbey,  South  Side— Doorway  of  Ora- 
tory, Leaba  Molaga— Ancient  Stone-Work  at  Leaba-Molaga — Southern  Arcade 
and  West  Window,  Timoleague  Abbey — East  Window — West  Window  and 
Cloister— Great  East  Window  of  Choir— Ruins  of  Lambeecher  Chapel, 
Bremore. 

THE  CHASUBLE.    By  the  Secretary  of  a  Tabernacle  Society 34,  111,  210 

I.  History  and  Development;  II.  Ornamentation;  III.  Shape  and  Color;  IV. 
Symbolism. 

A  VISIT  TO  THE  FALLEN  JDPITEB 49 

Illustrations:  The  Alban  Hills.  Distant  View  from  the  Janiculan,  Rome— The 
Lake  of  Alba — Palazzuolo— Rocca  di  Papa — Street  Corner,  Rocca  di  Papa. 

THE  QUEEN  OF  HIGH  WAYS 82 

Illustrations :  Tomb  of  Cecilia  Metella— On  the  Appian  Way— On  the  Campagna, 
near  Rome — Shepherds  of  the  Campagna — Neighborhood  of  Tomb. 

THE  URSULINES  OF  THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS 115 

Illustrations :  Mission  House,  St.  Peter's,  Montana — St.  Peter's  Mission,  Montana — 
St.  Amadeus'  Rock,  on  Convent  Grounds — Opening  of  Saint  Xavier's  Mission, 
Crow  Indian  Reservation— Ursuline  Nuns  with  Indian  Pupils. 

THE  MONKS  AND  THE  ROMAN  FEVER 162 

Illustrations:  The  Pyramid  of  Cestus— The  Fontane— Cloister  of  Monastery — 
Church  of  Sts.  Vincent  and  Anastasius— Santa  Maria  de  Scala  Coeli. 

THE  NAMING  OF  THE  AMAZON 193,  273 

Illustrations:  Village  in  the  Cordilleras— A  Pass  in  the  Cordilleras— Bridge  over  a 
Tributary  in  the  Napo — The  Amazon  at  the  Mouth  of  the  Napo— In  the 
Forests  of  the  Napo— The  Rapids  of  Latas  in  the  Napo — Bank  of  Turtle  Eggs. 

A  STUDY  OF  FRIARS 243 

Illustrations:  Second  Chapel  of  Crypt— Chapel  of  the  Skulls— Tomb  of  St.  Philip's 
Friend — "  To-Day  to  Me,  To-Morrow  to  Thee  " — Centre-piece  in  Chapel  Ceil- 
ing of  Crypt. 

THE  PARIS  COMMUNE  OF  1871 322 

Illustrations:  Massacre  of  the  Archbishop,  Two  Secular  Priests,  Two  Jesuits  and  a 
Layman,  May  24, 1871 — Father  Alexis  Clerc,  Jesuit  Martyr  of  the  Commune — 
Father  Ducoudray — Massacre  of  Five  Dominican  Fathers,  25  May,  1871 — 
Massacre  of  the  Rue  Haxo,  26  May,  1871 — Father  Caubert,  Jesuit  Martyr  of  the 
Commune — Father  de  Bengy— Tomb  of  Jesuit  Martyrs  of  Commune;  In  a 
Chapel  of  the  Gesu,  Paris. 

THE  TOMB  OF  SAINT  ALOYSIUS 402 

Illustrations:  St.  Peter's  Church  and  the  Vatican— Altar  in  St.  Aloysius'  Room, 
Roman  College— Interior  of  St.  Ignatius'  Church,  Rome— Altar-Tomb  of  St. 
Aloysius,  St.  Ignatius'  Church— St.  Aloysius,  Ideal  Design— Prince  Aloysius 
Gonzaga  as  a  Knight  of  St.  James 

ST.  ALOYSIUS'  HOME  AND  FAMILY 440 

Illustrations :  Castiglione  at  the  Present  Time— Sanctuary  of  St.  Aloysius  in  Cas- 
tiglioue  delle  Stiviere— Reliquary  containing  Skull  of  St.  Aloysius— Cas- 
tiglione in  the  Time  of  St.  Aloysius — View  of  Castiglione  delle  Stiviere. 

THE  DALMATIC.    By  the  Secretary  of  a  Tabernacle  Society 456 

Illustrations:  Deacon  and  Subdeacon  from  Ancient  Examples — Dalmatic  of  12th 
Century— Spanish  Dalmatic  and  Tunic— Correct  form  of  Dalmatic. 


Vlt 

PAGE 

IGNATIUS  OP  LOYOLA... 482 

Illustrations:  The  Vigil  of  Arms  at  Montserrat  (Gagliardi)— St.  Ignatius  writes  the 
Constitutions— The  Saint  receives  Francis  Borgia,  Duke  of  Gandia,  into  the 
Society  (Gagliardi)—"  I  will  be  Propitious  to  You  at  Rome." 

SAINT  IGNATIUS  IN  ART 530 

Illustrations:  St.  Ignatius  (Del  Conte) — Ignatius  of  Loyola  as  a  Knight — St.  Ignatius 
at  Manresa  (Segers)— St.  Ignatius  of  Loyola  (Rubens)— Altar  of  St.  IgnatiuSj 
Church  of  the  Gesu,  Rome — Vera  Effigies*  from  Wax  Cast  taken  after  Death — 
Silver  and  Bronze  Bust  of  the  Saint  (Alonzo  Cauo). 

THE  HOSPICE  OF  MOUNT  CARMEL,  NIAGARA  FALLS 562 

Illustrations :  Carmelite  Monastery,  Niagara  Falls—  Carmelite  Coat  of  Arms— Car- 
melite Church  of  Our  Lady  of  Peace — Interior  of  the  Church  of  Our  Lady  of 
Peace — Altar  in  the  Church  of  Our  Lady  of  Peace — View  of  Niagara  Falls- 
Proposed  Hospice. 

MID-SUMMER  FEASTS  OF  OUR  LADY 597 

Illustrations:  The  Angel's  Message  (Segers) — "There  Shall  Come  Forth  a  Rod  out 
of  the  Root  of  Jesse  "  (Carl  Miiller)— Our  Lady  of  Pity  (Bougoureau) — The 
Madonna  of  St.  Luke  (In  Basilica  of  St.  Mary  Major)— Assumption  and  Coro- 
nation (Raphael) — Queen  of  Heaven  (Segers). 

AMONG  THE  CCEUR  D'ALENES.    By  a  Missionary 642 

Illustrations:  Desmet  Mission,  Idaho— Winter  Scene— Boys'  Department — Sisters' 
House,  Coeur  d'Alene  Boys,  with  Missionaries. 

OUR  LADY  OF  LA  SALETTE 675 

Illustrations:  Village  of  La  Salette — The  Ascent  of  Gargas— The  Witnesses— Scenes 
of  the  Apparition — The  Conversation— Our  Lady  of  La  Salette — The  Assump- 
tion—"The  Sanctuary"  at  La  Salette — On  Feast  Days  at  La  Salette — The 
Interior  of  "  the  Sanctuary." 

THE  MANIPLE.    By  the  Secretary  of  a  Tabernacle  Society 695 

Illustrations :  Maniple  (Ancient  Form) — Deacon  with  Maniple — Roman  and  Mod- 
ern Forms — Orphrey. 

THE  THEBAID  OF  GALWAY 722 

Illustrations:  Exterior  of  Ross  Abbey  (from  the  South)— Nave  of  the  Monastery 
Church — The  Chapels,  Ross  Abbey — The  Cloisters,  Ross  Abbey. 

ONE  MISSION'S  HISTORY.    By  George  O'Connett,  S.J. 755 

Illustrations:  Mission  Santa  Clara,  California— The  Second  Church  in  Santa  Clara 
Valley — Mission  Santa  Clara  in  1851 — The  Mission  Cross,  Santa  Clara — Fac- 
simile of  Handwriting  of  Fathers  Murguia  and  Serra— Interior  of  Mission 
Church,  Santa  Clara,  1891. 

THE  HELPERS  OF  THE  HOLY  SOULS 802 

Illustrations:  Our  Lady  of  Providence,  Queen  of  Purgatory— Mother  Mary  of  Prov- 
idence, Foundress  of  the  Helpers  of  the  Holy  Souls — Altar  and  Dome,  Chapel 
of  the  Helpers— Chinese  Helper  with  Group  of  Native  Orphans— Garden  of 
the  Novitiate  of  the  Helpers— Martyrdom  of  St.  Denys  ( Window  in  Chapel). 

RAMBLING  STORIES  OF  AN  OLD  MISSION,  by  George  O'Connett,  S.J. 836 

Illustrations:  First  Church  in  Santa  Clara  Valley — Guadalupe  River,  near  Site  of 
the  First  Church— Altar  and  Crucifix,  Santa  Clara  Church— El  Monjero,  or 
the  Cloisters  of  Santa  Clara— The  Mission  Hymnal— The  Bells,  Mission  Santa 
Clara. 

THE  BURSE  AND  THE  HUMERAL  VEIL.    By  the  Secretary  of  a  Tabernacle  Society 855 

Illustrations:  Burse— Burse  with  Tassels— Humeral  Veil— Borders  for  Humeral  Veil. 


VIIi 


PAGE 

THE  PROPHET  OF  CHRISTMAS 882 

Illustrations:  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  Highest" — The  Prophet" Isaias  (Bartolommeo) 
— Fuller's  Field,  Birket-el-Mamillah — "One  of  the  Seraphim  flew  to  me" 
(Michael  Angelo) — "The  Honor  of  our  People  "—The  Annunciation  (Statuary, 
Rheims'  Cathedral)— ''Drop  down  dew,  ye  heavens "  (Grimani  Breviary) — 
Isaias  and  Achaz— The  Seal  of  the  Prophet's  Testimony. 

AMONG  THE  CROW  INDIANS,  by  a  Missionary 916 

Illustrations:  St.  Xavier's  Mission,  Montana;  St.  Xavier's  Indian  School;  Church 
and  Mission  Residence;  School  Building  and  Pupils. 

THE  CHALICE  VEIL,  by  the  Secretary  of  a  Tabernacle  Society 931 

Illustrations :  The  Chalice  Veil ;  Centre  Ornament  of  Chalice  Veil ;  Chalice  Veil  of 
the  "  Chasuble  Angelique." 


FRONTISPIECES  : 

The  Adoration  of  the  Shepherds Gagliardi Facing  page  1 

The  Agony  in  the  Garden Schonherr "  "  81 

The  Annunciation Gagliardi "  "  161 

The  Resurrection "       "  "  241 

Madonna "       "  "  321 

The  Saints  of  Youth "        "  "  401 

The  First  Vows  of  the  Society  of  Jesus "       "  "  481 

The  Assumption Furn "  "  561 

Saint  Peter  Claver,  Apostle  of  the  Negroes,  Gagliardi "  "  641 

"He  Grew  in  Wisdom" Janssens "  "  721 

The  Vision  of  Saint  Stanislas  Kostka Gagliardi "  "  801 

The  Immaculate  Conception Gagliardi "  "  881 


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